Les Arcs 2010 / 2011 Snow Reports

A snowHead

Today was an even better day than yesterday. Started with thick clouds and did not look like the forecast was correct, but then the sun came out Very Happy

. By the time we arrived at the top of the Roche du Mio in La Plagne the sun was shinning and we new we were on for a very good day.

Went over the back in fresh snow and on up to the top of the Bellecote Bowl. Fresh tracks all the way back down to the Chalet de Bellecote chair so back up again to find more untracked powder. After a another little route it was time to head over the Petit North Face and more fresh powder all the way to the route out down through the remains of an avalanche. Took quite some time to get out with one small walk, but well worth the effort.

Finally back into Les Arcs and over to the waterslide for more fun and a drink before home. Another great day in the fresh powder comes to an end.

I will try to get the pics posted of the last few days tomorrow on my facebook group page.

For those coming out this weekend, the conditions are very variable.

The snow high up is in very good condition on and off piste. We have had about 10cm in total over the last few days above 2000m. Below this height the snow has become very soft and slushy with some areas becoming very worn. The pistes into Arc 2000 are the best, but even into Arc 1950, Arc 1800 and Arc 1600 they are still ok although becoming quite soft and wet in the afternoons. More like late April then March. The snow park, bordercross, waterslide and those piste natures that remain open are all fun.

Going down into Peisey Vallandry, the pistes that had snow cannons running during the cold spell are holding up the best in the warm temperatures we now have and you can still reach the Vanoise Express to cross over to La Plagne without difficulty. Going down to Villaroger is becoming much harder with very slushy snow towards the bottom and many wet patches.

Overall, although the conditions are very mixed, you will all have a good weeks skiing and lots of fun on or off piste. Have a great holiday, the meteo does say it will get colder again now with more snow on the way. I hope so!!

If you are coming out and fancy meeting up for a beer or even a ski or snowboard to find those quiet places. Send me a PM or come over to the waterslide most days before 5.15pm or in George's Wine Bar in Arc 1950 from 5.15 - 6.30pm most days. Just ask at the bar and they will point me out if I am around. They are all very friendly.

A snowHead

More snow overnight, which was a bit unexpected? Looks like 2 or 3cm at 1800m, so not much but it all helps. Currently low cloud and light snow is falling.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

rob@rar,

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looks like a few decent snow showers rolling into the area this morning - hopefully adding up to a meaningful top-up Smile

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red 27, yes it needs to be meaningful enough to hang around for at least three weeks Toofy Grin

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Lou, just until Monday for me Toofy Grin

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Yup, a great, fun day - much much better than yesterday, although dodgy vis at times. Plenty fresh tracks to be had, especially when the sun came out. Snow up high (G Col & Varet) was 'graupel', bit like small styrofoam balls, which stings your face at speed, but in near whiteout, not a problem!! Didn't last long either.
There must have abeen a fair amount of new snow though, as we also got some decent tracks through the trees above Vallandry. There are still some places in the 2K bowl (as seen from Arcabulle) with just 4 tracks.... we just had to do twice Very Happy

Lightly snowing in Vallandry at the mo..... Very Happy

After all it is free

How much has there been in the last 24 hours, it's strange looks like a good amount up top but then 1800 still looks v bare or are the webcams a bit out of sync. 6 Sleeps to go. If Today GFS 12z comes to fruition will need the chains on Sat the 26th snowHead

Arteta10, not so strange I think - there's always much more snow at altitude and over the last few days the snow line has been high so there's only been rain/sleet at 1800.

I think there's been about 20cm - 8 inches in old money - on the fabled Upper Slopes, which is where I'll be headed at 9.00am on Monday

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just got back from a weeks skiing in les arcs, march 12- 19. unfortunately i seem to have picked the worst week for weather this winter. i"ll start with the bad points, les arc seems to be stuck in the 1980s, and a lot of investment is needed to bring it up to date, there are far too many slow chair lifts, and in this day and age no ski resort should have to close runs because of lack of snow, especially with modern day snow making machines. the good points are variety of skiing, especially when you can see where you are going, in my case that was monday and friday, the snow park was good fun and i attempted the green course through it a couple of times, and the trees on the right hand side of the bellette run were entertaining, and i became very good friends with a certain tree. so i have mixed feelings about les arcs, but obviously the weather didnt help and it did get me down a bit. the highlight of the week for me was the auguille rouge cable car rising above the clouds giving a glorious view of mont blanc, with a blanket of cloud in the valleys ( priceless). one word of warning though, if you have a choice, avoid chambery airport at all costs.

