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Les Arcs 2022 / 2023

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
It's a great idea, do it!!!
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
It's an awesome idea, do it! Looks like a nice drop in the FLs - perfect conditions.

Was planning on doing the same Thurs-Mon in Tignes but something came up in work which I need to deal with on Fri.
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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?
Weather yesterday was a not a total washout but pretty grim. Kids did lessons in the morning, but were damp and cold at the end, so broke for lunch and then had a chill out afternoon.

Wife and I did a run first thing, vis was poor, so we went for coffee with another couple we bumped into who are staying here and are coincidently from our home town.

After lunch, wife went for a mooch around 1950 and 2000 whilst I broke out some skis for the first time in some years. Did a couple of laps of Pre St Esprit like a complete beginner - which I kind of am. (Two weeks in the last 90’s and a week when my youngest first got on skis in 2010) Still, need to persevere.

Weather looking better this morning, cloud is higher and no snow/rain in the air. I expect soft pistes this morning, as it remained warm over night. Temps drop again tonight and maybe some snow.
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Laps of Pre St Esprit are a great way to rediscover your confidence and skiils. Vallee de L'arc quickly became a firm favourite of mine. Has it been icy around 1950 this week? It needed some softening up last week. Fingers crossed for the weather for the rest of the week.
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Snowing steadily at 1950 since about 6pm 2-3cm so far and looks like it’s here for the night. Freezing level has dropped this evening and will continue to fall. Daughter and I did Malgovert today which is a black now (was red last time we did it) - was great with lots of fresh snow - still feels like skiing in a washing machine
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Cold out and fresh snow this morning - still lightly snowing…

Overcast but via looks ok.

Eh oh!
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
We were at Les Arcs first week of Easter and I got the over 75 yr free lift pass. Excellent! 10 Euros admin charge. Enables you to ski all the lifts apart from the Vanoise Express and the lifts in La Plagne. This was ok because my family wanted to just ski Les Arcs. Plenty of skiing anyway.
Lol, but what my ski pass did include was access to the express lanes. This was not of too much help though because I, of course, kept along side my family who didn't have the express lane pass. But in any case there were few big queues. Even when the Plagnettes chair lift broke down and everybody had to use Arcubulle, the queue was still only a few minutes.
Excellent weather and conditions all week. Got a bit slushy towards the base lifts at the end of the day but only to be expected. Half way up and above, the snow was excellent all day long.
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
@TCSC47, I skied with an over 75, five years ago, and we used the Vanoise Express - the rules must have changed ??
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Owlette wrote:
Just packing up ready to leave 1800. We've had a blinder of a week.

Finished strong yesterday. Husband skied with me in the morning. We took Carreley up to the ridge and headed into 2000 via blues. We stopped for coffee in Le Savoy, which was beautiful and very civilised, whilst a snow storm blew outside. We headed up Varet and did Vallee de L'arc down. There was limited visibility and it was hard going on the flatter bits due to the new snowfall and nobody else using it.

Picked the boys up from ski school in 1800, where I'm pleased to report both passed their levels (Yeti 2 and 3 respectively), and they didn't want to stop for lunch immediately, so we went back over to 1950 for lunch via Vagere and Transarc and the Boardercross. Down to the bottom of Vallee and up the blue bubble chair, then back down and across via Bois chair. The boys had a short play in the snowpark, we had a drink at L'Arpette bar, then down to 1800. We wanted to finish the day over in Vallandry, so we used Vagere to get us back up, down to the Derby chair via Plan Bois and finished the day running through Forêt Pitchouns and back down to 1800 via Maitaz. I'm glad we finally made it over to Forêt Pitchouns as it was great fun and a really lovely run to end the week on.

11 had spent the morning over that way and had gone to the museum during his lesson, but they'd focused on reds, so Forêt Pitchouns was new to us all.

My husband was ready to hang up his ski boots after our trip to Austria in December. It was so icy, he kept falling over, and his confidence was shattered. This trip has boosted his confidence no end, and he was even occasionally turning parallel yesterday. He had a tumble just before the Transarc, but when he came down to us after getting up, he was laughing and said that'll teach him for getting cocky. Nice soft landing makes all the difference.

It's improved us all no end. 11 is already a good skier, but his notes in his Yeti book say he's had good, noticeable improvement, including keeping his skis further apart. 9 now consistently parallel skis, as do I. And I can comfortably get down reds, albeit slower than many folk, but hey, it's not a race.

Only a year to go until we're back again.

Blue skies today for those of you arriving today. Enjoy!


