Les Menuires Beginner Skiing

Les Menuires is now branded ‘FriendlyMenuires’ and is an ideal ski resort for beginners with good facilities for both adults and children. Beginners can practice their turns on sunny slopes, and compared to other ski resorts in the 3 Valleys, it’s relatively cheap.

Les Menuires is a good resort for beginners_ Ski_famille_au_Friendly_Natural_Park (c) Les Menuires OT

Beginner Skiing in Les Menuires

Les Menuires is an excellent place to learn how to ski both for children and for those who come later to the sport. What’s more, there are four free lifts that access small beginners’ areas so you can learn without expense. There’s one in Bruyeres and Reberty, which is a magic carpet that moves inside a tunnel so is weather proof. The other two are located by the Stade lift.

Les Menuires has large “smooth skiing” areas also, designed for beginners progressing from the nursery slopes to find their feet, although the areas are not always patrolled and thus the signs are often ignored by better skiers. Both are accessed by the Doron chair or Menuires Chairs.

For beginners and improving novices, Les Menuires and St Martin de Belleville have 12 green and 44 blue runs to build confidence on. The La Violette green, accessed from the top of the Roc 1 gondola, is the definitive run for a beginner to have under their belt before they tackle their first blue. It really is perfect for giving beginners the idea of what it means to move around a mountain.

The Gross Tougne is a long easy blue, running from Tougnette (2434m) to the midpoint of La Violette, which then takes you all the way back to the resort. The easiest way to reach it is via a bus to St Martin (there are 5 a day) then take the St Martin 1 bubble and the St Martin Express high speed chair, but more confident beginners can reach it by crisscrossing the mountain on blue runs.

The top of the Le Masse sector on the other side of the resort is generally steeper, so true beginners should delay tackling the all blue route from the very top to the bottom. But from the midway point there are gentler blue runs such as Vallons and Chemin des Vallons.  According to one ESF ski instructor Chemin des Vallons blue is skiable by most complete beginners after their fourth day of lessons.

The pistes close to the centre such as Menuires, Boyes and Reberty are all safe for improving beginners.  They do get extremely crowded at the end of the day, however.

 Les Menuires has installed a section in La Masse called the “Walibi Gliss” which provides an interactive experience for children. With their poles children can touch speakers that play music, while there are tunnels to ski through and parallel slalom courses for those on the border of intermediate class.

Beginners won’t need any ski pass at all whilst they are using the free nursery lifts. In some years the resort has introduced a low-cost beginners pass that covers the lifts and pistes closest to the resort which are all gentle blues and greens, but as they progress they will need to buy a local Les Menuires pass (which covers St Martin as well). There is no need for them to buy a 3 Valleys pass.

Beginners who need a break from learning to ski should also look at all the other activities you can do Les Menuires, as there is more choice than in some other resorts.

Ski Schools & Ski Lessons in Les Menuires

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