 Poster: A snowHead
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Seriously considering La Plagne for Easter 2024 and was just idly musing on Sunweb for ideas of cost/accommodation options. The La Plagne pass is included in their price, but I know that the Paradiski pass covers a wider area. We go to France every year, but in the summer, so have never skied there. We've previously skied at a tiny resort in Austria, where the pass covered everything.
So a few questions.
1. Is it easy to upgrade your pass if booked through a provider like Sunweb?
2. We will be 3rd week skiers, but with a years membership to our local dry slope also under our belts. Will we get any use out of Paradiski?
3. Husband is less confident so wants to stick to wide, easy cruisey blues. Which pass would give us the best options?
4. Is it glaringly obvious which pass is valid for which lifts so we don't make fools of ourselves should we only have the La Plagne pass.
5. We prefer gondolas over chairs, but I know France has lots of chairs. Even so, would the different passes give us gondola options? (Yes, we need to get over it, but they freak both Mr. O and I out).
Thank you.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Hi - Sunweb will be able to arrange full Paradiski pass I’m sure but I reckon you’ll have all the skiing you need with the La Plagne pass. La Plagne has tons of cruise blues - moreso than Les Arcs I would say. Unlike some other areas the two ski areas aren’t fully integrated - they are two distinct ski areas with one link connecting them across a valley - the double decker vanoise express. Avoid getting on that (which is pretty easy as it’s at the extreme of the la Plagne area) and you’ll be fine. There are some gondolas about - whether they are convenient for you depends where you are staying in La Plagne really.
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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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Paradiski is the two separate resorts of Les Arcs AND La Plagne linked together
1. Dont know but probably
2. No
3. La Plagne
4. LP and LA are only connected by one lift, The Vanoise Express. So you need a Paradiski Pass to use it.
5. In LP most of the lower resorts have Gondolas plus Plagne Centre has the Funi Plagne which is Gondolas, the link to the Glacier is Gondolas from Bellecote with intermediate stops at Belle Plagne and Roche de Milo. Otherwise its 4/6/8 person Chairlifts. (There are also a couple of drag lifts here and there)
Have a study of the La Plagne piste map here https://en.la-plagne.com/discover/ski-area/piste-map
As you can see a lot depends on which of the 11 villages you stay in. eg. Montalbert has a fast Gondola.
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The 2 resorts used to be totally separate until they were linked by the Vanoise Express cable car. This means there will be no confusion over which lifts are covered.
Given what you have said above, there is plenty of skiing at LP.....but if feeling adventurous, it is cheaper to get the upgraded Essential Pass (which gives priority access to certain lifts), than upgrade on a day or two (which I think is possible).
Last edited by You need to Login to know who's really who. on Sun 15-01-23 19:38; edited 1 time in total
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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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Thank you both so much for those rapid replies. We'll stick with La Plagne then. Though the doubledecker express does look very novel!
We don't mind drags, I don't even mind T-bars. Will admit that we've only ever gone down on a chair lift, not up, which was mildly terrifying.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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@Owlette, you never know how things might change from one season to another so don’t fret over this until next January.
La plagne has more télécabines and téléphérique than les arcs so you should be ok. Most people I know prefer chairs to gondolas so you may be in that group next year anyway.
You cannot go over to les arcs by accident so don’t worry about that. You cannot get on the vanoise express without a valid ticket. Personally given your level of experience and the type of run you like I would stick to a classic la plagne pass.
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Second, third and fourth the La Plagne only pass.
At most you might pop to Les Arcs for one day late on in your holiday, but in reality, you won't!
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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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Also lurking this thread because I’m planning on going to La Plagne for the first time over the next new year. It looks quite a long way to the Vanoise Express from La Plagne Centre (where we’ll be staying) on the piste map. There’ll be a couple of beginners in our group too. Not really sure if it’s worth it getting the full pass but I don’t want to feel that I’m missing out!
For people who’ve stayed there before, how feasible is it to get much skiing done in Les Arcs without worrying too much about time pressure on getting back to La Plange, especially in the shorter days of the early season?
