JUST hearing the name Courchevel conjures up images in my head of gold-trimmed ski jackets, sheepskin-draped lodges and food prices that would frighten even Jeff Bezos.
That’s because when I first skied in the area, nearly 20 years ago, a round of drinks in the part known as Courchevel 1850 would set you back the price of a small flat.
But these days you don’t need to be a Silicon Valley tech bro or Russian oligarch to ski the resort’s 150km stunning pistes.
I was staying in the small resort of La Tania, the perfect gateway to the French alpine jewel of Courchevel, where celebs and royalty from Kate and Wills to the Beckhams have skied.
La Tania is — in French ski resorts terms — a tiddler of a place and has only been an official part of the Courchevel region since 2018.
Since then this purpose-built modern village, which only came to life for the 1992 Winter Olympics, has become a fixture for families and those looking for a cheaper and quieter place close to the action.
That action being Les Trois Vallées — aka the “world’s largest interconnected ski area” — where from €69 (£60) a day you can access 600km of runs, which is the equivalent of skiing from Paris to Geneva.
A key selling point of Les Trois Valées is that unlike many of the French resorts that have been affected by warmer weather, snow is guaranteed.
A whopping 85 per cent of all runs are at an altitude of over 1,800m — and half of them are green or blue. Some peaks on the region’s SIX glaciers are even above 2,500m — great for when the season has been a particularly snowless one.
I was staying at the beautiful Chalet Jonquille, a snowball’s throw from the town and the bottom of the main lift and run by the ever professional tour operator, Ski Beat.
From the outside it looks like a traditional A-frame chalet but inside it was all open plan and modern with a hot tub on the balcony and a cosy cinema room downstairs.
I always judge a chalet on the food — if it’s not up to scratch it can ruin a ski trip. And I was not disappointed.
After a full day on the mountains every cell in my body is crying out for a scalding hot fix of tartiflette or some other heavy French cuisine — and a few large glasses of red. I got that in spades.
BIKINI-CLAD DANCERS
Helpfully Ski Beat prides itself on offering top-notch cuisine and red and white wine on tap in its catered chalets.
The homemade cakes served for afternoon tea were so good you might be tempted to cut short your time on the slopes, just so you don’t miss out on a slice.
La Tania may be small but it is by no means a sleepy backwater.
There are many bars and restaurants in the village where you can do everything from chowing down on local delicacies like fondue to dancing to a band until the wee hours.
The imaginatively named Pub Le Ski Lodge is exactly that — a charming ski lodge with a decent selection of beers.
Half a litre of Pélican blonde (7.5%) will put hairs on your chest and knock out any aches and pains in your legs, as I found to my pleasure.
It also serves snacks like French tacos (try them!), which at ten euros a pop, won’t break the bank. Dining piste side, it can make a cheap and cheerful lunch spot.
Courchevel also has its own La Folie Douce (a famous party bar) up at Meribel, where you can watch bikini-clad dancers pirouette on table tops as EDM beats pound your ears.
It’s a fairly show-off crowd but utterly fascinating to watch as they guzzle Veuve Clicquot out of the bottle in their Balenciaga salopettes.
The Bouc Blanc, also at Meribel, is a cheaper option where plats du jours are a more reasonable 21 euros
Views here are superb and when the sun is out there are few greater ways to spend a day — beer in hand, watching the world ski by.
And if you’ve still got the legs, you can ski all the way back to La Tania.
GO: La Tania
GETTING/STAYING THERE: Ski Beat holidays from £784pp for the week during the 2025-26 ski season.
A week at Chalet Jonquille in La Tania is from £913pp including breakfast, afternoon tea, and three-course evening meals with wine, as well as return flights from Gatwick or Manchester, and transfers.
See skibeat.co.uk or call 01273 855 100.
