Driving Holiday to Arc1950

A snowHead

Hi everyone.

I want to buy a new toy. A Mitsubishi Delica is a 7 seater van that uses the running gear of a Pagero / Shogun. This makes it four wheel drive and the perfect vehicle for what I need. it has a 2.5 turbo Diesel engine.

Among other tasks this vehicle will be a perfect for a skiing trip. I am getting fed up with going skiing and having to go to airports. I hate having to lug my skis and polls, boot bag, luggage and what ever bag i want on the plane and coach around with me. It also takes an hour at least to get to the airport, another hour and a bit to park and que to check in, 3 hours wait for plane, an hour sitting on tarmac runway, another hour at least flight, 2 hours to get off plane, claim your baggage and find and get on coach, transfer time from airport 3 to 5 hours then another hour checking in because the whole coach load is. i think it much easier to drive there yourself and with a 7 seater four wheel drive why not! I think if you split the costs 7 ways it wont work out much more.

We Will most likely take my mates box trailer for luggage, take ski/snowboards on the roof of the van and on top of the trailer and sit back in comfort with dvd/ tv and ps2 to entertain ourselfs.

So with those plans laid out im now setting out to find a nice Resort.
Im 27, but my gf is 21 and the rest of my companions are 25, 28, 27, 32 and 40.
Our ski experiance ranges from a couple of us skiing for 8 years and being abled to hold our own, 2 of the group has skied once or twice before recently and my gf has never skiied before but will take lessons before we go.

I really like the look of Arc 1950. But wondered if anyone had ever been there and how feasible it is to drive to?
It looks so gorgeous and relaxing and after a couple of trips to Andorra (one of which being to Pas de la casa) ive decided its not really the place i enjoy. I want somewhere to go that is gorgeous Like Arc1950 but with a little entertainment if needs be. I was thinking Arc would be perfect. The 1950 Village looks relaxing and peaceful and we can drive to the other places if we want for a diffrent atmosphere.

http://www.arc1950.com/en/v_visite_guidee.php

Any comments on the plan, tips, hints etc?

Thanks for any help!

A snowHead

Neil never driven across, many more here who can advise better on that though I know come 2008/2009 we will start driving as I hate flying!!

Les Arcs is an incredible area but definitely cheaper parts of it to stay than 1950. Its full of wealthy Russians with bank balances to match the prices. Arc 2000 above might be a slighlty cheaper option Puzzled

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

Why restrict yourself to one resort? Cheaper option is stay in Bourg St Maurice, then ski in any of Les Arcs, La Plagne, La Rosiere, Sainte Foy, Tignes, Val d'Isere on a daily basis - just go to wherever has the best snow conditions on the day

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Neil, Good plan. Les Arcs an easy drive via Lyon, should take no more than 12 hours from the channel, with some interesting stops en route. Tolls amount to about £80 (edit) for the round trip with a van.
As for Les Arcs as a resort, you might find more nightlife in 1800, but 1950 very pleasant looking but can be more costly. For the less experienced skiers the Peisey Vallandry end is possbly better, but there is a good variety of runs for all abilities. I take my mixed bag of 16 skiers over and we have not found a better solution than Peisey Nancroix over the last 6 years (having tried Chamonix, Flaine and Les Carroz) for our January weekend. There is a good review of it HERE and our own homegrown reports from fellow Snowheads

.
When are you going?

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Martin Nicholas, Shhhh wink

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geri, Ooops Embarassed

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According to Michelin tolls = 115 eur return approx £80

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Neil, we regularly drive to the Alps - last few years in Vallandry, part of les Arcs. Is certainyl a straightforward drive - we usually take an extra day to travel and have an extended holiday with an overnight hotel stop and nice meal.

A search on the forums will give you all the info you want on routes, stops etc.

Would question the trailer idea though - will reduce your speed, possibly cost you more in tolls and I would check what gradient you can tow an unbraked (I assume) trailer up as the roads can be rather steep and of course snowy. Is there not enough room in the cabin for luggage as well?

We get 5 into a Sharan and take our luggage as well as luggage for 2 people flying in the car and also in a roofbox

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Hi everyone.
thanks for the great replies.
We are planning on going over easter. as my gf and 2 of the other people are students and one is a teacher.
I know easter will be expensive but we dont have a choice in the matter.
The Mitsubishi Delica will tow a trailer easily. its not a big trailer, but would just make the cabin a little less cluttered and one of the ideas with driving is not limiting ourselfs to what we can take (like we always have to do on the plane) For once i want to be abled to take both my pairs of skis. we will have a roof rack and trailer and some luggage inside most likely. we already have a small trailer. i doubt very much it will make much diffrence to the over all speed of the delica. there wont be loads of stuff in the trailer but as were looking to leave very early in the morning it means the passangers can stretch out more. plus the delicas have plenty of torque and pulling power.

