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Snowboarders review - Les Arcs 1800 Le Belmont booked though Heidi.com

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Hi all,

Just back from a week in Les Arcs and thought I would do a quick review in case its of use for people in the future. We are a group of 4, 50yr old+ Snowboarders Smile We generally just book the cheapest deal we can Laughing We eat out a few nights, cook in some others and generally drink a lot of beer Laughing

Travel Operator - Heidi.com
This is the second trip we have taken via this Bristol based company (they used to be called Travelzoom), after giving up on the huge prices shown by Crystal since they became part of TUI.... We went with them last year to Chamonix.
We have 3 in our party flying from Luton to Geneva, and one Manchester to Geneva, and although they couldn't facilitate the Manchester flight this year (something to do with their license?), they were still very efficient at booking the accommodation and transfers for all 4 of us (we had ensured that the flights all arrived and departed within 20 mins of each other). I cant praise this company enough, they don't have a rep on site (which presumably makes things cheaper), but the bookings team had everything in order so our trip was very smooth.
It's worth pointing out that we priced the exact same holiday/dates/flights via Crystal, and it was over £1000 cheaper for the whole package through Heidi so I would encourage people to give them a try. 8/10

Lift passes
We bought our lift passes directly from the Lesarcs website as they were offering a 10% early bird discount, we didn't bother with the Paradiski pass as have been to La Plagne twice before. The passes arrived in the post from France a good 4 weeks before our departure, and worked flawlessly. 7/10 purely because the cost is getting ridiculous

Les Arcs 1800 - resort
On the whole exactly what we expected. the usual mixture of multiple skiset/intersport/precisionski branches all of whom, seem to ignore snowboarders unless you show interest in the overpriced Oakley goggles Laughing
Thankfully there was one snowboard specific shop called 'Labo shop', located in the 'Village de Villards', worth a look.
Our accommodation was based just up the hill from the Transarc gondola, close to the Village de Villards section of the town, so it was a pleasant downhill stroll to the shops, and an unpleasant uphill one back (especially while carrying crates of Kronenburg..), there is one escalator thank god Laughing There's one supermarket in this section, the Sherpa which we soon gave a new tag 'Its nearer but dearer (than the Spar)'. Only one real 'pub' in this section called the 'Before', its ok, has a pool table, occasional live music etc. no happy hour that we could determine... Beers are 8 euros or so for a 'large'. Food wise its pretty standard fare, pizzas, burgers, the revolting waft of Raclette everywhere ( NehNeh ) nothing outstanding, but everything pricey. 'Quality pizza' was true to its name, a large coming in at 20 Euros. Burgers in 'Le Jungle' were good and reasonable cost, but the beer was 10 Euros a 'large' so we didn't go back. Kebab shop was ok too and reasonable.
A further walk along brings you to some more shops in an area called 'Le Charvet', the shops are pretty much all the same as in Village de Villards, and so is the food and beer options. the previously mentioned Spar is in this section, so if you are staying nearer to the Villards shops consider yourself whether its worth the extra slog to and from Spar compared to the supermarket in Villards.
Up the hill and accessed via the Villards mini gondola is the Folie Douce bar... We didn't bother, dancing on table to Euro cack isn't our thing Laughing
Overall 6/10 for the 1800 villages, pretty standard.

Accommodation - Le Belmont
This is a pretty bog standard 'Pierre et Vacancies' block of self catering apartments over 8 floors. Ours apparently sleeps 5 NehNeh , with 2 single beds in one room (and a further pull out camp bed hiding under one of the singles) and a pull out double sofa bed in the living room area.
Kitchen was well stocked, hob and microwave, tea and coffee making facilities, decent sized fridge with freezer compartment, dishwasher and plenty of cutlery. Small table and 4 chairs, TV on the wall. Plenty of shelves for kit and a balcony (beer cooler) with one frozen plastic chair, ours faced the valley and some Christmassy looking snow covered pine trees. Ours had separate WC with hand basin (a godsend with 4 blokes) to the French style short bath/shower room where the heated towel rail/glove drier was located.
All pretty standard Pierre et vacancies stuff, but clean & warm. The reception staff were very friendly, there's seating near reception, and a 2 euro a go pool table.
It is possible to board in/out here, although the ride down to the lifts is very short. When returning to the hotel you have to look out for a tiny blue run marked number 4, which is kind of to the left of the main run back to the lifts, its not sign posted so you have to really look out for it, no idea what its called as it isn't listed on either the published piste map or on the YUGE ap...
To enter/exit the slope from the hotel you have to go through the ski locker room, a delightful smelly selection of boxes made of OSB. Follow the corridor through the boxes to find the exit to the slope.
Walking to and from shops/bars is a ball ache from here, the hotel entrance is round the back so you have to either schlepp in through the carpark and up, or follow the round round and up past the big bins. The paths to and from the hotel weren't gritted or cleared when we were there, so it was a slushy slippery mess, the stairs were a bit of a death trap when it was really cold. Plan on a good 10 mins from hotel to bars and 15 mins on the way back depending on how much beer/baguettes you are carrying Laughing .
There was the usual 200 euro credit card swipe at the start which was deleted at the end. Note there is no key box to drop your keys in at the end of your stay, and the reception is only open from 8, so we just left our keys in our room and that seemed to work for them.
6/10 for the accommodation, pretty standard
Of note to some, the Bens Bus transfers to and from geneva go from the bus terminal in the 'Charvet' shopping area, and you can get one of the free busses there rather than have to walk all your gear down the hill. The closest stop tot he Hotel is a 5 minute walk away, up the (more gentle) hill and away from the resort at a hut by the side of the road called 'Chamettoger. we did this at 7am and it was a squeeze with 4 fat blokes with boardbags and cases, but the bus was on time and flawless. The Bens bus was a good half hour late (which is apparently par for the course) so make sure you are wrapped up warm and have food/drink with you. there are toilets but no shops are open until 9.

