 Poster: A snowHead
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@rjstua, Almost an impossible question to answer so far ahead. This last week has been +5 to +8 degrees at 2000m! That said, Hestra gloves are excellent in my experience. My Hestra gloves keep hands warm when needed but don’t make my hands sweat when it’s warm like it has been.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Those temps have me worried! Good to hear that your Hestras aren't just cooking your hands when it's relatively warm!
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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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| rjstua wrote: |
| What kind of temps should I expect to encounter on the slopes in a few weeks? I get cold hands(sometimes get some white fingers/tips etc) so I'm looking at getting some Hestra 3 finger gloves. Just want to make sure I'm not over doing it and will end up with hot and sweaty hands! |
If you ski at all regularly it's probably worthwhile getting these (or another good set) regardless of the weather this season, as you'll probably (hopefully?) have colder skiing conditions another year.
I always bring an old crap pair of gloves with me as well as my Hestras - I am the opposite in that I don't ever get particularly cold, so I get very sweaty hands in the Hestra pair unless it's decently cold (mine are not one of the leather sets, however), so I use the rubbish gloves when it's warmer. There's nothing to stop you bringing whatever you've used in the past as well if conditions are too warm!
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| rjstua wrote: |
| What kind of temps should I expect to encounter on the slopes in a few weeks? I get cold hands(sometimes get some white fingers/tips etc) so I'm looking at getting some Hestra 3 finger gloves. Just want to make sure I'm not over doing it and will end up with hot and sweaty hands! |
To get warm fingers, you need warm wrists.
Where the big main bloodvessels are located.
Warm wrists = warm fingers.
Buy some Hestra gauntlets. They stop windchill to the wrist. Other brands are available.
Pair them with wrist-gaiters. They stop windchill and heatup the bloodflow.
Leave zero skin exposed.
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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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Hestra gauntlets ordered buddy!
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Wonderful day. Sunny, warm. First day I skied in 10 days and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Giant slalom training on the stade above Champagny this morning, and on the stade in Belle Plagne this afternoon.
Borseliers was turning on lower speed than normal from around 10.45-11.45 which created quite the queue, it then closed for 20 minutes before reopening again normally.
There are some people in resort but not nearly as busy as is announced for next week yet.
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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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@Jonpim, Haha, the truth of the matter is that I'm neither French nor English and fortunately, as I was training and so using the ski school line, I never actually had to stand in the horrific queue, so I did not experience the true extent of it.
On the other hand, because the lift stopped at the end of the morning, we did have to hike up from the bottom of the stade to the draglift. With heaps of slalom and giant slalom poles. So that was a supplementary cardio workout after morning training yesterday.
Wonderful day today, still gorgeous weather and relatively warm. GS and superG on the stade de slalom in Belle Plagne today. More and more people around, everywhere.
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Haven’t skied La Plagne for years but looking at potentially heading there next Jan for a week with group of 8. How busy was it this year in first couple of weeks of Jan (post holidays) have vague nightmares of bellecote and Plagne centre lift queues. My dad is flatly refusing based on experience but trying to talk him around.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I was there 12 to 15 January, stopping in Plagne Centre. It wasn’t what I’d call busy but there were small waves of business at certain lifts as people moved between areas of the resort. Bergerie, Colosses and Arpette were the usual culprits but nothing more than a few minutes wait. There are definitely quieter places to go though in January (remember a January trip to Chamonix which was deserted by comparison).
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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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Ldj226, We were there 13th -20th January and it felt exceptionally busy for January. It wasn’t just the busyness though. There just seemed to be so many more inconsiderate out of control individuals around. We’ve been every year to Belle-Plagne either for the December opening week or for “quiet” January for the past 11 years (ex Covid years) and this year was far busier than any other. Maybe it’s just a one-off but we’re seriously thinking about somewhere else next year.
Queues we can deal with but overcrowded pistes are simply unpredictable and dangerous.
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@Ldj226, definitely go elsewhere
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You know it makes sense.
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Thanks for the insights people useful feedback
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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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I think I said earlier in the thread but I was told by my instructor there were lots of European university groups out the week I was there in January. That would probably explain some of the occasionally stupid skiing and boarding that I witnessed.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Hi all - I'll be heading out to La Plagne tomorrow from the UK (contributing the anticipated crowds next week...sorry). GVA flight and hire car.