Would the trailer make much diffrence to the toll cost? anyone know?

We choose Arc1950 because of the winter wonderland type theme. Were not to bothered with lots of bars and are more after a nice relaxing atmoshpere and looking to get lost in the magic for once, rather than drinking to late and being unwell all the next day.

We can put the drinks away with the best of people if were in the mood. but when we ski we dont normally drink that much. apres ski can be fun, but we prefer to make the most of our ski trip and do what we planned on doing... Ski. I never said we would be a group of 7 blokes! there will be 3 girls and 4 guys, (and not that it matters but only 2 couples. so 3 single people. that only becomes relivant when booking appartments and beds etc.) Im normally pretty good at rallying the group to get out onto the slopes. were normally all ready to ski having had breakfast etc by latest 9:30.

Im really looking forward to the trip. Got my heart set on Les Arc 1950 but it is pretty expensive. The self drive options make it slightly more affordable but the ski passes are pretty pricey.
anyone got any recommendations who to book through and who to buy ski passes from?

Thanks again for all your help

Neil

Neil, Some operators will include lift passes, otherwise my experience is to buy them online before you go.

Can't help with toll costs - there is a site autoroute.fr which will have the prices but is all in French - hardly surprising

We book with Grand ALpes through http://www.holidaychalet.com/ in Vallandry - great chalets, large and easy access to Les Arcs and cheaper

You know it makes sense.

I'm not sure, but I don't think a small trailer will push up your toll costs. I am driving through France on autoroutes on Sunday/Monday - I'll check the tolls! And I think small trailers don't affect the speed limits, either. Need to check, though. A trailer will affect your parking costs, and if there's lots of snow (which of course there will be!) you would get fed up with digging your vehicle out of snowdrifts. When you book, you probably have the option to book underground parking, and though you would need two parking spaces, you have as many people as two ordinary cars.

What sort of accommodation are you looking for? Could check Erna Low for self catering, with ferry crossing, but don't fill self catering apartments with max number of bods if you want to stay on speaking terms after the holiday.

Trailer will definitely cost extra on ferries/tunnel but I can imagine that you can't get luggage for 7 people, including skis, in the vehicle with all seats in use. 7 seaters don't leave much room for baggage. Look on the Les Arcs website for ski passes.

Easter is a pain next year. My daughter is a student teacher and her BF is a teacher and they have practically no time off over Easter - the school terms are all to pot next year with different authorities on holiday on different dates, many of them not actually at Easter. But it's a nice time of year to travel - longer days, a bit warmer, should be great.

Don't forget to get some chains and know how to use them on your new vehicle! And don't forget that radar detectors are illegal in France, as is Red Bull...

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

Neil, if you want good value lift passes go to the opposite side of the valley from Les Arcs, La Rosiere has one of the best value lift passes in the Alps, just ver £100.00 for 6 days in France and Italy. It also has the adavntage of beinfg south facing so it gets a lot more sun all day, Arc 1950 and "00 can be very gloomy in January when tey;re in shadow for much of the day. La Rosiere is also a genuine working village not a fantasy Disneyland in the snow.

A snowHead

A snowHead

rob@rar,

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

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Neil, http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=17956 For an all round view of the small resort of La Rosiere
Vehicles with trailers pay more tolls as they slow other people down wink

Also which channel crossing are you using as each charge trailers at a varying rates Sad

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gwaelod, be fair if it wasnt for Mr Tracks Vacs none of us would ever have heard of Le rosier or know where all the old lifts end up wink

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I think I have my heart set on Les Arcs 1950 now. It looks like the sort of place we can all relax in and have our "dream wonderland / snow disney land!"
Were all in the mood to fall in love with the theme and the atmosphere as we will mostly be couples.
The Delica van still has a fairly big boot even with all 7 seats in place. but it will be tight with all 7 bags. Plus i want a rule in place where everyone (within reason) can bring what they want. The trailer isnt huge. and im confident that a 2.8i TD Delica wont even notice the trailer. The vans are pretty high. and mine has been raised further, so getting out of snow drifts wont be a problem. Just select 4wd and over it will go!

this is a video of what the vans are capible of

http://youtube.com/v/oQDZNmn6rhM

ohh and Pam W, redbull isnt illegal in France. It just it has certain chemicals in it that by their laws only chemists can sell. You are allowed to drink it in France. You just might have to hunt around for a chemist who stocks it.

