Les Arcs: piste guide
The local Les Arcs ski area has plenty to keep most people of any standard happy for a week, with 200km of nicely varied pistes above and below the treeline and lots of off piste options.
More advanced visitors who like to cover as much ground as possible will probably want to take the double decker Vanoise Express cable car over to La Plagne for a day or two during their stay.
The €269 Les Arcs lift pass covers one day in La Plagne; since extensions for an extra day cost €39, for more than one day it’s worth buying a full a Paradiski lift pass, at €305 for six days.
Each of Les Arcs’ resort villages has its own local slopes linked in to the others, a beginner area and easy blue slopes to progress to (strangely, unlike other French resorts, Les Arcs doesn’t mark any of its slopes green). All villages also give access to plenty of intermediate cruising on blue and red runs.
A lot of the blues are on the narrow side or are narrow traverses across the mountain, so it helps to know the best places to go. The best easy blues that could be greens are the very quiet slopes served by the slow St Jacques chair lift from Arc 2000 – ideal for beginners taking their first runs after the nursery slopes.
The slow three-seater Pré Saint Esprit chairlift up to Arc 1950 was replaced by a six-seater with a cover and heated seats for 2017/18. It was also extended to to well above Arc 2000 and is now the longest chairlift in France - it takes just eight and a half minutes to travel the 2,850m ascent, half the travel time of the old lift.
At the same time, the Vallée de l’Arc blue run served by the new lift was reshaped to be flatter and more gentle, widened by 40 per cent to 25m, and furnished with new snowmaking, making for a lovely easy slide down from 1950.
The other best gentle, wide blues for easy cruising are Mont Blanc above Arc 1600 and Renard above Peisey-Vallandry. Mont Blanc is reached from the Mont Blanc chair and is a little out of the way, so it’s often delightfully quiet. Renard is lovely long blue that goes from top to bottom of the Derby chair.
Most of Les Arcs’ red runs are distinctly steeper than the blues but are at the easier end of red, so they’re good for fast cruising. The ones through the trees above Peisey-Vallandry – Aigle, Morey and Myrtilles – are relatively quiet, wide and delightful in all conditions, but especially when it’s snowing and visibility is poor on the treeless slopes higher up.
The long red run down to the tiny village of Villaroger at the opposite end of the ski area to Peisey-Vallandy is also a lovely quiet cruise. Well worth doing despite the three successive slow chairlifts needed to get back up.
The red run from the resort’s high point of Aiguille Rouge (3,225m) is a narrow track for much of its length but has several worthwhile wider pitches.
For experts, the steepest black runs are above Arc 2000, most served by the Varet gondola. None are groomed (the resort calls them Natur’ runs) and there can be huge moguls, but the snow there is generally in good condition because of the shady aspect.
Some of the best off-piste is on the open slopes reached from both the Varet gondola and the Aiguille Rouge cable car. It’s also possible to go over the back from the Aiguille Rouge on secluded slopes towards Villaroger, a descent of almost 2,00m, and the routes from the Grand Col and Col de la Chal are also recommended.
The terrain park on the slopes between Arcs 1600 and 1800 is top-notch, with separate lines clearly marked for different ability levels of freestylers, plus an airbag for a soft landing while practising jumps.
