Val Thorens () is a ski town in the

Tarentaise Valley The Tarentaise Valley (, ; ) is a valley of the Isère (river), Isère River in the heart of the French Alps, located in the Savoy region of France. The valley is named for the ancient town of ''Darantasia'', the capital of the pre-Roman Centron ...

in the

French Alps The French Alps are the portions of the Alps mountain range that stand within France, located in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur regions. While some of the ranges of the French Alps are entirely in France, others, such a ...

at an altitude of . It is located in the commune of Saint-Martin-de-Belleville in the

Savoie Savoie (; Arpitan: ''Savouè'' or ''Savouè-d'Avâl''; English: ''Savoy'' ) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, Southeastern France. Located in the French Alps, its prefecture is Chambéry. In 2019, Savoie had a population o ...

department. The resort forms part of the Les Trois Vallées ski area which, with over 600 km of slopes, is one of the largest linked ski areas in the world.

Resort

In 1971 the first of three drag lifts was installed, followed in 1972 by the opening of the first ski school.

Skiing

The resort is usually open from mid-November until early May. The highest ski-able peaks are Pointe du Bouchet (3230 m) and Cime de Caron (3200 m). Many of the slopes in Val Thorens face north and north-west. However, the resort itself faces south. Val Thorens has a total of 68 marked runs, and several terrain parks. The main snow park hosts a stage of the national SFR Slopestyle Tour, and the ski cross arena is frequently visited by the FIS Skier X World Cup. Val Thorens is part of the '' 3 vallées'' ski domain, which is connected by a common ski pass.

Summer skiing

Beginning in 1973 Val Thorens operated ski lifts all year round on the Peclet glacier. Low visitations and melting glacier concerns led to a complete removal by 2002.

Lift system

Val Thorens has 31 lifts, which include magic carpets, draglifts, chairlifts, gondolas, funitels, and a cable car.

Accident

In January 2015, Israeli Guy Sasson was paralyzed from the knees down in a

snowboarding Snowboarding is a recreational and competitive activity that involves descending a snow-covered surface while standing on a snowboard that is almost always attached to a rider's feet. It features in the Winter Olympic Games and Winter Paralym ...

accident in Val Thorens in which he fell 10 meters and injured his back and leg vertebrae; he became a Paralympian and won the 2024 French Open Quad Singles event."Conventional hitter: after winning Roland Garros - tennis player Guy Sassoon aims for the Paralympic Games,"
''Israel HaYom''."First interview: tennis player Guy Sassoon Massivon will participate in the Paralympic Games in Tokyo,"
''Ono News''.

Notable persons

* Christine Goitschel *

Adrien Theaux Adrien is a given name and surname, and the French spelling for the name Adrian. It is also the masculine form of the feminine name Adrienne. It may refer to: People Given name * Adrien (dancer) (1816–1870), French dancer and choreographer * ...

* Jean-Frédéric "JF" Chapuis * Chloé Trespeuch

Sports competitions

Tour de France

The resort hosted a

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage cycle sport, bicycle race held primarily in France. It is the oldest and most prestigious of the three Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours, which include the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a ...

stage finish in

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

. Nelson Rodríguez of Colombia won the stage, which had the second highest elevation for a stage finish in the history of the Tour de France. The Tour de France returned to Val Thorens for the Stage 20 finish on 27 July 2019 and won by

Vincenzo Nibali Vincenzo Nibali (; born 14 November 1984) is an Italian former professional road bicycle racer, who competed as a professional from 2005 to 2022. He is one of seven cyclists who have won all three of cycling's Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours i ...

Ski competitions

In December 2017, Val Thorens is host city for

snowboard cross Snowboard cross, also known as boardercross, is a snowboard competition in which four to six competitors race down a course. Snowboard cross courses are typically quite narrow and include cambered turns, various types of jumps, berms, rollers, ...

during the

2017–18 FIS Snowboard World Cup The 2017–18 FIS Snowboard World Cup was the 24th FIS Snowboard World Cup, World Cup season in snowboarding organised by International Ski Federation. The season started on 4 September 2017 in Cardrona, New Zealand, Cardrona, New Zealand and concl ...

References

External links

Official Val Thorens website
{{Authority control Ski areas and resorts in France Tourist attractions in Savoie Sports venues in Savoie