I'm delighted you all had such a fantastic time in Les Arcs 1800. You can see why I love it so much and thought it would suit you! My favourite place on earth!
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@Macker13,
It was your considered recommendation that gave us the push, so we really do thank you for that.

I enjoyed your video of your last trip. We spotted the Igloo bar in real life the day after I watched it, but didn't get around to going in this time. We will certainly be back, so hopefully next time.

I see snowfall on the webcams today. I hope those of you that have been out there this week have had a wonderful week.
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@Owlette, my family and I were out there this past week in 1950.

It’s hard to truly recall, but probably some of the best conditions for the time of year I’ve experienced, and we had a super time.

If I find time, I’ll write up a trip report in due course.
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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.
TCSC47 wrote:
We were at Les Arcs first week of Easter and I got the over 75 yr free lift pass. Excellent! 10 Euros admin charge. Enables you to ski all the lifts apart from the Vanoise Express and the lifts in La Plagne. This was ok because my family wanted to just ski Les Arcs. ...

I skied this year with an over-75, who had no problems (apart from poor snow!) In accessing the whole Paradiski area. Only difference is that the pass was from the La Plagne side.
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So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
A bit less open compared to the same time last season. Probably for energy saving but notably Combeorciere and Mont Blanc 4 at the 1600 end. Some pistes in worse state than last year, some better. At altitude conditions are very good but dip below 1800 and quite a few pistes are bare.

https://youtube.com/shorts/kcIdquRIfko
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
@davidof, sorry to have missed you, I spent the day in Val Thorens when you were here. Currently snowing very hard: big, fat, juicy snowflakes filling the sky.
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
rob@rar wrote:
@davidof, sorry to have missed you, I spent the day in Val Thorens when you were here. Currently snowing very hard: big, fat, juicy snowflakes filling the sky.


Raining in the valley. We were going to ski again today but at la Plagne but have decided against it. We rode the transarc, of course. My son agrees with the Snowheads that it is one of the shonkiest lifts in the Alps. I quite like it.

We'll probably go to Val Thorens in early May if the weather improves. Hope you enjoy the end of season.
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
More snow overnight meant a creamy layer of snow on piste, and off-piste partly refreshed. You didn’t need to ski far to get lovely fresh tracks. Excellent conditions for the third week of April. Been lapping around the Varet with conditions that would be enjoyable at any time if the season.

Sadly this joy was tempered by the news that one of the regular Brits in Les Arcs died last week, in his apartment here in Arc 1800. Regular visitors or Ski Club members (I think he was a Rep) might have known Baxter Horton, who sadly died last week, most likely of a heart attack.
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Looking at the livecams and my diary for next week. I think I'll come out to Les Arcs on Monday until the end of the season. All I need to do is finish work at 15:00 on Monday and get an 18:00 flight then hire a car. The Swiss side is looking a bit cheeper than the French side.

Anyone else around?
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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?
Decided to fly out on Tuesday evening and return Sunday evening. Not the cheepest trip we've done as we'd be hiring a car rather than getting the train, but still less than £250* each. Less than a 5 night stay in a hotel in the UK

Ah! I forgot to add in the cost of getting to the airport in the UK - that'll probably add an extra £50 each to the cost.
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This is the last week of the season in Les Arcs, but no one told the snow. It has been good spring snow all the day until about 15:00 today when we came back to Arc1600 it was getting heavy.

After a last minute decision to come skiing on Sunday we flew to Geneva Tuesday evening and rented a car. Things were running smoothly, it even took less than 30 minutes to get through passport control, until we left Moutier. The Saix tunnel was closed. The diversion was up the winding narrow road to Notre Dame la Pre at about 1400m then back own through Longfoy to Aime. Even though I know the road it took a not very relaxing hour. Anyway we got to our apartment at 1:30 in the morning and to bed about an hour later. It was below zero when we reached Arc 1600

So it was a later than desired start to the day, but even at 10:30 the pistes in 1600 were solid. A lot of the resort is closed, basically there are so few people here its not necessary to run all the lifts. For example Mont Blanc is shut, Carroley is not running because you can get around without them. Nevertheless there is plenty open.

Since there are a fair number of children skiing I think that at least one region is still on spring break.

I’ve skied in April before but rarely can I recall the snow being so good. The pistes that are open have very few bare patches (the bottom of Cachette was all I saw) the snow is typical spring: firm in the morning getting heavy in the afternoon. It was wonderful skiing on almost empty pistes. In one period after lunch we skied the 3 reds from top to bottom of Arcabule nonstop getting onto the lift at the bottom immediately. In the 5 ½ hours we were skiing we probably covered more ground than we do on most full days in December. The real revelation was finding powder at the top of the grand col. OK it had been skied a lot, but it was still powder.

