 Poster: A snowHead
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| Hamlet wrote: |
| That's a good wheeze - never thought of that route. I presume that takes you to Geisha and then Verdons Sud? |
Yes, or if you're prepared for a bit of a trudge, but nothing too major, come down on the plagne side from CdeF, stay as hugely left as you can, keep some speed up , and you can trudge up the nordic skiing path and come over the ridge just below the top of Bergerie. Compared to a massive bun fight at Bellecote, it's not too much of a hardship. In half term weeks it's a very viable option.
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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. Am heading out to Belle Plagne tomorrow for the week so will have a look - though hopefully there will be no queues next week! 
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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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| Hamlet wrote: |
| Thanks. Am heading out to Belle Plagne tomorrow for the week so will have a look - though hopefully there will be no queues next week! |
To be honest, next week , you'll have no need of the back door, should be very quiet. If you want to ski around Belle Plagne next week let me know. I'm around by myself for half of next week, so happy for the company. I know my way around pretty well so can find some quiet pistes.
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Thanks for the kind offer. My wife and I know the area well - we've been many times. We'll cover every run that's open and spend a couple of days in Les Arcs. That's weather permitting - we don't want a week of white-outs and closed runs....
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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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Hamlet (and eblunt), that way round Belle Plagne and up Col de Forcle does work, but only if you actually go up the moving carpet. Otherwise you are the wrong side of the gulley (or prepared to do some walking).
Now with the Inversens lift being so whizzy, you are just as speedy to go up to Roche de Mio and head for Verdons Sud that way.
But, as eblunt mentions, hopefully most of the crowds will go today, and the slopes and lifts will become quiet once more.
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@Jonpim, Yes of course, thanks for the correction. As I'm at BP, I never actually use that route.
A similar Bellecote avoiding one I do use though is to get to BP from the top of Bergerie ( or Colosses ). At the restaurant half way down towards Bellecote cut off on the Passage Facile track, stay on the track until it comes out at the drag. I take the drag to the first corner, drop off, and then across the top of the gulley and you're in BP.
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Yes, eblunt, that is an excellent route.
Also a good way to get over to Champagny, or just to go skiing on the excellent multiple routes, piste and on-piste, back down from the top of Leitchoums.
Today was lovely for lack of crowds, not so good for light.
Warmer than yesterday so all pistes soft, making most routes pleasantly easy.
Only problem is increasing patches where the ground is showing through.
Lets hope the weather sites suggesting a good load of snow over the next week are correct.
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i need some low down.
Next season im booking up my ski trips.
I've never skied paradiski, Im looking to book for the xmas and new years weeks. half term and the easter 2 week school holidays. There's 4 of us, wife and 2 kids (6 and 4) kids will be in ski school and snow club during the day. Not interested in apreski other than odd meal out.
how does Les Coches fit my bill for the xmas and new year weeks? Ill be buying season passes for us. How much are early bird passes? how accessible if the off piste from lifts etc?
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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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@Mother hucker, I stay in Les Coches a lot for the following reasons:
#1 - it's close to the VE so it's easy to flip over to one side or the other
#2 - the tree skiing is excellent in poor weather
#3 - simple to drive up to, not a big schlep
#4 - plenty of free outdoor parking
#5 - plenty of good priced apartment accommodation
#6 - because of the VE connection pistes to the village are well snow cannoned and links kept open
I'm with the wife and kids and self cater so don't apres but there are a small number of restaurants and bars should you need them.
There is plenty of lift serve off piste throughout the domain.
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@Mother hucker, by buying before the end of November my Paradiski season pass was 873.00€ including Carte Neige Season insurance (or £763.49 at the then exchange rate on my credit card). Bit of a bargain compared to weekly passes.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Mother hucker, what Layne says sums up well the reasons for staying at Les Coches.
Les Coches will open Saturday Dec 21st (going by past record).
