 Poster: A snowHead
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| Arctic Roll wrote: |
| @johnE, @rob@rar, wonder if that new building is anything to do with the air quote "creatively" renamed snow park , SPARK, promising "summer and winter fun". |
Unless they are moving the location of the snow park, the new building is in a different location. I'm guessing it's some sort of agricultural building for summer time use, or maybe a piste basher garage?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Thanks to. Just saved over €300 for our family trip next April
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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These "Happy Weeks" discounted rates are good BUT beware the fine print:
"Products benefiting from a promotional offer (Happy Weeks) cannot be cancelled, refunded or modified."
Also, on the paradiski it says these are available "in limited quantities while stocks last, up to and including 29 September 2024"
| ukoldschool wrote: |
Curious goings on today as the lift passes have gone on sale... Im booked for La Plagne but posting here to be of hopefully help
On the LaPlagne site there are big discounts on the Paradiski passes - 6 1/2 days usually €389, early bird discount now €227.5 BARGAIN!
For comparison no discount on the local La Plagne pass showing so far, 6 days is €348
On the Les Arcs site the 'classic' Les Arcs only pass is €348 same as La Plagne, but the Paradiski pass called 'essential' is discounted to €233.5 for 6 1/2 days (I presume the extra is to pay for the express lanes you have at Les Arcs.
No discount on the 'Premium' Les Arcs pass which is €463 for 6 days...
So theoretically, you could buy a slightly cheaper (-€6) Paradiski pass from La Plagnes ticket office and have it delivered to you before you head out (otherwise you have to go over to La Plagne to collect from the ticket office..), but not have the option of the express lane access.
Hope this helps - get them passes bought! |
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| jas915 wrote: |
| Thanks to. Just saved over €300 for our family trip next April |
Welcome 
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| rdk wrote: |
| Thanks for the heads up @ukoldshool. I just bough 2 x essential passes for early Jan saving about 300 euro. Discounts like that don't come along every day. |
Price I'm seeing is €311 for early Jan for an Essentials 6 day (plus free arrival half-day) pass, which is a saving of €78. That's on the Paradiski site. It's more expensive at €331 on the La Plagne web site.
Is there a trick I'm missing?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Yeah i did read the T&C. As with most thing if its on a "special offer" then normal cancellation and ammedments dont apply.
I brought mine from Les Arcs website
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Just passed on the 'SPARK' news to Big. He was pleased in that 13 year old way 'oh get in'.
I'm looking forward to utilising the Transarc. It's where ski school meet, so it's the most convenient for us after drop off, otherwise we face a trudge up that hill, or have to jump on Villards to then ski either across to Carreley or down to Vagare. Straight to the top of Transarc in 13 minutes sound much less faff all round.
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| doddles wrote: |
Price I'm seeing is €311 for early Jan for an Essentials 6 day (plus free arrival half-day) pass, which is a saving of €78. That's on the Paradiski site. It's more expensive at €331 on the La Plagne web site.
Is there a trick I'm missing? |
Looks like they are adjusting prices as tickets sell. It does say something about limited quantities on the website.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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A question for those in the know. In Jan I'll be staying in Arc1950.
It just so happens that a ski hire place in Arc2000 has the exact skis that I would like to hire.
Is it basically just a short bucket lift ride from one to the other and a short walk at each end, so basically no real hassle were I to hire skis from 2000? Thanks.
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@rdk, Yes, no hassle at all. I bought my current skis from a shop in 2000 and take them there to be serviced - when I've previously used shops in 1950 for servicing they've cost quite a bit more. n.b. Cabriolet is rather more advanced than a bucket lift!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Just a short note on the cabriolet; if you want the southern part of arc 2000, it is easier to get off the navette at 1950 and catch the cabriolet up than walk across the whole of 2000. This may be useful knowledge if staying at the Taj-I mah and the butler is struggling with the luggage
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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@195062, thanks for the info
@johnE, looks like I'll be hiring from the ski shop in the Taj-I Mah so it seems really easy
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| rdk wrote: |
| doddles wrote: |
Price I'm seeing is €311 for early Jan for an Essentials 6 day (plus free arrival half-day) pass, which is a saving of €78. That's on the Paradiski site. It's more expensive at €331 on the La Plagne web site.
