The ultimate challenge from the ‘old school La Tania crew’: The 3 Valleys Escapade in a Day.
In the week of my 40th birthday my girlfriend and I went for a ski and snowboard trip to Les 3 Vallees to celebrate. We stayed in La Tania, Courchevel and found out about this ‘hardest skiing day ever’, skiing the most important peaks in the Three Valleys in a single day.
The La Tania crew kept a list of the official checkpoint lifts to ride. However, their last list update was from 2020 and since then some lifts and pistes went out of operation. So I pulled up the latest 2023 maps and created what I felt would be the best 2023 version of the Escapade:
The 3 Vallées Escapade 2023 Lift Guide
Snow conditions this week were not that good. Lots of thin covered and icy pistes and some crucial connections were closed.
With a busy Christmas holiday week, and the last lift closing at 16:20, it looked like almost impossible.
After 2 attempts the first days with long queues, bad weather, and navigation mistakes on my side, I decided to scout the valleys a bit more before making a final attempt.
On the fifth day, conditions seemed good. It was after New Years so queues were a bit shorter. Visibility was good. Snow was still icy and thin, but definitely ridable. This had to be the day.
By adding some detour lifts and piste alternatives I was able to make it just in time to to the final Forêt lift to get back to my starting point in La Tania.
A wicked day that took an incredible amount of preparation and on-day planning. Oh so satisfying!
My Escapade 2023 route - Patrick Plaggenborg.pdf
Lifts marked with ⭐️ are official Escapade checkpoints.
| # | Scheduled | Arrived | Lift | Lift Type | Suggested pistes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9:00 | 8:45 (-15 min) | La Tania ⭐️ | Gondola | Courchevel |
| 🟥 |
|||||
| 2 | 9:11 | 9:10 (lift started 4 minutes late, +4 min) | Bouc Blanc ⭐️ | Chair Lift | 🟥 Chenus |
| 🟩 Loze Est | |||||
| 3 | 9:23 | 9:28 (+5 min) | Rocher de L’ombre | Drag Lift | |
| 4 | 9:31 | 9:37 (+5 min) | Vizelle ⭐️ | Gondola | Meribel |
| **🟦 Biche | |||||
| 🟥 Chamois | |||||
| 🟦 Geai | |||||
| 🟦 Renardeau** | |||||
| 5 | 9:48 | 9:51 (+3 min) | Dent de Burgin ⭐️ | Chair Lift | **🟥 Renard |
| 🟦 Renardeau | |||||
| 🟩 Blanchot | |||||
| 🟦 Lapin** | |||||
| 6 | 10:03 | 10:06 (+3 min) | Golf ⭐️ | Chair Lift | |
| 7 | 10:09 | 10:12 (+3 min) | Rope Tow | Pull Rope | **🟩 Forêt |
| 🟦 Doron** | |||||
| 8 | 10:17 | 10:20 (+3 min) | Legends | Chair Lift | 🟦 Gélinotte |
| 9 | 10:27 | 10:29 (+2 min) | Olympic ⭐️ | Chair Lift | ** |
| 🟦 |
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| 🟦 |
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Piste 🟦 Verdet was closed, so had to go down 🟦 Roc de Fer and use lifts Caves and Tougnete 2 to head over to St Martin.