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It was exactly the fear of missing out that prompted me to post this thread @PrinceJohn, but I'm reassured to read all the replies. Snowheads is such a fantastic resource to have, and I'm very appreciative of those that take the time to reply.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| PrinceJohn wrote: |
For people who’ve stayed there before, how feasible is it to get much skiing done in Les Arcs without worrying too much about time pressure on getting back to La Plange, especially in the shorter days of the early season? |
It's easy to get over the Vanoise from La Plagne if you're a confident intermediate or above (slightly dependant on conditions).
The runs you first come to on the LA side are superb - lovely blues and reds through the tress in the Peissy Vallandry (sp) area, the best runs in the whole Paradiski area, and to not do them would indeed be to miss out.
Depending on ability / speed you can ski the the entire LA area and still get home to La Plagne, but perhaps more realistically if you're new to the area, you can enjoy the runs on the valley-facing side of the area - right over to Arc 1600 - and get back home OK.
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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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@red 27
Thanks for this. Really helpful 
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I see Paradiski seem to have done away with the ‘Decouverte’ (Discovery) pass they used to do a few years back, which (for a 6 day pass) gave you a local pass plus one day all area. For a 6 day trip that was plenty IMO, there is absolutely tonnes of skiing in either domain to not have to ‘need’ to pop over to the other resort more than once in a week. I think it used to be around 20 to 25 euros difference from the local area pass, and I always used to say that the views from the Vanoise Express were worth the extra on its own. It now seems it’s 50 euros difference between the local pass and the Paradiski pass, and that’s quite steep IMO unless you’re planning more than one Vanoise excursion. I’d say it’s definitely not worth the beginners stumping up for it, and a choice of whether the inters do but you certainly won’t be missing out on much just by sticking to a local La Plagne pass. If there’s an option to upgrade on the day then I’d probably look to that and just see how you feel when you’re out there. La Plagne is a very big ski area in itself and you’ll do well to cover it all, particularly if you’re planning on spending time on the slopes with the beginners.
Edit: just saw the post from boredsurfin above and as said a one day extension to Paradiski is 22 euros, that’s definitely what I’d be looking to do. At that price it’s well worth it.
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You know it makes sense.
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@PrinceJohn, as Red27 says plus one thing to consider when taking Beginners over is the route from the top of La Plagnes Arpette lift then goes via a a two section rope tow which can be 'challenging' for beginners.
Theres an old thread about the Paradiski Challenge although a bit out of date now it does make interesting reading ... https://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?p=2398045&
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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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| red 27 wrote: |
Depending on ability / speed you can ski the the entire LA area and still get home to La Plagne... |
That's definitely not true. There are over 100 pistes in LA. Do you mean you can ski to/through each Arc, Peisey Vallandry and Villaroger? In that that case, I agree.
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Poster: A snowHead
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All this is making me twitchy to be back out there...
Also reminds me why I enjoy staying in Les Coches so much and be able to treat the whole Paradiski area as a single resort.
@greengriff, I was thinking of PV/1800/1600/V-roger/Arc 2000 bowl. Every single piste would be a challenge - probably been none by one of the OCD brigade.
When I once stayed with M-sun in Villaroger I buzzed over to Montalbert and back and remember that being easy, but of course I didn't try to also go up Bellcote and/or down to Champagny
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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It's a fantastic place, isn't it? I never get bored of it. If I had to choose just one place to ski forevermore then that would be it.
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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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@greengriff, Yes indeed - tough call between P-ski and the Dolomites, if one had to be monogamous...
If only there were a few more bashed blacks (my pet whinge about the area  )
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Monogamous! Love it Yeah over the last few years they've stopped pisting a few previously lovely runs that are now tough going. I wonder why?
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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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@red 27, Indeed more pistes are left 'natur' each year it seems, health and safety gone bad - some blacks are too steep to safely put a machine on these days!
Although Derochoir will always be ungroomed as its in the National Park.
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@greengriff, @boredsurfin, It's shame as it leaves a big gulf in difficulty between a bashed red and the Naturs.
I can get down the latter but I don't really enjoy that and while P-ski has some cracking reds, something steeper would be welcome. I often end up lapping Combe / Eccruiel (sp) as they're such a good combo.
The blacks I miss most are the ones above Lec Coches, Murs and Mercs I think, which were little hidden gems.
oops - thread drift!
