 Poster: A snowHead
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It will be our first trip to Les Arcs this year. Last year we flew into Lyon and rented a car and drove to la Plagne but this year we’ve decided to get a private transfer (3 families - group of 13). Anyone have any recommendations for good value transfers? 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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The Les Arcs website currently says: "Access to Les Arcs: special equipment required." What does this mean? The weather looks lovely today. Is there something extra that needs doing? Or is it just a case of having ski chains - which we always do, and I thought were mandatory anyway?
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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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Socks or chains, there maybe police enforcing this
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Excactly - but I thought that was always the case? Is there anything new/special about driving today?
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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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By law you have to have them in the car in winter but not necessarily on the car, what they are saying is you have to have them on the car today
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Just before Christmas we had a big fall of snow and YUGE had a similar message. All the cars coming into 1600 had chains or some with socks. Even a couple days later I saw some coming down the now clear road from 2000 had chains on.
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@SCruttonStreet, as above - it's just saying you will (or might) actually have to put the chains on.
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Well, I’m not sure what happened to the Les Arcs slopes today. We had a wonderful snowfall overnight but I wonder if that had prevented the piste bashers preparing the slopes. We skied most areas today but it was brutal with chopped up moguls everywhere! After a fab week skiing we had to give up early afternoon today.
The road to 1950 looked icy today. I’m hoping it’s clear for us to leave early tomorrow morning.
Weather wise, it’s been a fantastic week. Blue sky's & sunshine mostly and a lovely overnight snowfall. It’s got colder the last couple of days but still lovely in the sunshine. Les Arcs has been fantastic. We will certainly visit again.
Have a wonderful time if you are on your way out now. Once those slopes are prepared, it will be beautiful!
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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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| gendal wrote: |
Hopefully this is the right thread to ask this question. We (two adults) are coming out to Les Arcs on Jan 4 for three weeks, staying in Arc 1800, renting an airbnb in Charvet. Any recommendations for the best place to rent skis from please? Perhaps somewhere that might offer a discount for the extended period versus the usual week - even better if they offer boot fitting / insoles as my new boots don't quite fit and it would be good to get some professional help with them.
I guess there's an argument that three weeks almost makes it worth buying rather than renting - but the hassle of ski carriage for every future holiday as well as the need to maintain them, etc., means the idea of owning our own skis has never really appealed. Am I being an idiot here? |
You'll probably find, doing 3 weeks, that it's cheaper to get a season pass.
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Thanks @ChrisKernow. Yep. We figured the same re lift pass. We’ve bought a Paradiski season pass and will do our best to come back again later in the season to get even more value from it.
Re hiring skis, I started a separate thread and just updated with the results here: https://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?p=5383597#5383597
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@breeze11, I think you're being a little critical. I returned to Paradiski after the Xmas season and had my first day back today. Early morning, the pisted slopes were beautiful - we did Mont Blanc and Clocherets early, and they were stunning. We also skied Fond Blanc and Rouelles later on and the snow was still pretty forgiving. In between, we skied the 2000 bowl and also went down to VillaRoger: the skiing down to VillaRoger was taxing, but mainly because we skied off the piste in the middle section and chose the black run further down.
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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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Arrived in Les Arcs tonight after a delayed Eurostar trip from Brussels - a 14:35 arrival in BSM turned into a 16:30 arrival. We were at 1600 by 5 pm then an interminable 35 min wait for a shuttle means we didn't get to 1950 before 6 pm. Then of course a rush to check in, get skis, go to the supermarket etc.
A totally inadequate shuttle service on a January Saturday evening doesn't fill me with confidence about the resorts organisational abilities. Note it was 35 mins between shuttles from 1600 to 1950/2000, and any questions were met with a gallic shrug.
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@rdk, welcome to France
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You know it makes sense.
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| rdk wrote: |
Arrived in Les Arcs tonight after a delayed Eurostar trip from Brussels - a 14:35 arrival in BSM turned into a 16:30 arrival. We were at 1600 by 5 pm then an interminable 35 min wait for a shuttle means we didn't get to 1950 before 6 pm. Then of course a rush to check in, get skis, go to the supermarket etc.