Many or most of the mountainside restaurants are shut, Altiport, Arpette, Follie Duece etc. but food can still be found in 1950 for lunch.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
@johnE, great that you're able to go out on a whim and take advantage.
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@johnE, nice.
Is Combourciere (lift, not run) open to get you back to 1600 or do you need to go over at Bois de l'Ours or earlier?
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@Arctic Roll, Combourciere was closed all of last week, as was Clocheret, Carreley and Plagnettes.
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
Mont blanc lift was open this morning so we lapped both mont blanc and arolles about 20 to 25 minutes each lap depending on how long we spend watching the guides working on the sport climbs on the deux tetes. They were wonderful.

Now we've moved over to vallandry and having lunch at the bottom of Derby at the moment.

It's warmer today and I suspect we'll finish a bit earlier.

@Layne, its out of character for me to act on any whim, especially spending £500 on a Sunday morning (for ones wife and one) but I'm really glad I did it.

@Arctic Roll, combourcier is closed so we went over col grand reynard and down to vagere. This was the worst part of the day's skiing. It was very wet down there.


Last edited by After all it is free Go on u know u want to! on Thu 27-04-23 15:45; edited 1 time in total
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Unfortunately I think things are going to degrade this weekend with potential rain to the highest lifts. Frustrating, because that was my window but I suspect it won't be worth it.
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Just seen an announcement that the Funicular will be free this summer, hopefully it will be running and not closed for repairs etc
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@boredsurfin, next winter's season pass rate has also been confirmed, starting at €680. Also a new pass offering 20 non-consecutive days of skiing for £329.

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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.
@8611, The resort is closing on Saturday.

After lunch we went over to the 2000 valley by taking Derby and the midstation of the Transarc. I'm not sure I've ever done this route before as it can be difficult to get onto the lift at the midstation (and I hate the Transarc) but it kept us on the firm snow. Then straight onto Varet and a quick walk across and straight onto the Aiguille Rouge. The piste down from the top was a tad firm but enjoyable. Back to Arc 1600 for about 3. It was getting soft from the Altiport down.

I haven't confirmed this but it looks that there is a 20 non consequtive day lift pass available for 330€. Does anyone have any more details
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 So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
It did not freeze last night so the snow was already soft when we set off. The warm night had taken some toll on the Combettes piste. I am amazed how well this tiny slope has been maintained this spring. It must get only a couple dozen descents a day. So we traversed to the Mont Blanc lift via the bottom of Cachette. Even the Cachette piste is getting some bare patches now, but they are easily avoided.

We arrived at Mont Blanc just after the funicular had arrived and deposited 10 or so people in front of us. The indignity of it having to wait 30 seconds before getting on the lift. Actually the pistes on the 1600/1800 side of the valley had a few people on them – mainly childrens’ ski school classes. We hastened over to the now quieter 2000 side down Lac.

Arc 2000 was very quiet. There was no one in front of us at Varet and we got one cabin to ourselves. It looked as if it hadn’t froze at 2600m overnight. The bumps of Lanches were small and soft, but the snow at the bottom was getting sticky. As the day progressed the snow became heavier and stickier and the people less and less. For a while we seemed to be the only people in the resort. But it wasn’t pleasant skiing and we called it a day about 15:00. Coming back from 2000 the snow was noticeably better on the 1600/1800 side. There were some puddles at the bottom of Sources but the trip back to 1600 was OK. In years past when I’ve skied the end of the season we have had to get the bus back from 2000.

If you haven’t visited it before may I recommend going into the light show in the telecabine garage at the top of Varet. For the 3€ entry fee I was very impressed.

It looks like rain is forecast for tomorrow. If so this may be my last ski on snow of the season. I hope not, but it has been a good season.
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
It rained overnight and was damp this morning. We went out anyway. The combette lift wasn't running so it was a trek across the village to the mont blanc lift. Then up the arpette and down to marmot lift.

The snow was heavy and it was drizzling, even at the top of arcabule. There was almost no one about, we had whole runs and chairlifts to ourselves. But it stopped being enjoyable so we called it a day at 14.00. But we're still able to ski down to 1600 without crossing any soil, stones, or mud.

That is it. - the season has ended. This is last snow report of the season from les arcs.