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@PrinceJohn, you’re right in that plagne centre to the vanoise is less easy than , say, going from les coches . I’m thinking you’d need to go up the Bergerie lift, down to bellecote , up the Arpette lift and then down to the vanoise . You’re also right in that stressing about getting back can rather interfere with skiing on the les arcs side . If you make your way up to arcabulle in les arcs there’s a long blue back to the vanoise express called Renard which takes about 20 mins . But you then need to get back over the vanoise , via three chair lifts back up above the arpette and down to catch colossus up so you can ski back to plagne centre . It’s all perfectly do- able but there’s plenty of skiing in La plagne until maybe the begiinners are a little more confident without worrying about having to pay for an expensive taxi ride back !
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@PrinceJohn, you’re right in that plagne centre to the vanoise is less easy than , say, going from les coches . I’m thinking you’d need to go up the Bergerie lift, down to bellecote , up the Arpette lift and then down to the vanoise . You’re also right in that stressing about getting back can rather interfere with skiing on the les arcs side . If you make your way up to arcabulle in les arcs there’s a long blue back to the vanoise express called Renard which takes about 20 mins . But you then need to get back over the vanoise , via three chair lifts back up above the arpette and down to catch colossus up so you can ski back to plagne centre . It’s all perfectly do- able but there’s plenty of skiing in La plagne until maybe the begiinners are a little more confident without worrying about having to pay for an expensive taxi ride back !
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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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I've skied both La Plagne and Les Arcs but never had the full area pass - because both sides are easily big enough for an intermediate week - and I have to admit I'm petrified of the Vanoise Express, just looking at it from the Peisey Vallandry side made me feel queezy.
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| skimummk wrote: |
| I've skied both La Plagne and Les Arcs but never had the full area pass - because both sides are easily big enough for an intermediate week - and I have to admit I'm petrified of the Vanoise Express, just looking at it from the Peisey Vallandry side made me feel queezy. |
Doesn’t help that the piste map has “Vertigo!” written next to the gondola symbol!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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There's something special about lifts that link to otherwise separate areas.
Vanoise is one and I also love the Lech-Warth link and the one from Arosa to Lenzerheide
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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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| PrinceJohn wrote: |
Also lurking this thread because I’m planning on going to La Plagne for the first time over the next new year. It looks quite a long way to the Vanoise Express from La Plagne Centre (where we’ll be staying) on the piste map. There’ll be a couple of beginners in our group too. Not really sure if it’s worth it getting the full pass but I don’t want to feel that I’m missing out!
For people who’ve stayed there before, how feasible is it to get much skiing done in Les Arcs without worrying too much about time pressure on getting back to La Plange, especially in the shorter days of the early season? |
The Key lift on Les Arcs side for getting back for us is Bras de L'ours, which starts just below 1950. From the top of there you can get right back to the Vanoise.
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You know it makes sense.
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| eblunt wrote: |
| PrinceJohn wrote: |
Also lurking this thread because I’m planning on going to La Plagne for the first time over the next new year. It looks quite a long way to the Vanoise Express from La Plagne Centre (where we’ll be staying) on the piste map. There’ll be a couple of beginners in our group too. Not really sure if it’s worth it getting the full pass but I don’t want to feel that I’m missing out!
For people who’ve stayed there before, how feasible is it to get much skiing done in Les Arcs without worrying too much about time pressure on getting back to La Plange, especially in the shorter days of the early season? |
The Key lift on Les Arcs side for getting back for us is Bras de L'ours, which starts just below 1950. From the top of there you can get right back to the Vanoise. |
The great thing about Les Arcs as a resort is that there’s loads of skiing but, Villaroger aside, it’s really easy to get between all of the villages. As you say, Bois de l’Ours out of 1950 up can get you to a point where you can ski straight to the Vanoise, but I find it a bit blue and traversey. I prefer Marmottes then straight onto Arcabulles up to Col de La Chal, then the ski down from there is a lot nicer.
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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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FAQ
similarly Etroits is a proper adventure Black with space to lessen the blackest bits 
Seldom open these days along with Mont de la Guerre which in my book is the best piste in the area on a good day.