These maps are useful for printing off and taking up the mountain, allowing you to see how the resort is laid out and which lifts and pistes lead where - indispensable for organising where to stop for lunch! Alternatively paper copies can be found in resort at the Tourist Office, lift pass offices, hotel receptions, etc...
La Plagne forms part of the fabulous Paradiski area; combining all the resorts of La Plagne Les Arcs and Peisey Vallandry into one giant heavenly playground. La Plagne itself consists of 6 high altitude resorts (linked by a free public transport service), with terrain to suit everyone, and 4 village resorts with access to the entire ski area. Snow conditions permitting, La Plagne usually opens around mid- December until the end of April and the whole Paradiski area opens from around December 23rd until April 20th (ish). ... see "La Plagne Skiing Area" for more
Ski Areas in Les Arcs
Arcs 1600 faces south-west and with extensive tree-lined skiing enabling descents to the unspoilt villages below resort level, it is an 'all weather' ski area that holds the snow well. Artificial snow making machines also mean that skiing back to the village is virtually always guaranteed. As with all the Les Arcs villages, Arc 1600 has something to offer every grade of skier.
Arc 1800 is truly a resort which caters for everyone. The runs here are wide and often tree lined ensuring plenty of room for those on their first week. It is best to try to avoid the bottom of the Maïtaz, Villards & Charmettoger runs where they converge at the Transarc gondola, this is usually teeming with people as it is nearly always icy and can catch out even the best of us, try to use the mid station point of the Transarc to get up and over to 2000.
Arc 2000 is more suitable for intermediate to expert skiers, the runs here tend to be more reds and blacks and the off piste around resort is truly amazing. But don’t miss out on Arc 2000 if you are only just beginning to ski or snowboard, there are some fantastic rolling reds/blues which are shallow enough for you to learn on.
Peisey-Vallandry has some beautiful tree lined pistes which are perfect for learners. This tends to be the quieter side of the valley. The lift which links this side to Arc 1800 is the Plan Bois and unfortunately it is not only old, slow and very long but it is also popular pretty much all day long. If you like to ski between the trees then this is the place to do it. When the snow has dumped, Peisey-Vallandry pistes can seem almost heavenly.
Plagne Centre is a great area for those learning to ski or board. There is a long green ‘debutant’ area which is easily accessible from the village itself and is long enough to get a good go before taking the runs own chair lift back to the top.
Montchavin/Les Coches is more of an intermediate area but does offer itself to beginners with 5 free lifts including a couple of learner drag lifts that are easy to get to just above the village.
There are two small learner areas in Plagne Villages and two even smaller areas in Aime La Plagne. Find all these areas on the piste map by looking for the large yellow shaded areas marked ‘zone debutants’.
Snowparks in La Plagne
La Plagne has a whopping 1km long snowpark known as the 7 Cube which caters for people of all abilities. The park is shaped with skiers in mind as La Plagne has a big freestyle ski scene but that’s not to stop the boarders having a go too. You will find different sized jumps graded in the same way as the pistes - The Green, The Blue, The Red and The Black. As you can imagine, these are named according to their level of difficulty and diversity of their obstacles with green being the easiest and black being the hardest - which is big! Once the jumps are out of the way the park splits in two and each branch has a selection of rails and boxes and one also has a wall ride. Unfortunately there is no drag lift for the park so you must use the Colorado chair lift from Plagne Centre. There are often small competitions in the park for everyone to join in and have a go, mostly on a Friday afternoon. There is also a picnic area where you can eat your lunch whilst watch people throw themselves off the jumps or you can just listen to the music in the sun.
Down in Plagne Bellcôte there is a half pipe which is also open to all. There is a drag lift called the Colosses right next to the pipe which can be used to access it.
For 20€ per day you can buy the "Pass Park" which will give you access to the ‘7 Cube’ , the boarder cross at Belle Plagne and the half pipe at Plagne Bellecôte. Between the three, you can expect to find a variety of rails, tables and jumps to keep you busy all day!
With such a big ski area to explore, it's sometimes good to have a little bit of inside information… For your pleasure, we’ve compiled a list of our favourite runs throughout the Paradiski area and suggested some itineraries for you to try. There are also sections on where to find the best off piste, where you're most likely to find the quietest pistes, and where to find the nicest mountain restaurants for lunch. Happy exploring! ... see "Where To Go in the Paradiski For......" for more
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