Les Arcs 2024 / 2025

A snowHead

Guys I've been to 2000/1950 but not 1800 but potentially planning a new year week next winter. What's 1800 like compared to 2000/1950?

A snowHead

similar architecture to 2000 just a lot bigger and more spread out over the mountain, lot more restaurants and bars. No where near a picture book as 1950. Which part of 1800 are you looking at?

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@X5OT76, don’t worry about the snow at the moment. Almost all pistes are complete with no stones showing. In fact IMHO they are in excellent condition until roughly 2 - 3 in the afternoon. Off piste and the natur pistes are not so good. If you are the sort of skier who enjoys smooth bashed pistes for çarving at speed then the conditions are great.

Today the pistes were a bit softer this morning and softened earlier than the last couple of days. At about 3 the piste down to 1600 was painful for my sore knee and I had too quit for the day.

Piste of the day: barmont - empty and firm with a few cm of soft snow on top. A fantastic blue blast from the top of charmatodger to grizzly

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@riman8, depending on where you are in 1800 it can be a lot less convenient than 2000 but you do have easier access to the, in my opinion, better skiing.

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After all it is free

The snow softens earlier on the 2000 side. So the 1800 side stays firmer longer. The other thing I’ve noticed this week is that the steeper slopes stay in condition longer and the flat bits get quite slushy.

@johnE, okay might have to flip the plan! Just assumed that the higher snow would stay good longer. I assume that's down to orientation.

Cheers

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I'm taking a short break over the Easter Bank Holiday weekend with my son, as it's so late in the season we've opted to stay in 1950. Having never stayed there before does anyone have a recommendation for a ski hire shop in the station for kids equipment please?

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The sun was in all its glory today and it got really warm this afternoon. We started over in the 2000 valley and first thing the pistes were great but come 11 they were softening rapidly. We did combourcier then. It had been pisted over night but was now getting painfully soft.an hour earlier it would have been wonderful.

When we crossed back over to the 1800 side the pistes were still in excellent condition and stayed that way until lunch at one. We didn’t ski after lunch. The pistes in the 2000 valley (with the exception of those from varet) face north east and catch the morning sun. Those the other side of the ridge face north west so the sun doesn’t hit them until later in the day.

We thought the resort was busier today but skiing straight on the arcabulle and finding ourselves the only passengers on the whole of the charmatodger lift still says there are really not that many people here.

Piste of the day : golf. These reds in 1800 are really good, better in my opinion than those in vallandry.

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At the top of the Mont blanc lift yesterday I stopped for a while watching people walking to the top of the deux têtes along tight ropes. A spring diversion.

@wills_h, hi, I have been to 1950 for many years with my children.

We have always hired from Intersport in the main square, to the left of the restaurant Le Perce Neige as you look at - which in itself is underneath the clock ‘tower’.

I haven’t used other shops to make a true comparison, but we have never had an issue and the price has been good compared to the competition .

We always book online to get some more discount.

You know it makes sense.

If you like skiing well prepared blue and red pistes I cannot imagine conditions being any better than they’ve been this week. Every morning the pistes are in almost perfect condition and stayed that way until about 11 in 2000 and perhaps 14:00 in 1800 provided you stick to the higher and steeper runs. The sky is blue and the sun shining. We have whole pistes to ourselves and the odd chairlift. The whole lift not just the chair. It has been absolutely fantastic.

Get out on the first lift and finish at lunch time. It’s wonderful

It’s not so good if you are looking for moguls and off piste, but then you cannot have everything.

I’ve seen a lot of ski school lessons and lot of English children so I assume it is spring break for the English schools but since Easter is some time away there are fewer than usual Belgians and other nationalities.

Piste of the day: a difficult choice, my son just discovered barmont and was raving about how he’d missed it for the last 20 years, but for me it was bosses. Though it is marked on the map as a black it had been bashed so really felt like a red and should be renamed « non bosses »

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

It really does go to show how conditions play such a huge part. We were in Les Arcs in January and I recall Barmont being really unpleasantly scraped and icy. It didn't feel particularly blue... Whereas its somewhat secluded position is probably what makes it so nice now!

