 Poster: A snowHead
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hello its me again
We have a mised group of 8 of use sking, we have seen a Chalet in Les Arcs 2000 and have two questions for those in the know!
1) Can you ski in and out of Arcs 2000 on blues for the new skiers in our groups
2) Can you get a drag lift out of Arcs 2000 instead of a gondalor?
Cheers for reading and thanks for your answers in advance.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Paul Chittenden, I have seen plenty of beginners groups with ESF around Arc 2000, so I would say yes, good for beginners and novice skiers. The lift Q can be easily answered by one of the property owners on here, or PG, I am sure they will be along soon. 
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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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Paul Chittenden, there are several gentle (and long) blues which run towards Arc 2000. There are two gondolas around Arc 2000: Varet and Cabriolet. Varet is used to access the steeper pistes on the Aiguille Rouge (reds and blacks) and Cabriolet is the pedestrian-freindly link between Arc 1950 and Arc 2000. If you don't want to ski the steeper pistes on Aiguille Rouge, you can easily avoid these two gondolas. Other lifts are mainly chairlifts, although I think there might be one baby draglift serving a small nursery slope.
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Paul Chittenden, Arc 1800 is more user-friendly for novices. It's like a big beachfront with quite friendly slopes ending up there. Arc 2000 is more restricted for first-timers.
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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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David Goldsmith, not entirely sure I agree with that, but in any case one of the main lifts out of Arc 1800 is the TransArc gondola which I think would be too claustrophobic for Paul or one of his group (you really do get squeezed into it with lots of other people).
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Arc 2000 is fine for beginners. And you can get all the way over to Peissey Vallandry without going on a gondola, (but not back!) There are plenty of good blues all round the resort. The St jaques lift is free, so real beginners won't need a lift pass for the first few days. I think you will be fine at 2000.
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Paul Chittenden, IMO the skiing in Les Arcs is the best piste skiing of any mega-station in France, the main problem with Arc 2000 IMO is that it's north facing, so that during Jan the sun doesn't appear until late morning and is gone by about 3pm, which can make it very cold and miserable. If your group are all or majority beginners you might do better to find a resort that's mainly south facing. La Rosiere is exactly opposite Arc 2000 and is south facing, so the pistes get warmer faster and stay sunnier longer, this can make a big difference to a beginner's enjoyment and consequent progress.
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| Chris Bish wrote: |
| Arc 2000 is fine for beginners. And you can get all the way over to Peissey Vallandry without going on a gondola, (but not back!) |
You can get back to 2000 from Peisey without taking a gondola (although it's a slightly longer route than catching the 2nd stage of the TransArc). You'd take the Vallandry or Grizzly chairlifts, then ski down to Gd Renard chair and up to the top of the Edelweiss piste, then ski down to the Marmottes chair and take that up to Arc 2000 (blue pistes just about all the route). If Gd Renard os shut you could go via the Col des Frettes chair and take the Plan piste (also blue) to Arc 2000.
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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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On account of Rob's point I've had a look at the lift map and it looks as if Arc 2000 has improved its network for easier skiing since I was last there. Thanks for correcting me, Rob.
Here are the two maps to compare [they both have a zoom button bottom right]:
Arc 1600 / Arc 1800 map
Arc 2000 / Arc 1950 map
Last edited by You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net. on Mon 7-11-05 17:06; edited 1 time in total
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My first skiing trip was to Arc2000. I taught myself to ski on the blues off the free chair (St Jaques chair -don't know if it is still free) on day 1, then skiied with my friends for the rest of the week. There were plenty of blues around 2000 and over the ridge towards 1800 to keep me happy and no problems geting back via Plan or Plan des eoux. There were also several easy reds I was doing by the end of the week.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Dave Horsley wrote: |
| ... the free chair (St Jaques chair -don't know if it is still free) |
It was last year, but I don't think it will be this season for some reason (although not 100% sure on this).
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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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Cheers for all this helpful advice, I think all of the group are reading this. A few may even become 
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You know it makes sense.
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Arc2000 is great for nervous folks - and I'm pretty sure you can get everywhere by chair at least as both my OH and I hate gondolas (he gets claustrophobic and I hate standing up due to uncomfy boots) and I think we managed to avoid them all week...Les Arcs generally is one of my favourite resorts for mixed groups - definately a good choice!
