The companies which run the ski lifts in the Three Valleys have been asked to help use their influence in places such as Méribel and Courchevel to help impose a cap on the price of beer in resort bars.

Representatives from the lift companies serving the major resorts in the region held an unprecedented meeting with Britain’s biggest ski companies this week in response to criticisms that the Three Valleys, arguably the world’s largest ski region and the most popular destination for Brit skiers and snowboarders, is becoming too expensive.

It is the first time that representatives from all of the resort lift companies – which govern the price of ski passes - and competing ski companies such as Crystal, Thomson, Skiworld and Le Ski have all sat around the same negotiating table to talk about prices in resort. One person attending the discussions said that the UK companies at the table represented 80% of all the British skiers and snowboarders going to the Three Valleys each winter.

Calls for the lift companies to cut ski pass prices seem certain to go unheeded. One person close to the negotiations said: "The lift system in the Three Valleys is recognised as the best value in the world on a cost-per-piste basis. If the lift companies can help transfer that value to more local suppliers then so much the better. Our customers would welcome any moves which make the area even better value."

Another proposal would see the lift pass price remain untouched but see resort bars introduce an upper limit of €4.50 on a half litre of beer.

The lift companies are hugely powerful in resorts and some believe they might have enough influence to get bar owners to introduce a price cap, which would go down well with British holidaymakers shocked by the price of their après-ski last year. The collapse of the pound against the euro meant that prices in many resorts were 20 to 330% higher than in previous years.

One tour operator, speaking under condition of anonymity, said that the meeting was called after the company’s customers came back from the region last year with a common message: “I got shafted on the mountain.”

There may be some relief. We wronte on the Skitimes blog recently about the change in French VAT over the summer, which should see the price of eating out fall.

Vincent Lalanne, marketing director at the 3 Valleys Association, who organised the meeting said that his organisation would send out a letter to all the restaurants and bars in the region's resorts telling them about the meeting and warning them that if they don’t stop increasing their prices, they will lose British clientele.

The letter will also recommend an ideal maximum price for a cup of coffee and a pint of beer. Before the season starts, the association will distribute to holidays companies a list of all the bars and restaurants which have agreed to these prices.

Lalanne said that the association was also looking into the idea of discount vouchers giving up to 20% off in specific bars and restaurants.

Whether individual bars and restaurants really mind whether they have fewer British customers remains to be seen.