 Poster: A snowHead
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Resort: Belle Plagne, La Plagne
Country: France
Domain: Paradiski
Author: jcbaragorn
Date: 5-12th January, 2008
Our holiday: Group of five friends from Uni. I’d skied two days before over New Year 2005/6, two had skied one week on a Uni trip the previous year, and the other two had never skied before.
Website: www.la-plagne.com
Basics: Large resort comprising ~10 connected villages situated next to Les Arc. Usually the two resorts are linked with a cable car, but this was not operation when we were there. Belle Plagne is one of the highest villages at ~2100m, and is in the heart of the slopes, but only has one or two lifts there. We took the late Easyjet flight into Lyon and drove to Bourg to buy some chains as there was torrential rain. Accidentally forgot that most places in France close early(ish) and got laughed at when asking where to buy them. Attempted to drive up there but decided it was unsafe at around hairpin #8 (they go from 21 – 1 from bottom to top). Descended to Macot and got a taxi up, and back down a week later when it was also snowing. I had checked beforehand that the P&V residence (Nereides) had a 24hr reception which was good as it was about 12:30 by this point.
Lift system: Extensive network of mostly modern, detachable lifts. Drag lifts could easily be avoided, if necessary. The slow Roche de Mio gondola shut on the last day due to high winds. I remember taking one two person chair with a random child that attacked me at ankle height that I wasn’t keen to repeat, but otherwise everything seemed to go smoothly.
The terrain: The two beginners took morning group lessons with ESF Belle Plagne as they were the most competitively priced. On the whole their experience was good with the biggest complaints being typical of all group lesson dynamics. They did feel that the bunny slopes in Belle Plagne were quite a long (& steep) walk away, and not great compared to the other areas they saw later in the week at Bellecote and Plagne Centre. They were worn out from walking and probably found it frustrating as they progressed faster than others in their group and were capable of skiing bits that they were made to walk! Their main target for the week was to be able to use the ski-in ski-out slops to get home without walking uphill. By the end of the week they were comfortable with any blue piste with the exception of a couple off the Becoin lift.
The three of us who had skied before teamed up and booked three private lessons together for out 2nd, 3rd & 4th mornings. On our first day we skied around together to get our ski legs back a little. The blue run that links Belle Plagne with Bellecote on the right hand side was a little tougher than I had wanted for a first run for two years and I faceplanted within about 10m! After that, and a slight issue with my boots, we were fine and cruised some blues for the rest of the morning. That afternoon we teamed up with our beginner friends who had not progressed very far and, for one of them, was at the point of tears and never skiing again. We had planned to split up soon, but they needed help so we showed them how to use the bunny draglift and some simple snowploughing which seemed to help. For the next few days we had our lessons with an ESF instructor Frederic Lemoullec who I couldn’t praise highly enough. He helped my skiing a lot, and always found a way of taking the mick out of us as well. I really liked the long red run off Roche de Mio called Les Sources and the red runs off the back of Verdons. Found all the reds manageable except Java, which was an order of magnitude more difficult. Attempted La Mio on the final day, but it was too tricky for all of us. The glacier was closed for much of the trip, and we never made it over there.
The snow: Blizzard on the Saturday when we arrived – see report of failed trip in the car! Small amount fell over the week, but not that much. Temperatures were cool the whole time so the pistes stayed in good conditions throughout. I would say that the average standard of skier on the pistes at La Plagne was poorer than other resorts I’ve visited since.
Off-piste: Didn’t ski off-piste at all, but even towards the end of the week there was still some areas of untracked snow just off the sides of the piste.
The resort: Not much in Belle Plagne – a few restaurants/bars, and one late-opening, live-music venue (Saloon) which one of my friends described as the worst place he’d ever been. I wouldn’t go that far, but in the future I would not head there sober!
Food: We mostly cooked for ourselves to save money, but the couple of times we did eat out it was reasonable, if unimaginative. The ski-in ski-out meant that we all met at the apartment for lunch and had sandwiches which worked really well.
Accommodation: Recently refurbished and so in good nick. Cosy, but had two toilets and showers (I think we had the 6/7 room) so that was handy for 5 of us. Very good value. Ski locker worked fine and the piste was 2m from the front door.
Costs: Keeping costs down was a priority. I can’t remember the exact breakdown, but transport, accommodation, rentals, lift pass, lessons, food & drink came to about £600 each.
Conclusion: Very successful trip that everyone enjoyed. Both beginners are keen to ski again next year. Managed to ski much of the pisted resort, but would happily go back to explore more. However, there are so many places to try that it might be some time before I do go back.
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