Is there a trick I'm missing? |
Looks like they are adjusting prices as tickets sell. It does say something about limited quantities on the website. |
They are indeed. Now gone up to €331 for 6 ½ days in early Jan on the Paradaski/Les Arcs website, €350 on the La Plagne website.
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You know it makes sense.
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Spotted on Facebook (photo from last week), the new mid-station for the TransArc gondola looks like a big development. Plenty of work needed before completion I'd guess, including ground works to put the pistes back to order.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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| ukoldschool wrote: |
Curious goings on today as the lift passes have gone on sale... Im booked for La Plagne but posting here to be of hopefully help
On the LaPlagne site there are big discounts on the Paradiski passes - 6 1/2 days usually €389, early bird discount now €227.5 BARGAIN!
For comparison no discount on the local La Plagne pass showing so far, 6 days is €348
On the Les Arcs site the 'classic' Les Arcs only pass is €348 same as La Plagne, but the Paradiski pass called 'essential' is discounted to €233.5 for 6 1/2 days (I presume the extra is to pay for the express lanes you have at Les Arcs.
No discount on the 'Premium' Les Arcs pass which is €463 for 6 days...
So theoretically, you could buy a slightly cheaper (-€6) Paradiski pass from La Plagnes ticket office and have it delivered to you before you head out (otherwise you have to go over to La Plagne to collect from the ticket office..), but not have the option of the express lane access.
Hope this helps - get them passes bought! |
I'm not seeing these discounts?
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Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Can anyone answer this question about the ski a la carte card in relation to Les Arcs?
As I understand it, once I have the card, if I use it in Les Arcs on a particular day, it charges me the day rate specified on their website, based on a discount on the day rate that I would pay if I just rocked up to the ticket office that day. And if, in that day, I take the lift to connect with La Plagne, it instead charges me for a PARADISKI day rate, again discounted. Is that right?
Does that mean if I stay in Les arcs all day, I’m effectively having a “classic” pass loaded onto my card for that day? So I don’t get to use the express lanes?
I would not want to go to la plagne every day, so I like the idea of saving some cash those days and being able to make up my mind when I’m on the slopes. But if I want to benefit from the express lanes whilst staying in Les arcs, is there a way to do that without traveling on the connecting lift to la plagne? If not, then that might convince me to buy an Essentials 7 day pass at the current early bird rates.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Another question, related to the one above about Ski A La Carte:
Can anyone tell me how bad the queues are likely to be, during the last week of January? I'm trying to get an idea of whether the express lanes are likely to be a real time-saver or not.
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@koru, never used the a la carte pass. Imho they are aimed at locals, who, perhaps, live in Grenoble and like to visit different resorts different weekends. Or someone who is likely to be in resort for 10 days and have a few unspecified days off. So please accept my answers may be wrong.
My reading is the same as yours as to triggering the Paradiski rate when crossing the vanoise express. But there is no mention of evoking the essentials pass. This may occur when going through priority gates or it may not be valid at all. I don’t know
The last week of January is not likely to have serious queues and to some extent it will depend on where you want to go. The only places where I think the essentials pass will be useful are on the varet. If you intend to ski mainly outside the 2000 valley I think they’ll only save a couple minutes on the participating lifts. If that.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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@johnE, very helpful, thanks.
I have no clue yet where we will mainly ski, as I haven't yet studied the piste map or booked accommodation, but if bad queues are likely to be rare, that might tip me towards the Ski a la Carte (SALC). Their discounted prices (outside school holiday peaks) seem like they could well be good value for people doing a full week in just one of the resorts, unless they are a die hard skier who goes out every day despite whiteouts/gales.
