Val Thorens Guide Ep.1: The 2,300m Frontier – Pioneers, Glaciers & Space-Age Snow

Welcome to Season 3 of Transfer to Alps! In our season premiere, hosts Liam and Chloe head to the roof of the European Alps: Val Thorens. Perched at a dizzying 2,300 metres at the very head of the Belleville Valley, this is officially Europe's highest ski resort and the snow-sure crown of the massive Three Valleys network.

Forget sleepy valley villages and chocolate-box chalets. Val Thorens was born from a wild gamble in the late 1960s. We look at how developer Pierre Schnebelen, mayor Joseph Fontanet, and legendary ski coach Jean Béranger looked at an icy, barren rock bowl above the tree line—where critics said nobody could ever live or build—and turned it into a world-famous winter sports hub.

Discover why Olympic champion Christine Goitschel called early Val Thorens "a snowy Far West," how the first five families survived without doctors or food shops, and how lift company SETAM invented world-first mountain engineering—from the record-breaking 150-person Cime de Caron cable car to the windproof Funitel. We also explore the modern atmosphere: a compact, semi-pedestrianised, ski-in/ski-out town with guaranteed snow from November all the way to May.

Before tackling the climb to 2,300 metres, get your mountain travel sorted with our team. Book your professional private or shared airport transfer directly to the resort with us at Alps2Alps: https://www.alps2alps.com/ski-transfer-destinations/france/val-thorens/