In this article, we will be taking a look at two of the more popular ski resorts in France and if you are heading to Europe for your winter holidays then the information here may come in useful.
The ski resorts of La Plagne and Les Arcs in France are surrounded by breathtaking white capped mountain ranges. Both resorts attract skiing enthusiasts mainly from France and Europe. However in the past few years, the resorts are also attracting more and more Asians and American skiers and holiday makers.
La Plagne is one of the largest single ski areas in the world, with 212kms (about 132 miles) of pistes served by 144 ski lifts and is linked to Les Arcs by a four minute cable car ride. This ski resort is made up of 10 villages and is probably the most visited ski resort in the world.
In additional to skiing activities, visitors can also indulge in other activities such as bowling, working out in a fully equipped gym and sports centre, get away from the winter chill by taking sauna baths, go hang-gliding or ice-skating.
For a family outing, there are more than 200 shops to go shopping in or dine in La Plagne myriads of restaurants. Bars and dance clubs light up La Plagne by night.
La Plagne is sometimes billed as the 'third generation' French ski resort with its futuristic architectural designs has probably also influenced other ski resorts in France such as Flaine, Avoriaz and Les Arcs to go for the new world space age architecture and abandoning the charming rustic designs of traditional ski resort architecture.
Skiers in La Plagne will encounter various permutation of piste and off piste, from exhilarating steep descents on the huge glacier at Bellecote(3,000m or almost 10,000ft), then cruising delightfully down quiet meandering larch lined avenues to the charming villages of Montchavin-Les Coches, Champagny-en-Vanoise and Montalbert.
Now let's take a look at Les Arcs. This resort has a Eurostar train terminal connection at Bourg Saint Maurice and thus making it the most accessible high-altitude ski resort in France.
Les Arcs is also known to have pioneered the so called 'ski evolutif', which is a technique used for fast learning by progressing quickly from short skis to longer skis.
Les Arcs is also the homeground of the "Kilometre Lancee" in which daredevils on huge 237cm or 8 ft skis, clad in thin aerodynamic plastic suits and donning 'Darth Vader of Star Wars' style visors, speed down the specially designed track at exhilarating breakneck speed of up to 240kph (150mph) or more.
Just like La Plagne, Les Arcs ski resort has acres and acres seemingly never ending good cruising ski terrain and its off piste opportunities are simply fantastic.
Take for example, the Aiguille Rouge, which dominates the resort has many challenging runs down its front face slopes. The Aiguille Rouge is also the starting point for one of the longest skiing descents in the French Alps. The largely black run down to the charming village of Villaroger is over 16km or about 10 miles long. Whew!
With such fabulous skiing opportunities, it is therefore not surprising that La Plagne along with Les Arcs ski resorts in France is able to attract so many skiing enthusiasts from all the world, isn't it?
La Plagne has a unique and combative history. In the dawn of the 1960s, Aime, Bellentre Longefoy and Macot townships joined in to create an enterprise to save their homes from being deserted altogether. Locals who had no work were skiing in La Plagne years before tourists showed up. With plenty of opportunity and an abundance of natural skiers, the foundation of La Plagne was set.
Not too many foreigners came to ski the slopes at first. There were no resorts at the time, so accommodation would have been difficult if not impossible to root out. In the second part of 1961, La Plagne opened some lifts and had places-not quite the resorts you'll see today-for weary skiers to rest their heads. With Emile Allais (ski champion) and some live competitions shown on TV, La Plagne grew twofold with each passing year. In 1962-3, the access road had to be asphalted so that people wouldn't get stuck, as they had in previous years. The piste bashers at this time often had skiers help make trails when they were not skiing. All the volunteer work that could be rounded up to help was. Within a few years, there were more pistes and more skiers.
Historically, La Plagne was used as an area to store military munitions. These weapons of war were stored in old mines. The weapons were used against the Germans. Today, the Mont de la Guerre is a piste attributed to these battles. The town center even houses a war cenotaph to the British aircrew who helped drop-deliver the ammo from their planes.
In the village of Montchavin, La Plagne rises from 1250 meters to a striking 3250 meters near the top of Bellecote. La Plagne covers the four said communities and incorporates over 200 km of slopes and 100 square kilometers of ski area: cross-country, downhill, and trails for all levels.
You can reach all the resorts because of the intricate yet easy linkage system. You can even ski to your friends resort, for example, for a morning ski and take the lift back to your resort even if you're in different towns. It's so big you'll find nearly 20 expert black runs, over 70 intermediate blue runs, around 30 advanced red runs and about a dozen beginner green runs. There's off skiing, apres skiing and everything about skiing in between.
There are all sorts of ski resorts to stay in while you visit France's La Plagne. The resort you choose may depend on a lot of things, but the delineation is made in regards to altitude. It is this closing fact that allows your accessibility to certain, more popular trails and ski routes. Here's an example of what ski resorts you'll find in La Plagne:
La Plagne Ski Resort: Less Altitude (1200 - 1400 meters) - Montchavin La Plagne at 1250 meters - Champagny La Plagne at 1240 meters - Plagne Montalbert at 1350 meters - Les Coches at 1400 meters
La Plagne Ski Resort: Higher Altitude (1800 - 2000 meters) - Plagne 1800 - Plagne Centre - Plagne Villages - Plagne Soleil - Bell Plagne - Plagne Bellectote
Both Chris Chew & Robert D. Thomson are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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