A snowHead

A snowHead

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Well today was the last day of this trip and of the season. I’ve managed 23 days skiing in les arcs this season (we lost one when the resort closed due to bad weather over Christmas and one in march when I was in too much knee pain) and the last week has had the best conditions.

It barely froze overnight here in 1600 but it did freeze and the snow stayed firm until 11 at the bottom of cachette and not too soft when we quit for the day at 14:00.

It was a little busier today than last week with the first lift queue encountered- the arcabulle - but that was it. We had lovely runs on deserted pistes. The weekend traffic started last night and of course the fair weather attracted lots of day visitors but I imagine the resort will be very quiet again next week.

It must be costing the resort a fortune to remain open with all these lifts running with no one on them, carefully preparing the pistes each night and supplying all the security staff. The bars and restaurants are suffering as well. I suppose the very late Easter holidays is a major contributing factor. It wasn’t this quiet last year.

Anyway that’s it for the season. I’ll be back in the summer to look for my lost ski.

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@johnE, thanks for all the reports over the season, really appreciated them

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We were in BstM yesterday and saw a Ford in the car park at Lidl and Super U with the reg plate SK11 ARC and the dealer as Arc 1950, was that any one here, just curious Very Happy

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Looking out of the window this morning looks like it will be a beautiful day. Get out early and enjoy it.

Though the pistes are holding up well the non piste areas below 2000m are developing some bare patches.

After all it is free

Currently relaxing in the sun with a beer in 1950.

Gorgeous day. 11 degrees according the the temp on the Marmottes lift at 1950

Snow was nice and firm at 930am but not so hard it was bullet proof. Enough to grip my snowboard on and to warm up the legs on this trip.

Had some good runs on the reds above Arpette between 12 and 1 whilst it was still firm enough.

After 2pm - whilst still fun, it’s all heavy going on tired legs.

Called it a day at 4pm.

@Richie_S, great summary. We did a few runs in the 1950/2000 bowl and the runs were superb. We flipped over the other side, which was fine until about 12.30pm. The runs down to 1800 started to get really heavy, so went for lunch at the Derby lift.

We headed back to the 1950/2000 bowl, but it was all a bit too soft and sticky, so we called it a day at 3pm and went for a drink and dip in the pool.

Supposed to be 3 degrees cooler tomorrow so am hoping the snow holds up longer.

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Just got into 1950, about 18.30 yesterday evening, just in time to see a few people finishing off their Apres. First time here and really impressed with the village so far. Let's see what todays skiing is like..... hitting 22 in BSM on the drive in, 10 in the village!

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Had a good day considering the temps.... 11c. Orientation is key. The higher runs in the 2000 bowl face the rising sun, so as mentioned above, high not necessarily better, especially later in the day. Went over to 1800 after lunch, about 13.0, busy compared to the morning over the other side. So headed back over to 2000 for the last couple of runs.

It's spring skiing and I'm in the mountains so not complaining, just crack on, is what I say. Much more upsetting is the price of beer.... 10€. Thankfully I'm with the kids and not on a lads trip!!

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We took a leaf out of @Richie_S's book and spent most of the morning looping different runs off the Arpette lift which worked really well. There's such a confusing crossover of different runs that you can mix it up quite a bit plus a lot of the reds were deserted and in really good nick.

It really starts to soften up after 12 on any busy blues. We went to lunch in 1950 and the kids decided to call it a day after that at 2pm. We went for one more run and really wished we hadn't as it was not good!

You know it makes sense.

At Rocky Mountain in 1600 I paid 17€ for 3 beers and a lemonade last week. And then paid a fortune the next afternoon on the Cachette hotel sun terrace. One had hard seats with no indoor seating and you were served at the hatch. The other you were served at your soft seats by a uniformed waiter.

@Handy Turnip, that array of reds into 1600 and 1800 are really good and are always suprisingly deserted (with the exception of the top Claire Blanc of course Toofy Grin

). We often have Arrolles, and Clocheret as early runs in the day. One morning last week when I was going down the top of the empty Clocheret at, for me high speed, the thought suddenly hit me that if I fell nothing was going to stop me until I hit the catch fence at the bottom. Even an ice axe brake wasn't going to work (not that I had an ice axe with me).

