Courchevel, France

Courchevel is a French Alps ski resort. It is a part of Les Trois Vallées, the largest linked ski areas in the world. Courchevel also refers to the towns of Courchevel 1300 (Le Praz), Courchevel 1550, Courchevel 1650 (Moriond), and Courchevel 1850, which are named for their altitudes in metres. They are situated in the commune of Saint-Bon-Tarentaise. The resort centre of Courchevel is at 1,747 metres (5,732 ft).^[1] The somewhat misleading name Courchevel 1850 was chosen for marketing reasons to compete with arch rival Val d'Isère. It is the Jardin Alpin area of Courchevel 1850 (not the centre) which is actually located at 1,850 metres (6,070 ft).

Courchevel is the most eastern resort of the Three Valleys, the biggest connected ski area in the world. It is renowned for its excellent lift system which is virtually queue free, even at the busiest of times. 

Although Courchevel consists of four satellite villages — Courchevel Le Praz, Courchevel 1550, Courchevel 1650 and Courchevel 1850 — it is most famous for its highest resort, the exclusive village of Courchevel 1850. Named the St. Tropez of winter sports, it attracts almost only a select clientele of VIPs, wealthy people and royal families.

In the 2011-2012 season Courchevel rebranded, changing the names of each of the four villages in a move away from the association with altitude. Courchevel 1850 is now known simply as Courchevel, Courchevel 1650 has been renamed Courchevel Moriond; Courchevel 1550 is now called Courchevel Village and Courchevel 1330, aka Le Praz, has been renamed Courchevel Le Praz.

Courchevel has 11 luxury hotels with a 5-star ranking. In 2011 France introduced a very prestigious 6th star ranking for hotels, named "palaces". The palace 6th star ranking is only awarded to the most prestigious, exclusive and luxurious hotels in France. No more than eight hotels in France have received this rating. Two of those eight hotels are in Courchevel tree-lined Jardin Alpin area. No other ski resorts in France have hotels with the palace ranking.

Courchevel is also known for its fine dining. It's the ski resort with the most Michelin starred restaurants. A total of seven restaurants share 11 Michelin stars, including four restaurants that have been awarded two Michelin stars, including Le Chabichou.^[13] It also hosts a variety of luxury shops including Louis Vuitton, Hermès, Valentino, Loro Piana, Prada, Cartier, Fendi, Dior and Chanel.

The large majority of Courchevel's visitors are of Russian nationality (source Courchevel Tourist Agency), in fact the resort is known for the wealthy Russian elite who flock to the resort during New Year and Russian Orthodox Christmas which is celebrated on 7th January, two weeks later than in Western Europe. Because of this, Courchevel's name has become synonymous with "winter playground of the super rich" in Russia. As a result, the first two weeks of January are high season weeks in Courchevel.

Courchevel is known to be an expensive resort. One of the reasons for this are the high prices of residential and commercial property. Courchevel has one of the largest bases for ski instructors and other seasonal workers due to the size of the three valleys area. Courchevel's couloirs are renowned as some of the most difficult black runs in the world.

Courchevel's sister city is Park City, Utah in the United States, and it has a red-graded ski piste named "Park City".

For the Winter 2014/15 season, a six pack is due to replace the adjacent Aiguille du Fruit and Gravelles chairs at Prameruel between 1650 & 1850. The ancient Foret gondola from Le Praz is to also be replaced with a six pack.