 Poster: A snowHead
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Belle Plagne
18th to 25th January 2014
Les Constellation Appartments booked through Crystal Ski
Group. My husband (skied on and off since a kid), stepson (learned as a kid but first trip in 7 years) and myself (third full week on snow plus a few days elsewhere). A couple of friends also came along for their first ski trip in a long time.
Travel Out. We took the overnight Eurostar from St Pancras as we fancied the extra days skiing. The three of us upgraded to Standard Premier which I think was worth it. A small meal with wine which was fine but as it was quiet we were all able to have 2 seats each which helped with sleep. Reckon I got about 5 hours dozing which is on a par with what I would get the night before an early flight. The other 2 in economy also managed some kip. Picked up by Crystal off the train and ended up with a private transfer up to resort, there was meant to be one other guy but he did not get off the train. Got to Les Constellations reception around 0720 so had some time to hang around before skiing.
Appartments. On arrival we were told we could not get into the apartments till after 3. Following a shift change we were told that with a small payment (50 euros between us) both apartments would be available at 10. Given this we decided to wait and dump the kit at 10 before hitting the slopes.
We knew what to expect after staying in these apartments for a week last winter and 2 in the summer. We were in a different block this year, Licorne. They were fine but a bit cramped for 3, which we expected. I prefer Andromode for access to the slopes but no big issue.
Hire Kit. We prebooked through Crystal, slight gripe with this for me. We booked early and took advantage of an early booking offer for 2 of us for 6 day lift pass and ski hire, closer to departure we added 8 days kit and pass for the boy and asked for 2 extra days for us. They repriced our ski packs and we effectively lost the early booking deal. Lesson learned and I'll be booking passes and kit hire myself in the future.
We used the ski set location at Belle Plagne Sports 2, same as last years. No issues with our skis and when the boy went back with his boots later in the week they were happy to change them.
Lessons. I've spoken about and recommended to Oxygene to others on here before and had prebooked with them again this year. I had 2 lessons booked for Sunday and Tuesday afternoons plus one lesson for my husband on the Sunday afternoon. Booking via email works fine and this year the meeting point for private lessons has moved to their new office.
This year I had Antoine as my instructor. Friendly, excellent English and seemed to have a real love of what he does. After my friend having an accident the previous day I was feeling a bit nervous but he soon drew me out of myself and I progressed nicely. He was complimentary about my technique and we worked on bringing me up to the next level. On Tuesday I was not really looking forward to the lesson due to really poor visibility. On meeting up with Antoine he asked if it was ok for us to go up to the glacier as he had heard above 3000m was sunny. I agreed and off we went. Arrived on the glacier to stunning blue skies and sunshine above the clouds. We headed up to the top and down the red on the main glacier, then Antoine suggested we do the Chiaupe black as it was in good conditions. This was my first ever black, the snow was great and we were the only skiers on the piste. Brilliant experience! A few more red runs of the glacier and we headed home via Sources, a whole afternoon on red runs with a cheeky black - a total first in my skiing career. Antoine also took some pictures of me and emailed them to me later which I thought was really nice.
My husband decided on the Sunday to take the boy with him on his lesson, a quick call to
Oxygene and no problem. They had Jenny and came back enthusing about what a great time they had had. Husband is already considering a return to la Plagne next year and a lesson or 2 with Jenny.
The Skiing. After skiing last year I knew what to expect. The snow was not nearly as awesome as last year but there was plenty on the pistes. The first Saturday was glorious, we had some easy skiing around the Arpette to regain the ski legs and the 2 guys of the group finished up early to go back and get the apartments stocked. I headed off to the Plagne centre bowl with the boy and my mate for a wee ski and to show them the various lifts. Both of them were skiing much quicker than me and hanging around a lot. I ended up going first and we lost my friend coming down a blue towards Plagne Centre. We stopped and waited, and waited. Couldn't see any issues up the piste, even traversed to the other side of the piste for a better view. Called my mate and said we would see her at the lift. After a further wait the boy went back up for a look but she was nowhere to be seen. We figured she had gone down a different piste, dropped her a text and headed home. Got home and discovered she had left her phone behind, finally just before 6 her
mobile went and it was her in the medical centre. ACL done and trip over - ouch. Her other half went to go and get her home - long story followed but their insurance sorted them out and flew then both home.
We had poor visibility on Monday and Tuesday but Wednesday was a stunning day. We headed over to Champany and it was awesome. Blue skies, nice pistes and empty. No lift queues at all and we loved skiing Hari Kiri and Kamikaze off the Verdon Sud lift plus the blue run where we had a stop for a drink at a wee hut with lovely views over to the 3V.
Thursday saw more poor visibility but we had fun playing over towards Montchavin, using the deserted blue runs to practice what we had learned in the lessons.
On Friday we met up with a colleague of mine who was over the same week. We had agreed to meet to ski Inversens. This was a big step for me to have to confidence to meet up and ski an unknown red run with someone other than my husband. With the snow the night before the piste was covered in powder which I loved. It's a lovely run and I was glad of the slow lift to recover in between. Having now improved my technique and gained confidence to ski runs like this I've really started to understand the pure joy of skiing.
The last day was another blue sky day, the pistes were even emptier. We headed over again towards Montchavin and enjoyed the empty runs down Mont Blanc and Pierre Blanches. On the way hone we had an enjoyable couple of beers at the Arpette looking over the ski area.
We never got over to Les Arcs this year, it was in our plans but sometimes life gets in the way.
Travel Home. Picked up at 2030 for the trip down to Moutiers and the train home. One tip here once you check in, the only place to go is on to the platform. It was dry and not that cold when we were there but in other conditions you may not want to check in too early
Summary. I love la Plagne. For early intermediates/low confidence skiers I think it us brilliant. Loads of runs to progress to and challenge yourself on. On piste might get a bit dull for the more advanced skier. The only queue we had all week was for the Roche di Mio gondola on Friday morning, tbh I wouldn't bother with it again, much easier to take Blanchets and Carella to get up instead. The only down side was heading out as 5 and coming home as a 3.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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We never got over to Les Arcs this year, it was in our plans but sometimes life gets in the way.
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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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We were there the same week and also had a lesson with Jenny. It could not have been better.
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