I have looked at the price of ski passes in some of the travel brochures and they list the full complex access as being around £200. Thats the only thing thats really putting us off les Arcs. But with over 425km of pistes, that makes it well woth it in my books (however some of my ski companions disagree)

any suggestions on where the Les Arcs passes may be obtained cheaper (if anywhere) I would be graitful.

I will look into ferry / tunnel prices. I forgot that they are more expensive with trailer in tow. Will also look into parking costs.

Neil, I don't think it is possible to buy discounted lift passes. Are you sure that you need the full Paradiski pass for your entire week? There's a good range of piste and off-piste skiing available in Les Arcs to discover before you need to head across to La Plagne. Your inexperienced skiers won't need the full domain pass, and your complete beginner probably won't need a pass for the first day or two as I'm sure there is a free lift serving the nursery slope that they will be learning on. Maybe a six day Les Arcs pass with a one-day extension to Paradiski would be a cheaper option for most of you? For the more experienced of your group a good tip for avoiding half-term queues is to ski above Villaroger for the busiest part of the day - it's always much quieter there, and it has a great selection of runs to choose from. The ski school in 1950 is called Spirit1950 and has a good reputation. You should book whatever lessons your group needs in advance because at least some of their classes will be fully booked. If Spirit1950 aren't suitable for what you need you could easily use ESF in Arc 2000 which you get to on the pedestrian-friendly gondola linking the two resorts; it's just a few minutes to get there.

If you stay in 1950 I think underground parking will be available as part of your accommodation booking, but you'd need to find out what the options for parking your trailer would be.

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Neil, a further thought, don't forget to sort out snowchains before you go. It might not be possible to get suitable snowchains locally due to tyre size and any special requirements that your Delicia might have.

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Neil,

Would agree with Rob, the Les Arcs only ski pass will keep you very busy especially if you stay in 1950 as it is slap bang in the middle and a great location to ski out from. Remember the cost of the ski pass is directly proportional to the size of the ski area and the quality of the lifts. Hence the La Ros one is cheap. Laughing

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gwaelod, if you've been to La Rosiere you'd be able to comment but you haven't so your comments are worthless. I didn't say the skiing was poor in Les Arcs it isn't, in fact I'm of the opinion that it's probably the best piste skiing in France and I'm fairly sure I've probably skied there more often than you, but in a season we get to ski throughout the entire Tarentaise valley and my comments about the relative value of the La Rosiere lift pass are based on that experience. There's over 3,500 hectares of skiing in the Espace San Bernardo and some of the best off-piste anywhere in the Alps, BTW for those poor souls obsessed with mileage, there's over 150 kms of pistes, which is about the same as Chamonix, somewhere that I've never heard referred to as small area but perhaps gwaelod, can put me right on that one as well.

David@traxvax, it's just a shame that you feel the need to knock Les Arcs in order to attract interest to the resort that you have a commercial interest in, especially when the original poster had already expressed a commitment to a particular village in Les Arcs and was asking for advice on driving there. It certainly puts my back up, and I have the feeling I'm not alone on that! Maybe it would be better to restrict your La Ros comments to those people who are asking for advice about resorts in general, or La Rosiere specifically?

You know it makes sense.

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

I see we're back on the 'my ski area puts a bigger bulge in my red salopettes that yours does' thread.

Now I have skied and boarded at La Rosier and it is a very nice LITTLE resort area that is quite compact with many drag lifts and pistes crossing each other. It has been greatly improved by the installation of of two new fast detachable chairs.
It is tenuously linked to La Thuile via two humongous long shallow drags and quite an equally shallow long greeny/blue back that a timid skier or in a strong wind (which is quite prevalent)will require people to spend a good part walking down.
La Thuile is Italian with glorious, flattering, wide, white motorways and a couple of sphincter closing blacks. If it weren't so good David@traxvax wouldn't spend all his time shouting about taking people away from La Ros, over the pass to Italy (and getting them lost) . . . THAT says it all about La Ros itself . . . So good you have to go to Italy to enjoy it. But you can't argue that the lift pass isn't cheap, however it does require you to accept a lower level of facilities and terrain and put in more effort getting to it . . . not always a bad thing, but if you find a stash of powder on the Italian side, you've a loooong slide home to La Ros.