At the current early bird discount, with tribe discount on top, a 7 day Essentials pass for my week is EUR 400 (until tomorrow). With the SALC, 7 days of Paradiski day rates is 6x59.50+52+29= EUR 438. But "Les Arcs" days are about EUR5 cheaper (more at weekends) and I'm unlikely to do more than 2 days in La Plagne, so if I only trigger Paradiski rates on two days, the total SALC cost is pretty much the same as the 7 day pass. And if there's just one day of poor vis, which would mean we don't ski, then the total cost falls to around EUR350. 2 days not skiing and the cost is ~EUR300.
I had not thought that going through the Express Lane gate might be treated as a conversion to an Essentials day pass (ie, a Paradiski rate, in SALC terms), but perhaps it would. That would be handy, as it would give us the option to use the Express Lanes if the queues were awful. I might try it, experimentally, to find out.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@koru, If you are worried about loosing days due to bad weather then you might prefer to stay in the Arc 1600 - Vallandry side of the ridge. Arc2000 does occaisionnaly get closed due to bad weather. Though I have to say this is not common. It is very rare for Arc1600 to be totally closed down.
| Quote: |
I had not thought that going through the Express Lane gate might be treated as a conversion to an Essentials day pass (ie, a Paradiski rate, in SALC terms), but perhaps it would.
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Personnaly I doubt this very much but I just don't know.
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| koru wrote: |
| As I understand it, once I have the card, if I use it in Les Arcs on a particular day, it charges me the day rate specified on their website, based on a discount on the day rate that I would pay if I just rocked up to the ticket office that day. And if, in that day, I take the lift to connect with La Plagne, it instead charges me for a PARADISKI day rate, again discounted. Is that right? |
Correct, from the FAQ's
NB for the Les Arcs/La Plagne Areas:
If you switch from one of the areas to the other on the same day, the Ski à la Carte day rate in force is based on "Paradiski" rate.
| koru wrote: |
| Does that mean if I stay in Les arcs all day, I’m effectively having a “classic” pass loaded onto my card for that day? So I don’t get to use the express lanes? |
I would imagine so as until you cross the over your pass is not a Paradiski pass. But I would check on this if it's important to you as I don't believe it's covered in the FAQ's or T&C's
| koru wrote: |
| I would not want to go to la plagne every day, so I like the idea of saving some cash those days and being able to make up my mind when I’m on the slopes. But if I want to benefit from the express lanes whilst staying in Les arcs, is there a way to do that without traveling on the connecting lift to la plagne? |
Not that I am aware of.
Something to build into your calcs if you haven't already is the half day free you get with a Paradiski pass and the weekend rates that are available. When we go (stay on the La Plagne side) I buy a 6-day pass Sun to Fri, ski half day on the first Sat and get a samediski day rate on the second Saturday. But I wouldn't stay in the hut whatever the weather so the a la carte probably wouldn't work for me anyhow.
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Does anyone have a good ski instructor recommendation for Les Arc?
I’ll be doing 5-6 weeks, and i’m planning lots of lessons in the first week and then a few over the remaining weeks
In my experience, instructors sometimes have more favorable prices if you go to them directly vs. through their affiliated ski school, so someone on that wavelength would be ideal!
Thanks in advance gang
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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JP at Aim Ski School. Nice guy, excellent instructor and if you’re booking multiple lessons I’d guess he’d be happy to discuss a block booking discount, especially if those lessons are outside of the peak weeks.
https://www.ski-aim.com/
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| AlIre2024 wrote: |
Does anyone have a good ski instructor recommendation for Les Arc?
I’ll be doing 5-6 weeks, and i’m planning lots of lessons in the first week and then a few over the remaining weeks
In my experience, instructors sometimes have more favorable prices if you go to them directly vs. through their affiliated ski school, so someone on that wavelength would be ideal!
Thanks in advance gang |
Brice Lamons is the best. Incredible knowledge of the area having grown up in Les Arcs, taught my partner and kids to ski and you can find him on instagram. I book him every year.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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News spotted on Facebook, work on the new TransArc gondola is nearly finished. The three stations are nearly complete and they will soon load the gondolas on to the cable. Plenty of time for testing which hopefully ensures it’s running smoothly on opening day.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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@rob@rar, One of the advantages of the Transarc being out of action in the summer was opening of Bois de l'Ours lift for inter-valley foot traffic. Which also meant it was available for downloads, and afforded this opportunity for pictures of Arc 1950 and 2000. (It was almost as good as the Tyrolean zip wire for views - but considerably cheaper!)
