 Poster: A snowHead
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Folks,
My other half is back to skiing following a long painful ACL history five years ago; I created a thread on the injury and rehab forum asking for advice (go read it if you want to see a fun x-ray of the kind of shrapnel that gets left in a repaired knee!), and it was suggested that I post in a more general location to get some of the advice I am after  . In short, we hare heading to Les Arcs for half term, and I've been trying to find a list of "the easier blues" for us to focus on. As I wrote in my other thread:
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| We're staying down in Bourg Saint Maurice (very last minute booking -- we're joining my brother and my cousin, who booked much earlier and are next to the funicular, we will have to drive in to the funicular every day). My plan is to start off on the "tranquil zones" (I believe there is one in 1600, where the funicular takes us), and then to find some nice wide shallow blues and just go on them all day, stopping to rest wherever is needed. Does anyone have a guide entitled "easy blues in Les Arcs"? Are there any areas or runs that we should specifically avoid? Is there anything in particular that she should consider when skiing with an ACL, other than "listen to your body" and stop when she needs to? |
Any and all advice gratefully received!
-simon
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Check out Plan Vert which runs from Col de la Chal.
It's a very wide and very quiet run - I don't think many people realise it is there - took us half a week to discover it! One of those runs where you can get a bit of speed up if you want, but if you want to pootle down you can do so.
Easier to get to from 1800 than 1600. If you like it you can just loop around again quite simply.
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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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@Szymon,
Have the piste map open when reading this:
Plan Vert, as above is a great choice, a little cambered right to left perhaps, but always quiet. exit via Plan to access the Arcabulle lift, or take Edelweiss to Marmottes and back around.
Dente du Peigne (?Sp) is a blue, but is a bit dull... and hence also very quiet. Note that the first part of Reynard to access Dentes is NOT a red.
The other option from the top there is Plan des Eaux, which you can loop around by using the PLagnettes lift, which is often quieter than Arcabulle
When returning to 1600 to get the Funi, don't come back over via Reynard! the reds on the 1800 side of the ridge can be 'challenging'. Use instead Bois de L'Ours or Combouciere, which are also accessible from Vallee de l'Arc 3, 2 and 1 which run from Col de la Chal all the way. Can get a little busy as they are main routes: but they are wide, gentle and definitely blues.
The final pitch on home run back to the main parts of 1600 can be a bit of a 'mare with a lot of artificial stuff on it, plus a lot of beginners. Of course it can be very nice too! If you can find your way to Traversee 1 that may be the better / easier way back - is pretty, and quiet, but again, may be a bit dull for the better skiers. But at the end of the day is a safer option, especially if your OH been getting tired through dealing with injury stress.
Blues off both these lifts [out of 2000 valley] to follow are respectively Arpette and Belvedere. We love Mont Blanc, but it does empty out at the top of that final pitch, which is my personal bete noir! (I was taken out 3 years ago while stationary, and still have hurty knee).
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generally speaking the runs above Plan Peisey & Vallandry which are accessed off the Grizzly and Vallandry lifts are blue wide open and very gentle. You also have access down into the actual villages via some very gentle road runs through the trees that are very picturesque. I'd head over to there if I were in your situation.
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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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Some of the Reds around there (Peisey-Vallandry) are also quite easy and have the advantage of less people!
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The Vallandry bowl would be a great place to go - wide space to get confidence back. As above Foret is also a dead easy long cruise (it should be a green but as is a road is blue).
Top of Vagre chair there are a load of blues off to right which are quite and straightforward.
Mont Blanc above 1600 is also a lovely run, although top section is a little tricky.
Echo the comments that drop down to 1600 can be a mare as snow conditions crowds etc - easy enough is stay to side and take it easy
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Hi - my kids and I pretty much learned to ski in Les Arcs so searching out the 'easy blues' was a necessity! We stayed exclusively over in 2000 so my experience is largely from there. And I can say the 3 runs from the top of the St. Jacques lift are great easy starters, and satisfy your statement about 'nice wide shallow blues'. Probably not the easiest for you to get to from the Funi though, unless you get the bus around to 2000.
I actually found the blue at the top of the Arcabulle; Plan des Eaux not very pleasant as a beginner, there is a steep, icy (certainly in the morning) bit at it peels off the col de la chal, that I didn't get on with. Col de la chal is much more forgiving, some might say too forgiving as there is a flat bit the bottom of the Grand Col that you'll have to pole through.
I actually found the vallee de l'arc the most rewarding blue in the region. Its interesting enough, and the only real steep bit is very wide and forgiving with plenty of margin for error to control and plan your shallow turns. It does get busy as you get near to the 2000 and 1950 resort centres, but from memory, as long as you 'bear left' I think you'll avoid the worst areas. I haven't been back since the Pre St Esprit lift was refreshed, but now I understand you can go all the way to the bottom of the vallee de l'arc and get that lift back up to the middle of the run and rinse and repeat.
Another run I liked to repeat with the kids was to up the bois de l'ours lift, down 'plan' and then edelweis. Edelweis is super fun. Largely not too steep and wide enough to give you time to turn. There's only really 1 scary bit half-way down where you go round a right hand hair-pin onto a steep (but wide) section.
We would move over the ridge into 1800/1600 in the afternoon, and from the top of the Bois de l'ours/Arpette lifts there is a nice long easy blue run down Arpette, Charmetogger, Barmont, Foret right to the bottom of the Grizzly lift in Vallandry (where there is quite a nice bar ). You can do this in a circuit too.
From the Funi go up the Cachette lift, then down Belvedere to the bottom of the Arpette lift, then go up the Arpette lift to start the run above.
From Vallandry, go up Grizzly, and then take Foret down to the bottom of the Derby. Go up the Derby lift and then take Traversee and go under the TransArc mid-station, when you hit belvedere, take one of the blues that lead into 1800 to the bottom of the Carreley. Go up the Carreley and then you can start the Arpette run again.
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I'd watch out for the Vallee D'Arc now, it always was a great run and often quite empty, but since the new Pre St Esprit and Comborciere lifts have gone in it gets super busy and can become very polished.
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As others have said, the Peisey end of the resort is great for gentle blues and if anyone wants to do something more challenging, the reds and even blacks often go from and to the same places but take a more direct (steeper) route so that you can all do different runs and meet up at intersections and/or the bottom of the run.
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