A totally inadequate shuttle service on a January Saturday evening doesn't fill me with confidence about the resorts organisational abilities. Note it was 35 mins between shuttles from 1600 to 1950/2000, and any questions were met with a gallic shrug. |
You could have got a taxi.
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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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Quick question that isn’t related to Les Arc exclusively- but after the snow fall on Thursday night the snow cannons were on from 5pm all night at Vallandry. Why is that? There was plenty of snow on Thursday and we hadn’t seen them on all week so were wondering. Not sure if they were on everywhere or just bottom of Grizzly.
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Poster: A snowHead
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| mobileadam wrote: |
| Quick question that isn’t related to Les Arc exclusively- but after the snow fall on Thursday night the snow cannons were on from 5pm all night at Vallandry. Why is that? There was plenty of snow on Thursday and we hadn’t seen them on all week so were wondering. Not sure if they were on everywhere or just bottom of Grizzly. |
Make hay while the sun shines 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| SnowVillan wrote: |
| @breeze11, I think you're being a little critical. I returned to Paradiski after the Xmas season and had my first day back today. Early morning, the pisted slopes were beautiful - we did Mont Blanc and Clocherets early, and they were stunning. We also skied Fond Blanc and Rouelles later on and the snow was still pretty forgiving. In between, we skied the 2000 bowl and also went down to VillaRoger: the skiing down to VillaRoger was taxing, but mainly because we skied off the piste in the middle section and chose the black run further down. |
I’m glad you had such a good day. It is a fab area. It sounds like they might have done a bit of work on the slopes by the time you got out on Saturday. On Friday they were hard work. I just wondered if the timing of the snowfall had left them with no time to prepare them?
Enjoy your week!
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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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| mobileadam wrote: |
| Quick question that isn’t related to Les Arc exclusively- but after the snow fall on Thursday night the snow cannons were on from 5pm all night at Vallandry. Why is that? There was plenty of snow on Thursday and we hadn’t seen them on all week so were wondering. Not sure if they were on everywhere or just bottom of Grizzly. |
Stash it while they can, well into the season now and maximising snow depth at points they know can be vulnerable later in ski season can help those using it then.
If snowfall drops and temps rise, then they may not be able to use cannon (needs low temperature to work well) to mitigate.
Effectively a pre-eminent strike that they can spread and compact with the piste bashers to get through potential uncertainty.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@rdk, I think you've been a little unlucky. We stayed in Arc 1600 last week and used the shuttles most days in the evening. There are some with 35 min gaps but most are around 15/20mins. We found they arrived pretty much bang on time and linked well with the Arc 1800 service. Hopefully your experience has improved.
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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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PSA: For people looking for 4+ week rentals, Skiimium in the BSM village give a seasonaire’s discount (50%), and are super accommodating and helpful. Other shops in BSM wanted to charge over €700, whereas with the discount, Skiimium came in at €200 for their top package. Niche I know, but hopefully this helps someone!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Re the navettes. I’ve found they run pretty accurately to the published timetable. IIRC they are every 30 minutes to 2000 and 20 to 1800.
@rdk, I assumed you waited in the waiting room in the old téléphérique station so at least out of the cold.
@ChrisKernow, a taxi from 1600 to 1950 would be very expensive since it would probably have to come up from bourg st Maurice and by the time it arrived the bus would have set off.
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I’m off to 1950 in 2 weeks and the taxi quote IIRC from BSM was €80-95
Think I’ll hang around for 35 mins and save that for beer and fondue money.
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| johnE wrote: |
Re the navettes. I’ve found they run pretty accurately to the published timetable. IIRC they are every 30 minutes to 2000 and 20 to 1800.
@rdk, I assumed you waited in the waiting room in the old téléphérique station so at least out of the cold.
@ChrisKernow, a taxi from 1600 to 1950 would be very expensive since it would probably have to come up from bourg st Maurice and by the time it arrived the bus would have set off. |
Yep, fully aware, have lived in the area for winter for many years.