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Hmm, where's the popcorn?

You know it makes sense.

Lou, I'll stick to the left hand side of the pistes so the rights should still be ok-ish for when you come out in the summer!

compostcorner, I hope you didn't hurt that poor tree you big lump Evil or Very Mad

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

A snowHead

It was snowing very hard when I left the resort at 8am, with big, juicy snowflakes. The snow was fairly wet, but the snowlne reached down to about 1400m, so a bit colder than the last few days.

A snowHead

rob@rar,

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

i"d just like to add that the best lunch i had was at the bar mont blanc in vallandry, i had cheesy chips and my friend had a baked potato, lovely big portion and friendly staff, the worst was at 1800 i think it was called the blue bird snack bar, it was definately blue something facing the infants park, i had a tiny portion of soggy chips seved in a tiny plastic strawberry punnet, absolutely awful.

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rob@rar,

red 27, I don't know why you would want to go to a resort that is soooo 1980's anyway wink

Stay in Blighty NehNeh

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The powder is back!! Although the visibility was in and out all day, the snow has kept falling most of the time and plus the 5cm last night there must have been near to 9cm or 10cm of fresh snow higher up the mountain by the time we came down at 5.30pm (nothing like being up from first to last lifts on a powder day) and perhaps 5cm lower down towards Arc 1800/1600. Toofy Grin

As it was a Saturday, we were able to put fresh tracks down in almost every area we went and even the trees above Les Coches were fun when the light was difficult higher up. It has started to get a little colder and the snowline is down to around 1500m which is great for the lower stations. The pistes higher up are now in great condition and those lower down, although still in need of more snow, are much better than they were. Hard, firm and well groomed in the mornings and soft and slushy in the afternoons. The snowpark etc. are all great fun and most of the piste natures are now open. Tomorrow should be another good powder day!! Toofy Grin

For those driving out the roads are clear right now and the resort seems quieter than the last few weeks. Hope you all have a good holiday! Sorry, to late for pics tonight, off to bed as first lifts again tomorrow with all this powder waiting. Will try to get them online tomorrow. If you take a look at my facebook group page, link below, you will find a daily update each morning of snow and weather conditions direct from the piste at about 8.30am to help you plan your day on the mountain, plus pics of the last few days as I upload them.

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Great conditions today. Fresh tracks in uncut powder almost the whole time with blue sky and little wind.

Started from Arc 1600 when the chair lift first opened and made it up the Arpette chair to put first fresh tracks back down the ridge and then to the side of the Clair Blanc piste and snowpark most of the way back to the bottom of the Arpette chair.

What a great start to the day and it only got better. Back up high above Bois de l'Ours and down through a couloir and trees to the chairs below. Quite a fun warm up so now it was time to head over the back and long untracked powder fields.

After two long trips and many turns later we stopped at the Solliet for a late lunch and then back up the lifts to the Grand Col past the site of an earlier slide today (they managed to get the two person out) and a nice route back to Arc 1950 for a beer in George's Wine Bar. I hope tomorrow turns out as well as today.

The few pistes that we skied today were in good condition after the fresh snow and although busy in places, the resort has less people than last week. Good weather is expected for the next few days, but the lower pistes will suffer if it stays warm as they are becoming very wet in the late afternoons. Although conditions are great now, we do need more snow for the coming Easter high season period.

There have been a number of small avalanches in the Les Arcs / Peisey Vallandry area today and if people are going off piste, even close to the piste, then they need to take great care and ALL carry the correct avalanche safety equipment (minimum transceiver, shovel and probe) and know how to use it or you should stay on the piste. In both incidents today, a total of three people were injured, but no deaths occurred. The snow pack is becoming very unstable with the warmer temperatures so take care out there.

After all it is free

Ok first post on here after lurking for ages

I've been back from 1800 for just over a week now 5th - 12th, so whilst my group didn't get the best snow conditions, we did get perfect sunshine for the whole trip which was a first for us.

I also found the Altiport this year, god knows how I've missed it on the half dozen or so times I've skied Arc, but on glorious sunny afternoons it's definitely the place to chill for a while, and if you've got a camcorder with you it just gets better.

