 Poster: A snowHead
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Anyone know how Les Arcs is for snow for NY , we are thinking of travelling down on 26th December for a week, would usually to to Tignes for the week but because of family ,Christmas can't be avoided. We were in Tignes for NY for a week 22/23 and there was no snow on local resorts with Tignes full of ski schools from lower resorts. We have family staying for 4 days in Bourg St Maurice and they are using the funicular. Any advice welcome.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Bear in mind that Tignes is 300 m higher than Les Arcs 1800 and the resort opens earlier as well.
If you had no snow last NY (how on earth, we were mid December and we skied all the way to Pisaillas glacier above Val d'Isere?) then Les Arcs 1800 definitely had less.
But I can't imagine a snowless NY in both resorts.
Regarding fireworks etc, I have no idea which one is happier.
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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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@vegas007, normally there would be reasonable snow in Les arcs by then.
I would be more worried as to how busy the slopes would be. Are there other weeks you could consider next season?
Last year was exceptionally poor around Christmas as there was substantial rain to a high level on 23rd December which washed the snow away in lower resorts in the nw alps. The year before there was very good snow cover at that time.
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@drporat, the OP said that BECAUSE snow was so poor in other, lower, resorts, Tignes was crowded. Same applied to Avoriaz - there were lots of reports of shocking crowding there. When snow is poor (and last Christmas/New Year was particularly bad in many areas) anywhere with snow will be mobbed.
I agree with @snowymum that any week other than New Year would be better - but that's not much help. Normally, Les Arcs would be fine, but snow can't be guaranteed, though crowds can.
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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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@pam w, many thanks. Makes perfect sense now
As a personal rule of the thumb, I'd rather go as high as possible in December and April for the reasons you mentioned.
I was in Zermatt after that dreadful rain, the pistes were frozen but at least the slopes remained open.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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There was one day last Christmas week when I didn't go out from Arc 1600 due to the rain. My wife and son returned after a couple hours soaked to the skin. However the snow stayed fine and I went out the next day. In fact since the rain soaked into the show pack and froze the snow base stayed OK until the last day of the season.
Arc1800 is about 100m higher than 1600 but TBH that didn't make any difference.
We have skied Christmas week in Les Arcs more of less for the last 20 years and always had snow to ski on.
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We were in Tignes for NY for a week 22/23 and there was no snow on local resorts with Tignes full of ski schools from lower resorts
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This is categorically not true. All of the Tarentaise resorts were more or less 100% open over New Year 22/23 and there is no way that ski schools from other resorts in the valley were bussing people to Tignes. Total nonsense.
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Apologies, we did see ski schools from other resorts. It could have been just been the odd instructor not sure. We only remember driving up on 31st and there was very little snow by the dam. If you remember there was a lot of poor snow
Last Christmas.
There was good snow in Tignes.
Glad to hear there is snow in Les arcs, we will look at 1800. Than you.
Can only go that week and need to be back for school for kids by 3rd. I would much prefer Tignes.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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I was in Les Arcs for most of December 2022 and there was plenty of snow from the beginning of the season, including through the NY week. This was especially true above about 2400m where huge quantities of snow fell in the couple of very wet days we had just before Christmas. This wasn't great for off-piste conditions as the avalanche risk became very pronounced during the holiday period, but the higher pistes had significant snow depths. Lower pistes did take a bit of damage by the rain, but I think all the links stayed open and skiable (including Villaroger?) and conditions above 1800m were more than OK. Under no circumstances did any of the ski schools from Les Arcs head up to Tignes because of a shortage of snow.
I've skied Les Arcs at the start of the winter, often from from mid-December through Christmas and in to the New Year, for almost all of the last 25 years, as well as time spent skiing Tignes/Val d'Isere or the Trois Vallees. Even in years when the early season snow has been much worse than usual there has always been a good proportion of the pistes open in Les Arcs, including all the key pistes linking the different parts of the resort and just about everything above 1600m, and the amount that is open increases as you get in to the holiday weeks. In a typical start to the winter snow conditions are fine, with complete coverage to all the villages on just about all pistes prepared and open by the time you get to the holiday weeks. Off-piste can be a bit marginal as the snow base hasn't had much time to develop, but you can say that about all resorts at all altitudes. However, it's pretty common to have plenty of nice off-piste skiing available - in the first week of the 2022-23 season, for example, I skied a fair amount off the sides of the piste and on a couple of days was skiing boot-deep fresh snow on-piste.