Off piste in La Ros is a pale shadow of that round the corner in St Foy and the only times I've seen David@traxvax in powder is walking out complaining of having the wrong skis (does that a lot) and digging himself out of a gully at he side of the piste(I have the pics)

It does not compare to the other side of the valley, Vallandry has a similar piste length, is almost as sunny as La Ros and their runs are better lift served and far less interrupted by each other with a lot more tree skiing, yet it's just a few minutes over the ridge into the huge Les Arcs bowls or the ride over to La Plagne.

La Ros is nice, friendly and inexpensive but not as convenient as promoted . . . there are better ski areas all round the valley and you will pay a slight (or sometimes a considerable) premium to play on them.

A snowHead

Masque," I see we're back on the 'my ski area puts a bigger bulge in my red salopettes that yours does' thread." Laughing

A snowHead

Sorry everyone didnt mean to start an argument... :/

I think the ski passes are

full pass £185
local pass £154

Im pretty sure that the newbie skiiers will be spending some time on a dry slope and paying for lessons before we go. they will hopefully be abled to manager the basics.

I like the idea of having the trailer but im having second thoughts about it now. Its all dependant upon height restrictions on the underground car parks. At the moment we have discussed the option of having a rood rack (the Delicas roof rack is a huge sturdy thing that should be abled to accomodate most peoples bags) and the a long roof box to put the skis in (apparantly they will fit fine in there.) ontop of the roof rack. this will make the truck prety high. Doubt it will fit in many underground car parks and may even cause us issues with the tunnel (might have to pay lorry charge or something because the height)
I think its possible the trailer will be the most feasible option

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Neil, reading all this I'm glad I stick to flying, wink

Maybe you should impose a 25kg + skibag rule on your passengers.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Les Arcs is easy to drive to.

The ski area is topnotch. The huge red-black from Aiguille Rouge (3200m) to Villaroger (1200m) is one of the most enjoyable onpiste runs in the world. The Flying Kilometer is impressive.

Be aware that the nitelife sucks. It is downmarket and quiet.

Overall, I recommend you go. It is a very good resort.

But perhaps keep quiet about owning a Delica. They are tragic.

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Whitegold, No less tragic than many others.
Nightlife is what you make it wherever you are.
I agree, it's a good resort, but it's a good resort surrounded by other good resorts . . . including, for all that trax@sucks manages to screw it up, La Ros.
For people with their own transport the idea of basing themselves in Bourg' is not without merit but you'd want a week or three to get the best benefit from that

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There is 1 drag lift to get into Italy from La Rosiere. Okay there is a 2nd if you want to get out of the Col area quickly.......................... no sorry just noticed that this is about driving to Arcs 1950. Let me see Arcs 1950 has a good snow record, prepared pistes, ski lifts, food and drink. What on earth else do you need to have a good holiday.

Everybody - Come with us on 23rd of March and you will have a great holiday in La Rosiere, go with rob@rar, to Les Arcs and I can guarantee you will have a great holiday. Neil, go to Arcs 1950 and I bet you have a top holiday.

Which is the best ski resort in the world? Answer - The one that YOU had the best ski holiday at. Simple as that. I have no "best resort in the world" resort because I have had FANTASTIC ski holidays in so mant different ones.

One theory that this thread proves is that the company you keep is far more important than the resort you go to.

oi! I like the Delica! Its not tragic! its the L300 model and my new toy so shhh! =p didnt you enjoy the youtube video i posted halfway up this thread?!

I think the fact that the nightlife in Arc1950 wont bother us to much. were after a cosy quiet time but with the occasional night out. and one of our group doesnt drink so they can drive and we can all go over to one of the other resorts. they all look like there within a 20 minute drive and all seem to offer such diffrent atmoshperes. I will be heading over to Arc1800 at some point to try out their floodlite skiing.

Im concidering recommeding ski school to the newbie skiiers. but its difficult as the newbie skiier is my gf and it would mean spending most of the holiday apart. Alough it would mean i wont have to wait for her all the time and could actually get some skiing done.

the other option (and seems to be rather a popular idea among most of the party) is for us all to go to ski school and learn to board. Im the only one out of us who doesnt really have an interest in learning to board. Id rather stick with what i know. dont want to go back to being a learner again!!!

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