The point I'm making is this, if you want transport to your schedule it's gonna cost. Cheaper options usually mean waiting.
To slag the resort off because you got there late (ok, not hos fault, but certainly not the resorts) and there was no cheap transfer waiting with the red carpet rolled out is all a bit rich.
Smacks of entitlement, which is always ugly.
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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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Great first ski session of the season for us in LA today.
Weather was better than expected with the sun out for most of the morning. Pistes had good snow for the most part with a powdery topping from last night’s snowfall. One section down in Vallandry (bottom of Morey) had very thin snow cover but there was plenty everywhere else!
The best part of the day was that our total lift queue time was under 10 minutes total. It’s far quieter than our previous visit last March. Let’s hope the rest of January stays just as quiet!
See you out there
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I have never been down to Villaroger. Can you get there on blue runs the whole way? And what is the return route to Arc 1950, again sticking to blues? (snow permitting of course)
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| SCruttonStreet wrote: |
| I have never been down to Villaroger. Can you get there on blue runs the whole way? And what is the return route to Arc 1950, again sticking to blues? (snow permitting of course) |
Generally no I'm afraid - at least on the way down. I think it's possible when the Rhonaz lift is open, but this is generally only used as a backup in case the Lanchettes lift is closed. The route via Lanchettes involves quite a bit of red piste. On the way back it is possible to get to 1950 on blues only by taking the blue Rhonaz piste down to the road, then climbing back on the Pre St Esprit lift to above 2000 and descending back to 1950.
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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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| Yukon wrote: |
| SCruttonStreet wrote: |
| I have never been down to Villaroger. Can you get there on blue runs the whole way? And what is the return route to Arc 1950, again sticking to blues? (snow permitting of course) |
Generally no I'm afraid - at least on the way down. I think it's possible when the Rhonaz lift is open, but this is generally only used as a backup in case the Lanchettes lift is closed. The route via Lanchettes involves quite a bit of red piste. On the way back it is possible to get to 1950 on blues only by taking the blue Rhonaz piste down to the road, then climbing back on the Pre St Esprit lift to above 2000 and descending back to 1950. |
Thank you - yes that makes sense. I have seen people walking across the road at the bottom of Pre St Esprit so that must be it.
What are the reds like down to Villaroger from Lanchettes? I can manage relatively easy ones (so like Bellette or Froids Fontaine on the 1600/1800 side) but nothing tougher!
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| ChrisKernow wrote: |
To slag the resort off because you got there late (ok, not hos fault, but certainly not the resorts) and there was no cheap transfer waiting with the red carpet rolled out is all a bit rich.
Smacks of entitlement, which is always ugly. |
Get real @ChrisKernow. Saturday evening = busy. Resorts know this. They have published timetables and if they don't meet those timetables and have hundreds of people waiting the least they can do is give some info. When is the next shuttle? Why is there a delay? It's a service industry and customers expecting what they have paid for is the bare minimum - shuttles are not some gift but are paid for by visitors via lift tickets and accommodation.
Saying I want red carpet treatment, have some sense of ugly entitlement says more about you wanting to have a go at someone you don't know than anything else. Ugly indeed.
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You know it makes sense.
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| johnE wrote: |
@rdk, I assumed you waited in the waiting room in the old téléphérique station so at least out of the cold.
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In the 1950/2000 line there was much more than one bus full waiting, so anyone in the waiting room would definitely have missed getting on.
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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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| pmercer wrote: |
| @rdk, I think you've been a little unlucky. We stayed in Arc 1600 last week and used the shuttles most days in the evening. There are some with 35 min gaps but most are around 15/20mins. We found they arrived pretty much bang on time and linked well with the Arc 1800 service. Hopefully your experience has improved. |
We'll have to see later in the week if we want to visit 1600 or 1800 in the evening. But good to know the connections generally work well.