Could anyone comment on the weather / piste conditions that I could take into account when packing / travelling? Thank you
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@trolleyed, pack from all eventualities - weather in the mountains is very changeable.
FWIW short range forecast is for colder weather and some light snow.
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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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Week 2 and specifically week 3 of January are traditionally the quietest weeks of the Season along with the Pre Christmas opening week.
This season pre Christmas was fine BUT then the weather turned and many low/local resorts closed or were very limited thus the users of those resorts headed to higher snow sure areas such as La Plagne. Particularly noticeable were the full carparks during the day and empty at night indicating large numbers of day trippers. Added to the traditional University trips which usually go unnoticed, plus lots of Dutch (not sure why), gave a very busy quiet period! I even heard restaurant staff moaning it was so busy for mid January.
Hopefully. it's just a one off this year. New Year week was certainly the busiest I can remember for a long time.
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@boredsurfin, Agree - new year week was bonkers busy!
The was there Thurs-Mon just gone and it still felt a lot busier than previous quiet week trips. Met a lot of Dutch who were being bussed in in large numbers on organised coach trips. Finger’s crossed it’s a weather related blip, although with global warming it’s arguably just likely to get worse as smaller/lower resorts become unviable….
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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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@chopkins13, The numbers of Dutch was very odd, it wasn't even down to one of their winter public holidays.
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@boredsurfin, aside from the busy slopes, they made for a much more lively atmosphere in some of the bars in Belle Plagne  they know how to have fun!
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Thanks @layne most appreciated
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Hi, arriving on the 24th feb with my family. We are staying in belle plagne. I would appreciate any info bout the village or pistes and weather updates!
Thanks
Chris
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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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@bluemonday2003@hotmail.co, not stayed in Belle Plagne, sorry, can't help you there. However there is a blue piste (think it's Arpette) that leads into the centre of Bellecote that gets manic at peak times, as it's relatively narrow to handle the volume of users, and quite slushy so I would suggest avoid at peak times if you can, but this obviously depends on the confidence and level of skiing of your family members. Another pinch point is the top of Roche de Mio, quite a few lifts offload and if you are heading down the La Plagne side, the short blue (Levasset Haut - just looked at the piste map) can get pretty crowded, but it's short and separates out into multiple pistes. Enjoy, we are leaving as you arrive so if I can, will post updates here.
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Left Plagne Centre at 9am today with my 2 teenagers to make our pilgrimage to the takeaway in Arcs2000. After a few cm of snow overnight the pistes down to the Vanoise were fantastic. Surprised that the first place we queued at was Derby in Arcs. Bit of a blizzard and reduced visibility skiing down to Carreley (we wanted to avoid standing on the Transarc). Dropped off Col des Frettes into great visibility and some sunshine in Arcs2000.
After lunch we made our way back via Bois de l'ours and down the blue all the way back to the Vanoise. Top section was white out and zero visibility but this soon cleared as we dropped down. Easy trio of chairs got us back to Arpette.
Drop down into Belle Plagne and then Bellecote was mogulled and very busy (as noted above). Queue for Collosses only 5 - 10mins. Dropped back into Centre for a well earned  having skied almost all variations of piste surface from soft and flat, ice scraped in places and chopped up through all types of weather conditions (also as predicted above!) Had a great time with tired legs now.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Wonderful day. The weather was a mix: mostly cloudy but the right mask solved that easily, at some points visibility improved or the sun came through. The touch-up on the slopes was truly lovely. So very enjoyable skiing, and I got to travel around quite a bit around resort with my clients that are of intermediate level. La Plagne entirely convinced them how fitting and varied its terrain really can be for their progression.
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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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@trolleyed, That sounds like a good day out 
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@trolleyed, One point which many folk are not aware of, is that if you are based in La Plagne and bought the full Paradiski lift pass then you benefit from the Files Rapide in Les Arcs. There are 13 lifts where you can jump the queues by using the yellow fast lanes. These lifts are: Villards, Carreley, Mont Blanc, Varet, Comborcière, Derby, Grizzly, Peisey, Vagère, Arpette, Bois de l'Ours, Marmottes, Vallandry. A couple of weeks ago we found this particularly handy for busy Derby and Varet.
