Courchevel boasts the only railpark in the Three Valleys, complete with various rails and box modules for both skiers and boarders to try their hands at. All standards are welcome to come and get stuck in, with two Railpark Rangers on hand to offer advise and top tips.
The Snowcross trail on the Loze piste will try and catch you out with whoops, banked curves and other sneaky pitfalls as you race your mates to the bottom.
The Parc Plantery is also worth checking out for its baby and half-pipes, tables, hips and more. Even if you're not ready to try out any death-defying manouvres yourself it is still great just to go and watch!
Snowparks in the Trois Vallees
Where to jib, bonk, cork and pop in the Three Valleys
Freestyle skiing and snowboarding has been growing in popularity since the likes of Glenn Plake and Scott Schmidt brought it to the world in the "Blizzard of Aahhhs". Since then we've seen the birth of snowboarding, the evolution of twin tip skis and snowboards, and the inclusion of freestyle in the winter Olympics.
Freestyle has made household names and millionaires of teenagers with bad hair cuts and tendency towards mono-syllabic conversation. If you are new to the slopes there's a good chance that you'll be wanting to try your first kicker or rail soon. If you have been skiing or snowboarding for a while then it's more likely that you have tried you first kicker or rail and realised exactly why those rubber-limbed freestyle monkeys make the money they do. It's hard and it can hurt. But freestyle is great fun and if you want to learn there is no better place to head than the Courchevel park.
The Three Valleys has better parks than ever this year with new emphasis being put on giving these world class resorts world class freestlyle facilities.
Meribel has its usual two parks, the long running favourite The Moon Park and the Plattieres Park. This year it looks like Plattieres is the place to go for freestyle though as the piste is being run by the DC Area 43 Project meaning that there is new equipment, new shapers, new machines and new modules in the park.
The Moon Park has it's usual collection of kickers and rails and it's location on the East facing slopes above Meribel Motaret make it an ideal afternoon destination at this time of year as the slope has softened a little in the afternoon sun.
The Moon Park is ideal for beginner to intermediate freestylers and is serviced by it's own drag lift; Arpasson.
A new addition to the Moon Park this year is the inclusion of video cameras. These are positioned throughout the park and will record your run for you. They are free to use and very simple. Activate the camera by swiping your lift pass over the camera's sensor which will start to beep. On the fourth beep begin your run. Swipe your card again at the stand at the bottom of the run and you can watch your run back on the screen there, or log on to www.freestylepark.fr and watch, download and share your video from there.
This year the Plattiers Park is managed by DC Shoes and with an injection of cash comes a park worthy of the Three Vallees. The park has new, much better shaped kickers and 220m of rails as well as an airbag and video system within the park that, like the Moon Park, means you can film and photograph yourself on the modules.
In Courchevel the park can be found above 1850 under the Pralong lift. It's ideal for beginners to intermediates and has a nice flowing line in a natural sun trap. It is a good park but it is quite tame and anyone able to spin anything more than basic 360's will be looking for larger kickers.
In Val Thorens the park is serviced by the Plateau drag tow under the Grand Fonds chairlift and like most slopes in Val Thorens it can be a little hard in the mornings so it's best to wait until the afternoon sun has warmed and softened the snow. This park does have some proper kickers and for years it was Val Thorens who had the biggest park in the Three Valleys. you can still find some fairly meaty wedges here and thanks to it's position they stay in good shape until late in the season.
The park in Val Thorens is also one of the www.freestylepark.fr locations so you can film yourself on the kickers here and try out the airbag.
With the Plattiers Park and the Park in Val Thorens offering kickers and rails to the more advanced riders and the Moon Park and Courchevel park catering for beginners and intermediates the Trois Vallees really does have freestyle facilites for everyone and as you can now practice on airbags and have your runs filmed the facilities really are better than ever.
Anyone with a Trois Vallees lift ticket is allowed to ride in the parks and if you are new to freestyle you shouldn't be intimidated by the more experienced riders.
To find out more about keeping safe in the park visit our page on Park Safety.
