Courchevel

History

The resort's planning began during World War II with a 1942 study by the Vichy regime and a doctorate by town planner Laurent Chappis, who later directed post-war development. Courchevel 1850 was France's first resort built from scratch rather than around an existing village. The Tarentaise Valley holds the world's highest concentration of world-class ski resorts, with neighbouring systems Paradiski and Espace Killy. A weekly lift ticket in Courchevel or Les Trois Vallées allows one day of skiing in each of those other systems.

Plans to interconnect all systems into the largest ski area ended with the creation of Vanoise National Park. La Tania was built as accommodation for competitors in the 1992 Winter Olympics, and Le Praz hosted Olympic ski jumping and Nordic combined at Tremplin du Praz. A ski jump in Courchevel 1850 was removed for safety reasons. In January 2019, a fire in a seasonal workers' building in Courchevel 1850 killed two people and injured at least 22; 130 firefighters responded.

In May 2018, Courchevel was named joint host of the 2023 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships with Méribel, with races finishing in Courchevel Le Praz. A new leisure centre, L'Alpinium, is under construction in Le Praz.

Location

Courchevel lies in the Tarentaise Valley, within the Savoie département of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. It was formed in 2017 from the merger of Saint-Bon-Tarentaise and La Perrière into the new commune of Courchevel, though administrative offices remain in Saint-Bon-Tarentaise. The resort is part of the Trois Vallées, which also includes La Tania, Méribel, Les Menuires-Saint Martin, Val Thorens, and Orelle.

Resort

Courchevel is the easternmost resort of the Three Valleys and consists of four satellite villages: Courchevel Le Praz, Courchevel 1550, Courchevel 1650, and Courchevel 1850. In the 2011–2012 season, the villages were rebranded: Courchevel 1850 became simply Courchevel, Courchevel 1650 became Courchevel Moriond, Courchevel 1550 became Courchevel Village, and Courchevel 1330 became Courchevel Le Praz. The resort has 24 five-star hotels, two of which hold the French palace rating, and seven Michelin-starred restaurants, four with two stars.

Luxury shops include Louis Vuitton, Hermès, and Chanel. Most visitors are Gulf Arabs and Russians, making the first two weeks of January high season. The resort has one of the largest bases of ski instructors in the Three Valleys and its couloirs are considered among the world's most difficult black runs. Courchevel is sister city to Park City, Utah, and has a red-graded piste named Park City.

Airport

Courchevel's airport has a runway 525 m long with an 18.5% gradient, requiring specially certified pilots due to a dangerous approach through deep valleys. There is no go-around procedure; a steep hill at the end has seen several accidents. Smaller Cessnas and helicopters are now the main users, replacing larger propeller aircraft like the Twin Otter and Dash 7. The History Channel program Most Extreme Airports ranked it the seventh most dangerous airport in the world.