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You know it makes sense.
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| Hamlet wrote: |
| @trolleyed, One point which many folk are not aware of, is that if you are based in La Plagne and bought the full Paradiski lift pass then you benefit from the Files Rapide in Les Arcs. There are 13 lifts where you can jump the queues by using the yellow fast lanes. These lifts are: Villards, Carreley, Mont Blanc, Varet, Comborcière, Derby, Grizzly, Peisey, Vagère, Arpette, Bois de l'Ours, Marmottes, Vallandry. A couple of weeks ago we found this particularly handy for busy Derby and Varet. |
Useful to know, I'm in La Plagne in a few weeks and thought that was for guests who bought the pass on the Les Arcs side. The fastlanes are useful though.
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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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Bit of a review after our week in Plagne Village Feb 3-10
3 x families, 6 adults, 7 kids, all staying in Odalys Front de Neige
Starting with the bad stuff ...
Drove from Lyon on Saturday, left at 4pm, arrived at 10pm!
Crawled the whole way there, a combination of traffic and I believe overspill from earlier protests etc
Car had summer tyres and based on advice above I had brought snow socks for it to satisfy the legal requirement - I didn't need to use them
The same drive back to Lyon took 2hrs 20!
Hotel ...
Worked out very well, loved being able to ski in/out
If staying here and getting lessons use the ESF in Plagne Soleil - it's 200m away so can walk or ski down
Lessons ...
Some of the kids were with Supreme Ski (Vito and Edoardo) each morning and they absolutely loved it - great balance of technical and fun
Second/third week skiing (8-11 year olds) and they were able for any blue and a number of reds by end of week - would highly recommend if looking for private group lessons
2 other kids were with ESF in Plagne Soleil and had a very good experience too - very accommodating and understanding of kids needs.
Skiing ...
Super amount of skiing for all abilities IMO, but especially for improvers - there are a huge amount of nice fast & wide blues to practise on.
Had some lovely mornings over towards Roche de Mio, Champagny where it seemed quieter
Afternoons were a bit busy around Bellecotte, with chopped up conditions on approach from all sides so we tended to take the kids up over Plagne Centre on the Colorado/Lovatiere etc at that time
There were times the lifts were busy, altho I'd say 15-20 mins or so was the longest wait I had and that was pretty rare
Really enjoyed it, would highly recommend for families especially
Thanks for all the advice above!
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Poster: A snowHead
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@PatrickK_ie, thanks for reporting back - always good to hear how people got on.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@PatrickK_ie, thanks for your review. I am staying at Front de Neige next week, not stayed at that particular residence before (but La Plagne plenty of times) so would be good if you have any advice or thoughts on the facilities?
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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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Off to La Plagne on Thursday for 4 days with 4 complete beginner kids. Staying at Ho 36 as it was only cost effective place we could find that allowed us to go across to HT's.
Any tips would be appreciated for ski hire and what passes to get, also some nice places to eat with kids!
Kids in private lessons for 2 -3 hours per day.
Use to go to Belle Plagne as a kid but cannot remember much about La Plagne!
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| Snowmadmum wrote: |
| @PatrickK_ie, thanks for your review. I am staying at Front de Neige next week, not stayed at that particular residence before (but La Plagne plenty of times) so would be good if you have any advice or thoughts on the facilities? |
Hi - we’re at Front de Neige at the moment, what would you like to know? It’s fairly nice, only been here a couple of days though. Crap pillows! Main tip would be to bring a full kitchen pack with you, nothing really is provided.
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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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| Snowmadmum wrote: |
| @PatrickK_ie, thanks for your review. I am staying at Front de Neige next week, not stayed at that particular residence before (but La Plagne plenty of times) so would be good if you have any advice or thoughts on the facilities? |
Sure!
We were very happy with it tbh.
It's a pretty big hotel, set over 4 blocks so depending on where you are you can be quite far from reception etc but no biggie.
The rooms themselves were a good size (for a ski resort) and well kitted out in terms of cooking and eating equipment (no ovens btw)
Ours had a Nespresso machine and a filter coffee maker, kettle, toaster, microwave, stove top and dishwasher
Pretty much nothing provided in terms of cleaning equipment so no harm to throw in a tea-towel / dishwasher tabs etc to save having to buy them locally
TVs have no HDMI connection so not compatible with firesticks/devices etc
We were in block D which had the pool, restaurant and was directly above the boot room and exit to slopes which was super handy
Pool is free to use/included and was a nice way to relax after a day on the slopes.