Arc1800 gets a bit icy at the bottom but from 2000 you can ski easy, predictable, non icy pistes all day...with nice long chair lifts so you get a rest between runs...If you want I'll dig out my run by run guide (written for some friends) it covers loads of the blue runs and lifts (from last year) Just let me know if it would be useful - when I was a nervous beginner it really helped to know which were the easy blues and which might be tricky!
aj xx
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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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ajhainey,
Cheers, if you have it it would be superb, though only if it's easy to find.
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Poster: A snowHead
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rob@rar.org.uk, Paul Chittenden,
I'd heard as well that Jacques wasn't going to be free this year, which is a shame as it is a very good beginners piste. My 3yr old was learning on it on week 2, and then we continued on down all the way to the bottom of Pre St Esprit, a run of probably 3 km?
So yes, plenty of blues.
Apart from the cabriolet which is really pedestrian access between 1950 / 2000, you won't want to be taking beginners up Varet anyway, well, not if you want them to ski again. Although I understand they are widening Arondelieres this year, it is still a 'true' red from the Varet back to the Vallee de l'arc. Don't mess with nervous newcomers.
So, yup, you can avoid gondolas.
And, as above, you can make it back on chairs from Plan Peisey, which btw, probably has the nicest mix of blue skiing in the Arcs complexes I think. Just takes a while, as the Grand Reynards is a slow old clunker.
Don't know what Rob thinks (he being based on that side of the mountain - I'm at 1950) , but I always think that the blue from the top of the Combouciere lift (Belvedere?) is a nasty little track, and not a friendly way to cross the range. My advice would be to avoid.
My favourite run in the 2000 valley , which is just lovely for learning on (apart from the 'drop in' of about 50 metres) is Plan Vert: turn right from the top of Plagnettes, and under the Transarc - but if you can persuade beginners at the end of their 1st week to traverse, then turn, traverse and turn: you only have to do it a couple of times, it really is a beautiful run from then on in and always empty.
End up at Marmottes, or cut across the valley on Plan ( but that is a bit flat, and may need some stick work) and you are home in time for a swift vin chaud.
If you have a quick look at it when you are out, and decide they can't make it, then Plan des Eaux, the other way off Plagnettes is do-able, but probably a bit steeper, for longer than some other blues around, just before joiining onto Vallee de l'Arc. The Col du Chat route, ( bear right rather than left at the junction about 500m left from Plagnettes) down to the bottom of Grand Col and round , again joining up with Vallee d l'Arcs is very flat and will almost certainly need pole-ing for a part of the way. But is a gentle way to introduce them to seeing some of the possibilties when you get away from the beginners slopes close to town. And then a lovely run back from Grand Col all the way to 2000.
It's a great place, and well suited for mixed ability, with many junction points between the runs of varying grades going slightly different routes from A - B. Which allows you to meet up, or ski a tricky bit on your own, and then come back to the group a little further on.
Go for it!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| JimW wrote: |
| Don't know what Rob thinks (he being based on that side of the mountain - I'm at 1950) , but I always think that the blue from the top of the Combouciere lift (Belvedere?) is a nasty little track, and not a friendly way to cross the range. My advice would be to avoid. |
The piste itself is not bad, but it can be a bit nerve-racking as it is cut into the hillside with the inevitable steep drop on the downhill side (only partially fenced off). This can easily freak some skiers, including me if I'm a bit tired and want to get home without having to think about what I'm doing! However, I tend to use it quite a lot to get back from 2000 to my apartment as the queue for the Bois de L'Ours lift can often be much busier than the queue for the Comborciere lift. The other advantage of the top half of the Belvedere piste is that it links to the deux tetes and the mont blanc pistes which are both fun 
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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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| JimW wrote: |
It's a great place, and well suited for mixed ability, with many junction points between the runs of varying grades going slightly different routes from A - B. Which allows you to meet up, or ski a tricky bit on your own, and then come back to the group a little further on.
Go for it! |
That's absolutely right. Most destinations have a range of ways to get there, from easy blues to steeper or faster pistes. Everyone can get around a large proportion of the domain, which I think is very important for mixed ability groups.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I would have thought Arc 2000 pretty good for a mixed group with some novices/nervous skiers. Some very pretty runs - long and easy, and the chairlift seem to be easy on and off too. The Varet gondola is a sit down so no achy feet though. I can't speak about other parts of Les Arcs due to not having been there when they were open! EOSB last year.
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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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FAQ
but I might as well add my two penn'orth.
). Most of the time, I was hacking to the bottom of Cascades (another lovely run) having started at the top of either the Varet bubble or the Plagnettes chair.
