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Ski pass advice for beginners

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
My brother is taking his family to Plagne 1800 on their first ski holiday and would welcome some advice on whether to get ski passes for the whole family. His wife, 6 year old and 4 year old haven't skied before and will be taking lessons probably from ESF in the morning. Will they require local ski passes for their lessons? Also, I am sure that there is a drag lift in the vicinity of Plagne 1800 that they can practice on in the afternoons? My brother and his two older children do ski so they will get local passes, but they are arriving on the Sunday so only have 5 days skiing so it may not be worth buying a family pass. Any advice welcome!
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Only been to LaPlagne once, last year, so I'm sure someone better qualified than me will comment. However from what I remember the number of 'free' lifts is pretty limited. One per 'village' I think. Not sure what the one in Plagne 1800 is like, but the one in Plagne Centre is quite a short pomma. It might be enough for the beginners for a week, or it could be very limiting, depending on how they progress.

Our youngest was 7 and in lessons in Plagne Centre. It was organized through Crystal's childcare service and I can't say for certain who the ski school were. I do know we did get him a local pass, and that he used at least one lift with them that he needed the pass for. We also had him on one other lift at the end of the week. Now whether that was 'value for money' in his case was highly debatable. We did benefit though from the 'family' discount by buying all 4 passes as our then 17yr old got his pass for the child price, otherwise we'd have to have paid for an adult pass for him. Softened the blow a bit.

Exactly what is the best value may depend on the ages of the older 2 kids. I'm sure the 4 yr old will get a free pass though. I'd budget on everyone needing a local pass. Unless the 3 who can ski really like to cover huge distances don't bother with the options that include Les Arcs, there's plenty on the La Plagne side to keep them busy.
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Best thing is probably to contact a couple of ski schools and see what they suggest. As @Ravelin, says the free lifts are quite limited. I think that the drag lift in 1800 is a bit longer but isn't as easily accessed as the one that's in Centre (which is far too short to keep you interested for a week). If they're in 1800 then there's really no point with the Les Arcs area pass as it will take a while to ski over to the cable car and then they'll have to leave quite early from the Les Arcs side to make it back anyway. Throw in a coffee stop or two and a lunch break and they will hardly spend any time in Les Arcs with skis on their feet! Besides which there's plenty in the La Plagne side to keep them interested.

I'd suggest that your sister in law will definitely want a lift pass (unless she's a very slow learner) to at least open up the chance to have a go on some of the gentler blue runs. I went to La Plagne with only a day of experience on skis and no lessons, was quite confident on blue runs by the end of the week and attempting a red or two with a bit of trepidation...but I seemed to pick up the basics fairly quickly.
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The ski school they sign up with will advise - and often a ski pass is essential after the first day, maybe even on the first day, depending on snow conditions, apart from anything else. IME instructors like to get beginners up a longish chairlift as soon as possible, to give them a good long uninterrupted run down (and two of those might take a whole lesson, in early days)

If it's busy school holiday times the instructors will plan round the best way of using lifts to reduce queueing, as well as finding suitable conditions for the class.

But no need to worry about it now - most resorts enable you to buy passes in advance online, which saves hassle "on the day".
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Alieeeh wrote:
My brother is taking his family to Plagne 1800 on their first ski holiday and would welcome some advice on whether to get ski passes for the whole family. His wife, 6 year old and 4 year old haven't skied before and will be taking lessons probably from ESF in the morning. Will they require local ski passes for their lessons? Also, I am sure that there is a drag lift in the vicinity of Plagne 1800 that they can practice on in the afternoons? My brother and his two older children do ski so they will get local passes, but they are arriving on the Sunday so only have 5 days skiing so it may not be worth buying a family pass. Any advice welcome!


More importantly where exactly is the accommodation in 1800?

And/or is there a chance to switch to centre? Whilst the 'better' skiers could ski down to 1800 to meet the family for lunch after lessons, there aren't a huge amount / variety of food stops, nor is it very practical for the beginners to progress out of 1800 without getting on a bus either up or down. Last time I stayed in 1800, having previously done a season I found it much preferable to bus in/out based on our accommodation, but with newbie kids it'll just be a PITA
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I'd agree with @bertie bassett, but maybe it's too late to change now? It's not the most convenient part of La Plagne.
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The 4 year old will get a free La Plagne pass anyway, as they are under 6.

Are they skiing 5 days (ie Sun - Sat) or 6 days (Sun - Sun)? If the latter your most cost effective option will be to go for a 6-day family La Plagne pass for the two older children and the two adults. If the former then go for 5-day La Plagne passes for your brother and the two older children.

Then for any beginner who doesn't yet have a pass book the pass-included lessons with the ski school which gives you a good saving on passes for beginners only.

For ski schools you have two main options for group lessons - ESF in Plagne 1800 or Oxygene in Plagne Centre. You can walk to the ESF from any Plagne 1800 accommodation (not crete cote) and Oxygene run a free morning pick-up from any Plagne 1800 accommodation up to Plagne Centre.

The other option to consider is Reflex who could do a private group for the three beginners - and people generally learn faster in the private lessons because they get more one-to-one time.

Happy planning!
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