We only used the restaurant on one night but was very nice - a touch more pricey than some places
There's a Spar 5 mins walk away and also the Telebus (gondola) which is very handy if you wanted to pop over to Plagne Centre to eat in the evening
Although you're in Plagne Village, you'll find that the facilities (ski school, equipment rental, lunch spots) in Plagne Soleil are easier for you to use because the slope that runs down to the hotel (Ecartee) is on the Soleil side ...
Shout if any other info needed
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| chaletgirl002 wrote: |
| Snowmadmum wrote: |
| @PatrickK_ie, thanks for your review. I am staying at Front de Neige next week, not stayed at that particular residence before (but La Plagne plenty of times) so would be good if you have any advice or thoughts on the facilities? |
Hi - we’re at Front de Neige at the moment, what would you like to know? It’s fairly nice, only been here a couple of days though. Crap pillows! Main tip would be to bring a full kitchen pack with you, nothing really is provided. |
Horrendous pillows!
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| wyattjnr wrote: |
Off to La Plagne on Thursday for 4 days with 4 complete beginner kids. Staying at Ho 36 as it was only cost effective place we could find that allowed us to go across to HT's.
Any tips would be appreciated for ski hire and what passes to get, also some nice places to eat with kids!
Kids in private lessons for 2 -3 hours per day.
Use to go to Belle Plagne as a kid but cannot remember much about La Plagne! |
We rented from Ski Republic Les Ecrins through here - https://www.alpinresorts.com/en/ski-rental/france/rhone-alpes/la-plagne-centre-aime/ski-republic-la-plagne-bellecote
Was the cheapest I could find around - 209e/week for 2 adults and 2 kids and equipment was fine for our needs
We went for the local (La Plagne) ski pass rather than the Paradiski pass and there was more than enough for us to discover in that - Paradiski includes Les Arcs but we would not have had enough time to use that and get back to pick kids up from lessons
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| wyattjnr wrote: |
Off to La Plagne on Thursday for 4 days with 4 complete beginner kids. Staying at Ho 36 as it was only cost effective place we could find that allowed us to go across to HT's.
Any tips would be appreciated for ski hire and what passes to get, also some nice places to eat with kids!
Kids in private lessons for 2 -3 hours per day.
Use to go to Belle Plagne as a kid but cannot remember much about La Plagne! |
We stopped at Ho36 in January. Their restaurant is a bit of a joke to be honest, it wasn’t busy when we were there but were told over 90 minutes wait for a table for 6 (and then told after 90 minutes they couldn’t accommodate us). Ended up going for a kebab at Mama’s Kitchen at 10pm instead that night. Bar service is good though with excellent cocktails and the man in the boot room couldn’t be more helpful.
Not too sure about kids food but Vache Rouge was decent enough in the day time and there’s plenty of pizza places within 5 minutes walk.
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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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| Quote: |
We stopped at Ho36 in January. Their restaurant is a bit of a joke to be honest, it wasn’t busy when we were there but were told over 90 minutes wait for a table for 6 (and then told after 90 minutes they couldn’t accommodate us). Ended up going for a kebab at Mama’s Kitchen at 10pm instead that night. Bar service is good though with excellent cocktails and the man in the boot room couldn’t be more helpful.
Not too sure about kids food but Vache Rouge was decent enough in the day time and there’s plenty of pizza places within 5 minutes walk.
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I am certainly not holding out much in terms of expectations with Ho36. They emailed me a fortnight ago to tell me that they had accidentally double booked our room and we have to go to two room over our stay. We won't be eating dinner there, just breakfast.
Did you hire your ski's from their ski hire? Anygood? If not, where would you recommend?
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Breakfast selection was actually pretty decent for the price, no complaints there. I take my own skis so can’t comment to much but the ski room is pretty small so unless they store offsite then I suspect their range is limited. A couple in our group rented from Allais Ski Set, and I got a snowboard from them for a few days. All happy with the service from that store.
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FAQ
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