Have a good summer everyone and I'll see you next season. (Oh! We'll be back here in the summer, probably exploring the sport climbs on the deux tetes.)
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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johnE wrote:

Have a good summer everyone and I'll see you next season.

I have booked 7th-14th Jan as a Solo Traveller (Daughter not going next season) @ L'Aiguille Rouge Arc 2000. I hope to meet up with Alastair.....and if you are up for it, it would be great to meet another fellow snowHead if you are about.
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Have a good summer all. It hit 20° down here in the Cotswolds today.

Thanks for the great trip reports @johnE, it sounds like Les Arcs knows its the end too, and is shedding it's winter skin. Considerate of it to time it so well with the end of the season.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
webcams showing a lot of white this morning...
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Dumb question but when the season ends do the chairs on ski lifts get taken off into storage or do they remain as is on the lifts?
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@thefatcontroller, They are usually left on, but I have seen them removed, stacked beside the base station and serviced.

At one point I recall walking up to the top of the old Mont Blanc chair and sitting on a chair at the top having a picnic.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Follow up question:

Do the chairlifts run in the summer, and how on earth do you get a bike on them if they do?! Or are bikes limited to the gondolas? Bet its fun trying to negotiate onto the Transarc with one...
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Some chairs run in the summer for bikes. Depending on the lift in question you either hang them from the front wheel on the back of the chair in front (and sit on the following chair) and have the bike unloaded by the liftie at the top, or there’s a horizontal bike rack on the side of the chair and again this is unloaded for you by the liftie at the top.

Some gondolas either require you to take the bike inside with you or some have a hook on the outside, again for hanging the bike from the front wheel.
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You lift the bike onto the rack at the side of the chair then trot around and jump on the chair and lift them off again at the top. Renting electric bikes makes this a bit of an effort.
In les arcs: cachette, arcabule, transarc and vallandry were open in 2021 when I last rented a bike. One run we took was from the col du chal down via villaroger to bourg St maurice and back via the funicular.
The resort is excellent in the summer.
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
@Owlette, the tranarc is indeed fun with a bike. You wheel them on by the back wheel with the front wheel in the air. My wife and I can get two in either side of the central pillar.
A couple years ago after taking my bike out at the top I set off riding off the platform only to discover a huge pothole welcoming my front wheel. With immense grace I pitched over the front wheel to land on my back with the bike on top of me. My wife and son thought was hilarious.
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@johnE, we love that 21km from Col de la Chal to Bourg run - the only really 'tricky' bit being the stretch from 1950 to Pre St Esprit - for which Mrs Roll has been known to divert to the tarmac. Of course what you don't have to worry about in 1600 is the navettes having enough space for the bikes to get from 1600-1950. (I do cycle 1950 >2000, but that's about my uphill limit!)
Last time we did it as a group of 6, we were stuffing them in the underbelly of the bus, the racks at the back being full - they need to think a bit about that.

We're out for 2 1/2 weeks in August , so if you're around @johnE, be good to catch up again. Likely to be over your way a few times - walking the 1950 -Arpette-1600 - Pre St Esprit-1950 circuit, cycling the tracks around Malgovert forest, and to see a friend in the new apartments above the Sanglier.
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@Arctic Roll, we will be out in the summer at some point but not sure when. The big decision comes on Friday when I'm dicsussing having my right knee replaced.

We do the Col de la Chal run (I forgotton its name) by going up Cachette, followed by Transarc. Oddly I find the section from Villaroger to Bourg the hardest part. The last bit is slightly uphill and often blisteringly hot. I came across a Belgian girl a few years ago passed out on the track with heatstroke. We gave her all our water and with her boyfriend helped her out of the sun. On that section down the Cascade piste to Pre st Espirit my wife often diverts to the piste. rather than the tracks through the trees. But to me that is even more scary.

I don't think the red run directly down from 1800 to Bourg st Maurice still exists and the black looks terrifying. I suspect you will still need to pay to take your bicycle up the funicular and cycling up looks hard work.

One thing we do notice skiing in the spring is the emergence of the mountain bike community after winter hibernation - we saw some out last week. It's always a bit weird sharing a funicular with them.

We have some plans to spend some time up at the Ruitor refuge exploring that very isolated valley while we are there. There are some rock climb right on the Italian border I'd like to do.

If you fancy an introduction to sport climbing or via ferrata let me know.

I'm now starting to look forward to the summer.

ps Have you registered your apartment with the authorities? We are just going through the process. They want to know how many weeks we let it for a year (or is this how many weeks it is available for rent)
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