Heres a short video of what goes on at the Waterslide

http://youtube.com/v/JzOPHrJPbPU

Desmos4, welcome! Great first post. Very Happy

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Desmos4, welcome lurker wink

That waterslide looks great fun (to watch!) Very Happy

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I'm back at work today after 7 days staying in Peisey and driving back yesterday. Yesterday morning was the coldest of our stay, so hopefully this will be sustained.
I agree with compostcorner about the lack of apparent investment in lift infrastructure in les Arcs; so many are not high-speed lifts; in the Sella Ronda in January we only found one old fashioned lift.
Ski conditions during the week were not as bad as I was expecting and really just required you to remain high as much as poss, and when the snow arrived over the course of the last few days, the skiing became more than just "acceptable" - even I was tempted to make some off-piste lines of my own above Arpette and Clocheret Shocked

Staying in Peisey, you're obliged to take some run or other down into Plan Peisey at the end of the day; we usually took Ours and without doubt it was best on Saturday. What's a bit of slush between friends? Just needs a bit of aggressive skiing to push it around.
All in all, a most enjoyable week.
Given how many snowHead

s were there, it's a shame we didn't organise a meet up somewhere.
I skied with genepi and StiffDrink and bumped into skimottaret and YouRaang? but it would have been good to put some other faces to names.

Freddie Paellahead, sorry I missed you at the Tandem Cafe. I arrived shortly after you left when you bumped in to Scott.

You know it makes sense.

Flash sale for ski passes bought Mon 21 to Fri 25 March when bought on line. Get free seven day summer pass. Limited number available.

http://lesarcs.paradiski.com/FlashSales.aspx

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

A snowHead

Hurtle

compostcorner, I'll bite....

A snowHead

Richie_S, agree.there have been some lifts replaced, butputting a T bar in to replace a chair lift was stupid in my opinion. They should have upgraded the chair lift. They do need to spend some more money and replace quite a few other lifts, but at least one a season is better than nothing.

When I get details confirmed for next summers work, such as he new Mont Blanc/Deux Tetes chair I will post details. Still another month and a half to go before the end of the season so plenty of time for more news to come.

UPDATE: The firts avalanche was near the Aiguille Rouge, two injured but recovering. The second avalanche was not in Peisey Vallandry as reported in the press, it was on the Petit North Face of the Bellecote which might be within the commune of Peisey Vallandry, but is accessed from La plagne ski area. One person was hurt but is recovering.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Just a quick report of conditions tonight. Morning conditions are not to great with boiler plate surfaces on most pistes which have melted and then re-frozen over night. Later in the morning they become softer and by late afternoon, some pistes lower down are slushy and heavy to ski. The higher runs are still in good conditions. The off piste higher up is still soft and fun to ski. Lower down after the off piste has softened it is ok to ski, but very cruddy in places. More details tomorrow evening.

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snowcrazy, T Bar? Shocked

Where?

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Lou, runs alongside the snowpark. Replaces Clair Blanc. Bizzare decision.

Richie_S, don't forget Bois de l' Ours, done at the same time as Marmottes.

And the €20m in the Vanoise Express which took a fair chunk of cash away from other projects.
And the new extensive snow making, fed by the new reservoir in the 2000 valley.
And with plans in place for chair upgrades 2012, 13 and 14 already...

Yeah no investment at all. No-one cares about the place. Stay away everyone. wink

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JimW,

Is Comborciere timetabled for an upgrade?

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Hope not!
Not sure tho': I haven't heard anything specific. But I guess it makes sense to open up another route out of the 2000 valley especially if they are re-sculpting the top of Deux Tetes with the new Mont Blanc chair going to the top: ie a blue connection being added to take you to the top of the existing Mont Blanc piste.
(Although snowcrazy thinks it will cut across the Malgovert natur, which would be a bt of a shame).

After all it is free

snowcrazy, JimW, rob@rar, A bloke at the bar says that Compagnie des Alpes will shortly announce it's 10 year investment plan for it's Savoie resorts once all the interested parties have had their chance to preview and comment. SAP (La Plagne) will be the first to be announced.

Here is CdA's update from the AGM on Thursday.
http://www.compagniedesalpes.com/amf_en/CDA_CP%20post%20AG%2017%20mars%202011_EN_vf.pdf

JimW, will the new Mt Blanc chair provide access to Malgovert? That's the only reason I use Comborciere, and it's frustratingly slow at the moment.

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Boredsurfing, thanks. Do you know if there is any discount scheme for CDA shareholders?

Help!!

Les Arcs 2010 / 2011 Snow Reports

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