At 1450m the local skiing at Xmas/New Year is a gamble: 2017/18 it was wonderful, previous 3 seasons not so good. Not sure what it was like this season as we didn't venture over.
But you have quick Gondola access to some super tree skiing, and then a chair to high altitude bliss.
We used to stay in Montchavin for half term with similar aged kids. We liked it. And that was before the huge extra bonus of the Vanoise Express and quick access to Peisey-Vallandry and the whole of Les Arcs.
Alastair, my calculations show a Season Pass becomes value at about 2.5 weeks. So not really worth it if only staying 2 weeks.
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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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@Jonpim, agreed but @Mother hucker suggests he's looking for longer than two weeks and specifically asked the question.
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Our resident accountant is currently running a spreadsheet with season pass (Mrs B and I) versus Ski a la carte (her and her sister) based on cost of actual days skiied ... It was marginal if missing a whole days skiing for the chimney sweep was an acceptable excuse to miss a day 
It will be interesting to see which works out cheaper for us... Season gets ahead but then ski al a carte throws in a one euro day and a cheap Saturday - its galling when the €1 day co-incides with a Saturday
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You know it makes sense.
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Does the ski a la carte include use of the funi and lifts for days out not spent skiing?
We found 17 days full ski pass equated to the season pass ( and that included the discount from the campsite) - no problem as we were there for the best part of 3 months.
But what really pushed the season pass ahead was being able to use the resort for more than just skiing, eg, leisurely lunch on the mountain with no skiing involved, and also, it gave freedom to ski for an hour or so on days where it wouldn't have been worth buying a full (or even half day) pass.
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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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Apologies, I was mixing up resorts - probably the above is more relevant to Les Arcs.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Alastair, you are quite right. I stupidly read it as Xmas/NewYear or Half Term etc.
But he clearly writes "and".
Then season pass is a no-brainer.
Must have won the Lottery 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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boredsurfin, I await with great interest the result of your trial of Season Pass vs Ski a la Carte.
Espec as we already have A La Carte for when we pop up to Tignes.
(and feel foolish not to have considered a la carte as an option before - well done your Resident Accountant)
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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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| Jonpim wrote: |
Alastair, you are quite right. I stupidly read it as Xmas/NewYear or Half Term etc.
But he clearly writes "and".
Then season pass is a no-brainer.
Must have won the Lottery |
yes youre right, 2 weeks at xmas and new year, feb half term(possibly in the Tatra mountains though) and 2 weeks at easter school holidays and having a season pass would possibky squeeze a long weekend or 2 in
Lottery i wish, if that were the case i'd have a chalet in Chamonix.
As i say ive never done this part if the alps and les coches looks like both sides of the mountain are accessible,
does anyone in the forum go touring in this area?
at 1400m its not mega low so at night the temps drop to have the cannons running, would i be correct to say the runs to resort are always open and you dont have to down lift?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| Layne wrote: |
@Mother hucker, I stay in Les Coches a lot for the following reasons:
#1 - it's close to the VE so it's easy to flip over to one side or the other
#2 - the tree skiing is excellent in poor weather
#3 - simple to drive up to, not a big schlep
#4 - plenty of free outdoor parking
#5 - plenty of good priced apartment accommodation
#6 - because of the VE connection pistes to the village are well snow cannoned and links kept open
I'm with the wife and kids and self cater so don't apres but there are a small number of restaurants and bars should you need them.
There is plenty of lift serve off piste throughout the domain. |
all your reasons are exactly why im thinking doing our skiing from here next 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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| Jonpim wrote: |
| We used to stay in Montchavin for half term with similar aged kids. We liked it. And that was before the huge extra bonus of the Vanoise Express and quick access to Peisey-Vallandry and the whole of Les Arcs. |
what did you do with the kids? ESF Oxyegen or something different?
how long does it take to drive to Bourg from Les coches?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Jonpim wrote: |
boredsurfin, I await with great interest the result of your trial of Season Pass vs Ski a la Carte.
Espec as we already have A La Carte for when we pop up to Tignes.