That's not to say that having Transarc working again for the winter season opener isn't a good thing!!
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We love the view from the Bois chair and can often be seen turning round to look at it as we make our way up. Absolutely brilliant photo Arctic, thank you.
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You know it makes sense.
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Does anyone have recommendations for ski schools in 1800 that would be able to supply 1 2 1 tuition for my six year old during half term for an hour and a half per day, just got a quote from ESF and was surprised by how expensive it was. Thought it might be worth shopping around a bit. Thanks in advance.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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| wills_h wrote: |
| Does anyone have recommendations for ski schools in 1800 that would be able to supply 1 2 1 tuition for my six year old during half term for an hour and a half per day, just got a quote from ESF and was surprised by how expensive it was. Thought it might be worth shopping around a bit. Thanks in advance. |
Get in touch with Brice Lamons on Instagram. I use him every year for 1:1 and he’s brilliant.
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Poster: A snowHead
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The webcam has been turned on again, so you can see the (now completed) work on the top station of the TransArc.
Curiously, they have knocked down the top half of the building that used to house the Pisteurs (between the Arcabulle and TransArc lifts). The bottom half of the building, which contains the toilets, seems to remain, but the top half has been removed and replaced with another picnic spot.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Heading to 1800 in January with the family. It’ll be our first time there and I’m wondering is there a way to access the Aguille Rouge cable car from 1800, as a pedestrian, using the lift system or is that only possible via Varet from 2000? (Requiring a bus from 1800 to 2000 to access Varet)
Thanks.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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@Ryehill Runner, only via the Varet gondola, so you’d have to take the bus (two buses, actually) from 1800 to 2000 and then walk alongside the piste to get to the Varet. .
Welcome to snowHeads.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Cheers Rob.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| rob@rar wrote: |
The webcam has been turned on again, so you can see the (now completed) work on the top station of the TransArc.
Curiously, they have knocked down the top half of the building that used to house the Pisteurs (between the Arcabulle and TransArc lifts). The bottom half of the building, which contains the toilets, seems to remain, but the top half has been removed and replaced with another picnic spot. |
Just had a look on the webcam. Maybe the pisteurs will now be in that building next to the Transarc.
That picnic spot will have a superb view.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| rob@rar wrote: |
Anyone in Les Arcs this summer? I've been watching a new building (circled in red in the webcam photo below) be constructed near the blue path from the top of the Vaguer chair towards the snowpark (I think the piste is called Arpette 2?). The building, and the path to it, have been constructed in the last couple of months. I can't make out what it is, so if anyone is passing it would be good to have a report.
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Yeah, I saw those, Rob, when I was there in the summer. Regrettably, I cannot tell you what the building is being built for!
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TransArc gondolas on the cable today for the first time I think, guess they are testing for certification? Glad they’re getting it tested and running in plenty of time for opening day.
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@rob@rar, ahh the working webcams again!. Bang goes the working day...
Where did you see the gondolas Rob - they're not on the 'usual suspects', so do I presume you've your own secret webcam set up somewhere? 
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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You can see the Transarc gondolas on the Arcabulle camera...
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@Arctic Roll, as @wills_h said, the Arcabulle webcam is now working fully again (over the summer it didn't point at the TransArc top station, only down the valley). Yesterday there seemed to be half a dozen new cabins moving in and out of the TransArc top station before disappearing, presumably being put back to bed in the garage at the mid station after a busy day of testing.
Work on widening the Belvedere piste as it approaches the top of the Mont Blanc chairlift seems to be nearing completion. They've had a digger and lorries dumping soil and rocks there for the last week or two.
The SnowPark webcam has also been turned back on, but the Arc1950 webcams have been turned off for a couple of weeks.
A little bit sad what you watch when you're waiting for the snow to arrive... 
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FAQ