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Poster: A snowHead
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| SCruttonStreet wrote: |
| Yukon wrote: |
| SCruttonStreet wrote: |
| I have never been down to Villaroger. Can you get there on blue runs the whole way? And what is the return route to Arc 1950, again sticking to blues? (snow permitting of course) |
Generally no I'm afraid - at least on the way down. I think it's possible when the Rhonaz lift is open, but this is generally only used as a backup in case the Lanchettes lift is closed. The route via Lanchettes involves quite a bit of red piste. On the way back it is possible to get to 1950 on blues only by taking the blue Rhonaz piste down to the road, then climbing back on the Pre St Esprit lift to above 2000 and descending back to 1950. |
Thank you - yes that makes sense. I have seen people walking across the road at the bottom of Pre St Esprit so that must be it.
What are the reds like down to Villaroger from Lanchettes? I can manage relatively easy ones (so like Bellette or Froids Fontaine on the 1600/1800 side) but nothing tougher! |
From memory of which sections are between which lifts (so please get a second opinion on this!) there is one steep-ish pitch which can get a bit cut up. That section is pretty wide so if you could limp down it. To be honest the most important thing will be to make the decision on the snow conditions on the day - with good snow it's a lot easier than if that pitch is a scraped ice sheet!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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If it's a scraped ice sheet I'm not even going down Edelweiss, let alone anywhere else!
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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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@Yukon, The route to Villaroger from Arc2000 requires at least a short section of red piste. There is a sign at the bottom of the Lanchette chair lift warning that the easiest piste from the top is a red. The run from here to the top of the Droset lift is the only red section you cannot avoid but it is a relatively gentle road definately at the lower end of the grade. The main worry is the faster skiers on the piste since many just schuss this section (I did the first time I did it). At Plan des Violettes there is a steep mogul section which can be avoided using the blue Lys piste. At the Solliet restaurant you have 3 options - A nice black, a red of about the same difficulty or continue down the road all the way to Villaroger.
For return you take the Replat lift, the Plan des Violettes and the Droset lifts that drop you of at the top of the Reservoir piste, a gentle blue back to 2000. Alternatively you can take the Rhonaz piste Pre st Espirit and either get the bus or the lift from there. I wouldn't reccomend this route to any snowboarders as there is a short uphill section but it is very beautiful.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| SCruttonStreet wrote: |
| If it's a scraped ice sheet I'm not even going down Edelweiss, let alone anywhere else! |
Ha, no worries, totally get that! My point is don't fret too much about the red/blue thing and take a decision on the day. The run right from the top down to Villaroger is brilliant and picking off sections one at a time is a good way to build up to the full experience. I had two full runs on this piste last year in very different conditions - with a bit of fresh but firm snow it was amazing fun but after a week of no snow whatever was left was in an icy/mogul mix on the steep bits which will be no good for you. If there is recent snow, and the sun is shining, and you feel good - give it a go! If not - there are plenty of other days and other pistes.
@johne makes a good point about the other skiers and that's worth being aware of, although I find that the main conflict can be on the road section higher than Lanchettes (ie, not the bit you want to try).
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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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How are the conditions looking at the moment for the area then and for the coming week? I arrive at arc 1800 on Saturday afternoon getting pretty exited now and last I heard the snows been pretty decent up to now
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Robzill wrote: |
| How are the conditions looking at the moment for the area then and for the coming week? I arrive at arc 1800 on Saturday afternoon getting pretty exited now and last I heard the snows been pretty decent up to now |
Around 95% of the lifts are currently open.
Best snow conditions are presently on the upper trails.
About 20-50cm of fresh snowfall due in the coming week.
Looks like rain on the lower slopes during midweek.
Stay high (above 2000m).
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39 days and counting until we're there.
Keep that snow coming! Great Christmas reports all.
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Having a look at the Grand Massif website, it appears that over half of the runs across the entire area aren't open (in red on the map).
Are they really note open or are they not groomed? Just curious as to why so much would be closed.
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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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@adriangrogan, are you commenting on the right thread?
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| wills_h wrote: |
| @adriangrogan, are you commenting on the right thread? |
Nope! Must have had a very senior moment there!
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