(and feel foolish not to have considered a la carte as an option before - well done your Resident Accountant) |
I will submit my findings as well, as I'm out here more ( usually about 5-6 weeks ) but Mrs will only do about 15 days skiing, and she is flaky and proud, so simply won't go out unless it's a bluebird. So I've got season pass but Mrs is on ski a la carte ( €15 version ), as she skis random days.
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| Mother hucker wrote: |
| at 1400m its not mega low so at night the temps drop to have the cannons running, would i be correct to say the runs to resort are always open and you dont have to down lift? |
Correct.
I have been at Christmas and New Year when snow cover was poor and you can always ski to Les Coches via the pistes that serves the VE.
It's critical for people to get to/from each domain.
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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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| Mother hucker wrote: |
| how long does it take to drive to Bourg from Les coches? |
Less than half an hour.
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@Mother hucker, Keeping it real and 3 negatives to Les Coches. It is very reliant on man made snow, the runs there can be sheet ice if no fresh which can be very often. 2nd it is a long way from the really good parts of La Plagne and Les Arcs. If you go out and forget something or want to go back for lunch then just popping back is not so easy. 3, you have to get on lifts to go high and quite a few lifts at times. It can get very cold before you do anything.
All the pluses quoted are 100% true but there are always some trade offs. We did a few holidays in Montchavin many years back but when looking to buy we bought elsewhere as for us the negatives outweighed any positives. Thats just personal choice before the obligatory slaughtering of my personal view. Yawn.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Mother hucker wrote: |
| what did you do with the kids? ESF Oxyegen or something different? |
Kids went with Ski School organised by Ski Esprit - i think was Evolution.
We did use ESF, but only for Private Lessons. We had excellent instructors. Also joined in Night Torchlight descent.
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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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thefatcontroller, no slaughtering: you make perfectly sensible points, and many would agree with you. But with my rose tinted glasses:
1. The runs down to Les Coches can indeed get rather icy. Just adds to the fun 
2. Not sure about "the good bits". We liked all the runs in the Montchavin sector. The kids loved the tree routes, trees good when weather bad (indeed where everyone sensible goes when weather gets bad), Dos Rond wonderful for bombing down (if you like that), Crozat area has huge between piste area for trying out off-piste skiing. And the runs around Peisey/Vallandry as good as anywhere in Les Arcs, but often forgotten as people race past them when visiting Les Arcs.
3. From Les Coches a Gondola and then a rapid chair take you right up to the pistes above the tree line. Everywhere you need a chair to get skiing, except for the ancient gondola out of Bellecote.
Everywhere is a compromise. We like 1800. Many don't.
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My take on Les Coches (we were based there first half of the season a couple of years ago), in decent conditions the pistes there are really nice. They do make sure they are open. They can be very icy and unpleasant. Christmas/ New Year 2016/17 the bare minimum of pistes were open, they were not full width, and they were probably the most horrifically icy pistes I have encountered in over 400 days skiing across 80 or 90 resorts. This season however they have been absolutely fine.
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You know it makes sense.
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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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Could be some exciting times for anyone on Verdon Sud or Verdon Nord: according to La Plagne site they are both Fermé due to "Evacuation Vent Forte" 
We are safely still in our apartment with coffee and chocky shortbread watching the "weak snow" - La Plagne's weather site's description of the blizzard outside.
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Poster: A snowHead
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We thought we would get some work done today to free up tomorrow for skiing. Has been snowing heavily even down here at Montvilliers, a fair way below Montalbert.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Went out, tried to get to La Roche for lunch but got stopped at 1800, so retired to safety of the flat, watching the blizzard.
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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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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Well, today was the day we nearly went skiing.
About 3pm we got fed up drilling holes in walls and moving furniture about and decided to head out for a quick ski in the blizzard.
Looking out of the window Melezes was definitely working, 1800 only intermittently (when you could see it).
All excited we got out, but as we walked down it seemed both lifts had stopped. They had. At 3.30! Desolé!