The mountain(s)
As you will know the area is split into 5 main sections all linked by runs/lifts. We really felt this area is dominated by skis, and felt very much like a ski resort that tolerated boarders (like when I used to go as a boarder in the early 90's where we were really frowned upon). We saw hardly any Piste grooming, and we are early risers so it wasn't that they were all churned up. Generally it felt like the blues were mainly very narrow, not the wide open type you think of in an Alps resort, most felt like greens, lots of annoyingly flat bits, and generally very slow (apart from the blue over in 1600 called Mont Blanc which is the best run we found and worth the schlepp over from 1800). Most of the reds were like blues in other resorts, but half of them were bumpy. Hardly any natural hits on the sides of slopes which was very unusual. This and the lack of grooming could be down to the conditions, it snowed A LOT! Laughing The 2 top parts of the mountain were closed for the week we were there, and the Transarc gondola only went all the way up to 2700 on 3 days. Pretty disappointing overall if I'm honest, compared to the sister resort La Plagne it feels almost the exact opposite, and certainly felt very different than the Les Arcs I visited 10 years ago (which felt a lot more 'snowboardy'). We had fun of course, and the powder on the 3rd day was epic, but I don't think I'd go back. 5/10

This is of course a very personal review from a 51 year old bloke that has snowboarded all over since the 90's and likes to drink beer and eat Pizza Laughing Hope its of some use to somebody
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Nice review - do you not get over to the runs around Derby and down to Vallandry/Peisey. Always found plenty of tree and edge of piste routes that way.

Agree Mont Blanc is a lovely run
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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?
Must have missed that Boris Sad It was a white out most days so we stuck to pistes we had already ridden

Cheers
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Didn’t realise Laboshop have a store based in Les Arcs, I’ve frequented their BSM shop many times though, still got my goggles I bought there plus a jacket which has seen better days.

Surprised to hear Les Arcs terrain not hitting the spot. As @Boris says (and especially in low light) the reds towards Peisey Vallandry, in particular Belette, Morey, Aigle and Combe are lovely, they are wide and come down through the trees with a bit to offer off the sides. Mont Blanc is a nice gentle blue, the reds above 1600 are fun too.
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
As @Boris, incicates @ukoldschool, there's a huge area (far right on piste map 1800) chairs "2300-66 and Plan-de-l-ours-68"

They centre around whole pisted area about 1 km wide for many different approaches and lines, uninterrupted by obstacles. Restaurant/cafe/facilities plus rescue poste etc, its fairly substantial on its own, sits literally bordering top of tree line above Vallandry slopes that are wide and long down to the lift across to LP.

Epic, usually for white days generally over there (transarc to first station, out the door and straight ahead to reach into there) more or less within shouting distance Very Happy

Interesting view on LA vs LP as LP does seem quite open and wide piste generally, quite a contrast between the two, all the better to explore to see all the far reaches.

Pity you had weather so closed in though. LA an early snowboard adopter too when there was opposition to new fangled stuff as I understand it.
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Yeah I think that the weather played such a big part in run choice, but it did have the real feel of a ski resort which is opposite of how it felt last time I was there 10 years ago. Still had a great time though, it feels like such a privilege these days to be up in the mountains
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
ukoldschool wrote:
Yeah I think that the weather played such a big part in run choice, but it did have the real feel of a ski resort which is opposite of how it felt last time I was there 10 years ago. Still had a great time though, it feels like such a privilege these days to be up in the mountains

Having just come back from Arc 2000, I completely agree. I'm a boarder 1st, skier 2nd, and found the vibe of Les Arcs to be way off what I remembered from previous trips. It might have been the super grippy (cold) snow, but I found it quite a chore having to unclip more than i remembered, and I swear there never used to be as many flat exits and traverses as I experienced this time out. The area in 2000 around the Arcabulle / Plagnettes lift and the rope tow was carnage with groups stopped / queing / chatting / crossing and walking mid piste.
I think the lack of snow at the start of the season has hit the snowboarding aspect of the resorts fairly hard - very little park had been built and the offpiste (even after the awesome snowfall over the first 3 days of my stay) had still got rocks if you were unlucky. Maybe the decrease in 'boarder numbers is shifting their priorities slightly. Compared to my stay in Avoriaz last year it was like night and day in attitude and accessibility for the sideways sliding family.
I'm not sure if I'll go back to Les Arcs again with a board, yeah I had a great time, but it could have been *so* much better if the resort was geared up slightly differently.
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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!
Oh god don't get me started on the stopped groups Very Happy , and trying to negotiate your way around the skiers weaving about on a narrow traverse whilst you try desperately to stay on edge to keep momentum... I honestly looked for a collapsible pole in the shops for the first time in my life (luckily didnt find one though Laughing )
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