Bluebird ski day in Les Menuires

Skiing in March and April is a great choice, the snow is often very good late on in the season and the weather is far friendlier. There’s no shivering on the chair lifts and no putting on 5 layers. It’s a great time to learn to ski too as you spend far longer standing around it’s much nicer doing that in warmer weather. Also because it’s lighter later you can spend longer soaking up the sun in the bars!!

The 3 Valleys is a great ski area to choose late on in the season as it’s high and snow is always guaranteed. St Martin de Belleville gives direct access into Meribel, Les Menuires and then up to Val Thorens ski area. It’s definitely worth getting a Valley de Belleville ski pass at this time of year ensuring that you can get up to Val Thorens and take advantage of the high snow.

You can find out more about Green Mountain Chalets on our review blog post.

Green Mountain Chalets is based just outside of St Martin de Belleville, which is probably the hidden gem of the Three Valleys. I’ll come on to the area more later.

Green Mountain Chalets is run by James and Gemma, who gave up their life in the UK to live the dream to run a ski chalet. And boy did they pick a good one! The ski chalet sleeps up to 13 people in 4 double bedrooms and one family bedroom sleeping 5 with a mezzanine level double bed for the parents, this room also has a handy ensuite bathroom. The rooms are lovely and light and you’ll find the now seemingly obligatory bathrobe and slippers for your convenience. The chalet is laid out over 4 floors with a bathroom on each floor ensuring you’ll never have to wait in the morning! In the lounge they have a great entertainment system with Satellite TV, a DVD player and a Nintendo Wii if you have enough energy left after dinner! More importantly, this will keep the children amused while you finish your dinner and drinks.

The real highlight of this ski chalet is the dining room, where you’ll probably be spending most of your time eating and drinking, if it’s anything like our experience anyway! The dining room is an old cave and is really spectacular, you’ll probably never want to leave.

The amazing dining room

On the evening we visited James and Gemma’s ski chalet they cooked up a storm of a meal, from their menu. For starters we had a refreshing salad, for the main course we had a chorizo risotto, which was truly lovely and filling after a hard days skiing, for afters we had pears with a touch of chilli to add some kick! All accompanied with the usual amount of French wine drunk with any evening meal in a ski resort!

One thing to say about this ski chalet experience is that you’ll probably never find better hosts than James and Gemma. By the end of the evening I felt like I’d known them for years! I have no doubt that their only concern during the ski season is to ensure the enjoyment and satisfaction of their guests. James and Gemma said to us that their main objective is to ensure that their guests come back year after year because they love the chalet and the service so much.

Green Mountain Chalets offer a half board service, including all the usuals, breakfast (hot or cold), afternoon tea and cake, a 3 course evening meal with wine. There is also an honesty fridge and free tea and coffee for your entire stay. In addition James and Gemma will drive you to the nearest lift every morning and bring you home in the evening after a quick drink in St Martin de Belleville no doubt, so no walking in ski boots at all! Usual ski chalet rules apply, they get one night off a week, ask them about visiting La Ferme de la Choumette, a truly fantastic restaurant piste side in St Martin de Belleville, more about our visit with James and Gemma to this unique restaurant here.

One last thing about Green Mountain Chalets, along with all the above, it’s pretty reasonable too!

So you’ve decided to stay at Green Mountain Chalets, now what sort of skiing are you going to get? Well St Martin de Belleville is probably the least well known area of the Three Valleys, but possibly the prettiest village. From St Martin de Belleville village you  are only two lifts up into two main ski areas, Les Menuires or drop over at Cherferie to Meribel. Both ski areas are extensive and for those who cover a lot of ground the full Three Valleys pass (232 euros for 6 days) is needed. If you’re a true beginner then you will only need the St Martin de Belleville / Les Menuires pass (177 euros for 6 days), if you’re an improver opt for the Vallee des Belleville pass which allows you to go over to Les Menuires and Val Thorens (213 euros).

The ski areas are actually pretty extensive for all of the areas, even the St Martin de Belleville / Les Menuires pass gets you 160km of piste. The full 3 Valleys pass gets you a staggering 650km of piste and comes second in our “Most piste for your pound” research which compares lift pass prices to kilometres of piste – read this report here.

There’s so much to say about the area around St Martin de Belleville that it’s impossible to say it all here, if you’re looking for more info on the Three Valleys then visit our dedicated section on the blog, this contains information about all the villages and ski areas in the Three Valleys ski area.

You can have a look at all that Green Mountain Chalets have to offer on their website, e-mail them on info@greenmountainchalets.co.uk or phone James or Gemma on 07976 583 553.

(We took some great video of the chalet, but have still to edit it down, so watch out for that soon, in the meantime there’s a video of the chalet on the Green Mountain Chalets website here.)