Large crowd of stranded skiers at the bus stop.
We met some friends, had a chat, and walked home.
Back to DIY.
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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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We managed to get from Belle Plagne across to Aime and down to Roche, then back up and down to Montalbert. Back up to Envers just as it closed cos of wind. Had to get bus from Aime to Bellecote just as Colosses and Blanchets shut (except to let a few return to Champagny). Arpette and Vanoise were shut so lots of folk stranded and unable to return to Montchavin or Les Arcs. What happens - do they lay on some buses?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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@Jonpim,  booger
Friends are selling (full ownership) a 3 bed apartment with garage space in La Bergerie, in Montalbert, top floor with views of Mont Blanc and the Valley... pm me if you know anyone that may be interested and are in a position to buy.
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| Jonpim wrote: |
| Mother hucker wrote: |
| what did you do with the kids? ESF Oxyegen or something different? |
Kids went with Ski School organised by Ski Esprit - i think was Evolution.
We did use ESF, but only for Private Lessons. We had excellent instructors. Also joined in Night Torchlight descent. |
We've done Esprit, which was good on many aspects(especially the childcare) but seeing the same faces at breakfast, afternoon tea and at dinner with the same small talk, it makes me feel trapped and enclosed. Id rather have the freedom to do our own thing.
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| thefatcontroller wrote: |
@Mother hucker, Keeping it real and 3 negatives to Les Coches. It is very reliant on man made snow, the runs there can be sheet ice if no fresh which can be very often. 2nd it is a long way from the really good parts of La Plagne and Les Arcs. If you go out and forget something or want to go back for lunch then just popping back is not so easy. 3, you have to get on lifts to go high and quite a few lifts at times. It can get very cold before you do anything.
All the pluses quoted are 100% true but there are always some trade offs. We did a few holidays in Montchavin many years back but when looking to buy we bought elsewhere as for us the negatives outweighed any positives. Thats just personal choice before the obligatory slaughtering of my personal view. Yawn. |
your 3 negatives
sheet ice as in a water injected race course ice? or scraped off hard man made snow?
you say a long way from the good parts of La Plagne or Les Arcs,
is it considerably further than say from Val Disere to Tignes?.
where did you buy in the end then?
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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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@Mother hucker, I like @thefatcontroller, he posts some good stuff and whenever he's at base (Arc 2000) he gives a good low down on conditions. But.... yes, there's always a but... he doesn't seem to like the La Plagne side very much and doesn't go over there that much.
And so, to directly counter...
To say it's very reliant on man made snow is horlicks. It's no more on made made snow than any other station at 1450m. It's not like it has a particularly sunny disposition. The man made snow is a boon because it does mean you will always be able to ski back to base no matter what the general situation.
"a long way from the really good parts of La Plagne and Les Arcs". Really? So if you are staying in Arc 2000 and want to ski all the Piste Natur off the top of Becoin or staying in Champagny/Montalbert and want to ski the Ag. Rouge, that's all very quick and convenient is it? I'll grant you if the combo is 2000/Ag. Rouge or Aime 2000/Becoin you are quids in but the whole point of Les Coches is to sit in between.
Anyway, I am sounding like the Mayor of fecking Les Coches... which I most certainly am not. I'm just a punter who happens to find Les Coches holding a lot of aces. I've absolutely no skin in the game.... unless you count the justification of my own holiday decisions.
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Mother hucker, i'm cheekily jumping in before thefatcontroller and answering his questions 
(but note, it is good you are getting a spread of opinions - no place is perfect)
1. Not downhill competition ice, but can be a touch worse than "scraped off hard man made snow".
2. Depends on what you call "the good parts". We consider one of the "good parts" the Crozat area. The resort is big. But with the new fast Inversens lift, Les Coches to Roche de Mio similar to getting there from Plagne Centre.
3. I think thefatcontroller's apartment is in an excellent position in Arcs2000
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FAQ