Tignes does have more skiable terrain, on and off-piste, above 2800m than Les Arcs has, so if it is unseasonably warm at the start of the season and natural snow is in short supply you'll have better conditions in Tignes. Conversely, Les Arcs has more skiable terrain below the tree line which can be a significantly more enjoyable experience if you have a couple of bad winter storms rolling through during your week's holiday. Plenty of occasions when I've had a brilliant day skiing through the trees around Arc 1600, Arc 1800 and Vallandry when not much has been available in Tignes and only the hardiest of souls venture out. But in a typical start to the season there'll be very little difference in conditions across any of the Tarentaise resorts. In 25 years of skiing early season in that part of the world I've not lost a single day due to a lack of snow. Plenty of times I've not skied because of the conditions, but these have always been because of too much snow or too much weather.
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Thanks, we did ski in Les Arc 2000 back about 16 years ago but that was mid Jan. You are right about Tignes, it can be hard when there is a storm. As said, I dont know if I just saw an odd instructor rather than a ski school from another resort, I clearly was adding 2 +2 and coming up with 5. It was a lot busier in Tignes last year than previous times we have been at that time.
Its just Tignes is so guaranteed good conditions but if there is no worries about snow cover, even at Arc 1600 then that's cool.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Never had issues with snow over Xmas week, I would have though accommodation may be tricky as 26th is a Tuesday?
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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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| Quote: |
Apologies, we did see ski schools from other resorts. It could have been just been the odd instructor not sure. We only remember driving up on 31st and there was very little snow by the dam. If you remember there was a lot of poor snow
Last Christmas.
There was good snow in Tignes.
Glad to hear there is snow in Les arcs, we will look at 1800. Than you.
Can only go that week and need to be back for school for kids by 3rd. I would much prefer Tignes.
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No worries, my reply was probably a bit overly tetchy! For info, the foot of the dam is at about 1500m, which is lower than the foot of the pistes at any of the other resorts in the valley. You would be amazed at the number of people who get panicky about their ski holiday because there's no snow in Bourg Saint Maurice (at about half the altitude of any resort in the valley!).
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| Quote: |
For info, the foot of the dam is at about 1500m, which is lower than the foot of the pistes at any of the other resorts in the valley.
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Not quite Villaroger in the Les Arcs area is at about 1300m (and we skied down to it last Christmas), Champagny in the La Plagne area is about the same height, Meribel is about 1400m, Ecudet in La Rosiere about 1200m and of course Courchevel 1300 is at 1300m (that is not as daft statement as it seems; other resorts are not at the number given, for example Arc2000 is named after the Millenum not its altitude)
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You know it makes sense.
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| Quote: |
You would be amazed at the number of people who get panicky about their ski holiday because there's no snow in Bourg Saint Maurice
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And some of us when there is snow and it's 3 in the morning and we have 800 more metres to climb
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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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| johnE wrote: |
| other resorts are not at the number given, for example Arc2000 is named after the Millenum not its altitude) |
According to this and Wikipedia Arc 2000 was created in 1979. And later 1950 was created which is just below 2000 at altitude of 1950m.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Arc 2000 was created with an eye on the future, the then distant millenium. I suspect the name just sounded right. The height of Arc1800 is 1700m, though most of the village was originally below that. Arc2000 is over 2100. Our apartment, about 20m lower than the lifts in 1600, is at 1620m altitude by GPS. That is not necessarily the height acording the the French sea level datum.
These are just names given by the resort developers not statements of geographical fact.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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We went to les arcs 1800 from boxing day 2022 till Jan 3 2023. Yes it was warm and sunny, but the snow was fine all the way down the pistes to the lifts at 1800, you could see patches of grass off piste though. We even had a falling snow day mid week which helped.
Over the hill to 2000 and there was plenty of snow. I can't comment on the pistes to 1600 as I never went that far down.
Oh and new years day was gloriously quiet on the slopes.
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