I think it is not the traffic that softens the flats and the blues first but the slope. They face the sun more.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

Top tip. The Grand Renard is still rock hard at 10:30.

And definitely don’t take your 12 year old 3 star skier down it….

A snowHead

Glorious day today - the runs were hard early doors but that was great because it meant they held up longer before the afternoon slush.
We did laps of Arpette again - Froide Fontaine is becoming a bit of a favourite with the kids, it's always deserted!
@johnE, we went up Clocheret chair to mix it up a bit - didn't quite realise how slow that chair is! But we were rewarded with an empty Clocheret red off the top, brilliant fun!
Really great day - hoping that it's going to be slightly cooler tomorrow so we can do more of the lower tree lined runs.
Any recommendations @johnE, Myrtilles?

A snowHead

@Handy Turnip, If you want to do Myrtilles get there early. It was softening at the bottom by 11:00 last week and some bare patches were forming. The top of Morey was good fun but from Foret it was closed and we had to traverse onto Myrtilles. If it is open Combe at the far west of Vallandry is an excellent piste and at the very opposite end the middle section of Arrolles is also a good run in the trees.

@Richie_S, Reche going the other way from Grand Renard is a bit steeper and often very smooth hard pack. On busy days it is best to wait for a clear run and just go for it or risk being taken out by someone out of control or on their arze. It used to be marked as a black then they started bashing it so it became a red (and an easier way to Vallandry). The red Rouelles, however, was left as a natur and became a black.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

@johnE, thanks for your comment. We also got said child stuck on that section of the Reches last time we were in resort. Hence the decision to do Grand Renard. Tbf to me, I suggested we do the blue back to 2000 and do a lap of Arcubulle so it would soften up, but I was dissuaded by the enthusiastic older teens.

Still, the 12 year old recovered his mojo after a chocolate Chaud in the chalet by the Derby chair.

We spent some time navigating that area. The Barmont is now a little ‘agricultural’ but good enough to take us to the Grizzly where we lapped the Aigle which was still in ok condition into the afternoon.

Shout out to the new Transarc. A) noticeably faster B) just a delight to be able to sit down and rest my aged legs. I used to avoid it and preferred the alternative chair options back up to 2000.

Run of the day was the Renard off the Derby chair, or as a route back from the Grizzly.

Our day ended with beer and crepes in warm sunshine at the Perce Neige in 1950 before a ‘home made’ attempt at Tartiflette in our apartment.

Best day of our trip so far. Looking forward to tomorrow. Very Happy

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This week so far really has been fantastic. We've settled into a routine of dropping the kids to ski school in 1800 then getting the Transarc up to the top and spending the morning in the sun in the 1950 valley before crossing back over the ridge and getting back in time for the end of ski school. After lunch it's a few runs on the 1800 side until the kids decide they want to stop.

One question for those who know the resort well. What's the best time of day to do Clocheret and Arolles in the current conditions? Not sure when the sun hits them.

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@EricTheRed, I think it depends on the temperatures and how much sun had hit it. We did Arolles around 10am this morning - lovely run through the trees, but it was very hard at that point.
We did Clocheret on Tuesday and it was beautiful at around 11am.

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A tip for those here.. we did the Secret run about 09.30 this morning and it was really bad for that.time of day. I'm sure it hadn't been bashed over night. There were loads of traffic on it and it was so tiring.

We spent most of the day over 1800 side. AM doing the runs off Renard area and the doing the reds off the Arpette lift over lunch time. Had a late lunch at Aliport near the Snowpark. All in all a really good day, albeit quite relaxed

After all it is free

..... and currently trying it's best to snow over in 1950..... but not succeeding

We've spent a lot of time in 1800, much of that around the Arpette reds.
We might try and spend the morning tomorrow in the 1950/2000 bowl - any tips about which runs are best at what time?
We'll pop up to the Glacier at some point - how are the runs off the top at the moment? I'm sure that it was a red when I last did it, but it now looks black on the piste map.

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Les Arcs 2024 / 2025

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