 Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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boredsurfin, Looking at the piste/lift re-alignments - http://www.perso-laplagne.fr/Actualites.htm#01_05_12-2
If they're dropping 'teleski z' then how do you get to the base of verdon nord? Only via colorado which would become a pinch point won't it.
Wouldn't it have made sense to drop the start of verdon lift down into the base area, and if they're dropping out Z and the other teleski next door, then surely they'd be the space for it.
Coming from Montalbert you're still going to have the horrendous pole fest to get across to grand rochette, whereas previously you could have gone Z and then Verdons nord.
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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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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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What would be the reason of the refurbishment?
It is already the second most crowded resort after Meribel in the Tarantaise Valley. Is its ambition to overtake Meribel? It is true the centre section can do with a re-modelling to lower the crowd concentration but not with refurbishing its interior. The huge tower blocks are there and visitors have to live with them.
It funny its neighbour Les Arc is similar in size but feels more spread out with a more extensive road network and give the impression of less commercially orientated. Once away from the La Plagne Centre the rest of the resort is no different from other French resorts. My feeling for La Plagne does not go as far as stevomcd but it is among the last resorts I would visit in the Tarantaise Valley.
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saikee, Yep Paradiski is the most visited ski resort on the planet so I guess you and stevomcd, are in a tiny minority.
Horses for courses and all that.
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I havnt been to La Plagne for years.... literally donkeys years! Are there any plans or concept drawings on line anywhere of how it will look?
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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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| Quote: |
Once away from the La Plagne Centre the rest of the resort is no different from other French resorts
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so is that a good thing or a bad thing? Bit of an odd comment, anyway, given the great diversity of French resorts!
saikee, how do you determine which is the "most crowded" resort?
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| Quote: |
saikee, how do you determine which is the "most crowded" resort?
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After visiting over 140 skiing facilities with 31 in France. France is my second most visited country after Austria. I also ran a static caravan in Chamonix for 8 years.
When a place is crowded the risk of being run into each other is high and time spent on queuing becomes irritating so I enjoy a resort more if the skiers/boarders are arranged over a wide area.
The other major factor is not many French go outside their country to ski and so the high concentration of visitors during French mid term breaks in place like La Plagne, Les Menuires and Meribel is not found elsewhere.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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saikee, it's certainly very busy in French mid-term breaks - I often get moaned at on SHs for advising people to avoid those weeks whenever possible. people come on and say things like "I never had to wait more than ten minutes for a lift" as though that was a good thing!
The crowdedness of resorts outside that time seems to depend a lot on whether UK TOs go there. There are places where you can have entire slopes to yourself in late January - though maybe not Chamonix (where I have encountered horrendous queues even in January, when snow in some parts is bad) or Meribel. But then Chamonix is not really about piste skiing, is it? I've not skied anywhere other than France in holiday weeks (as we always used to go mid-January) so can't compare crowds. But some big resorts (e.g. Espace Killy) have such extensive and efficient lifts that if you know your way round you can escape the queues even at half-term. Other, much smaller ones, might be much more difficult, because of unavoidable "bottlenecks". It's still not my cup of tea, though, and I do resent the silly prices in the "top tier" resorts. I haven't been to La Plagne for a long time, and can't remember it very well but had a week with a very good ESF instructor there, who probably made sure we avoided any crowded bits.
There have certainly been some complaints about very crowded pistes and lifts, and scrums to get onto buses, from people staying in Austria too, at busy times - wherever you go I think you need to take local advice about how and when to escape the crowds.
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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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You know it makes sense.
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| saikee wrote: |
| Another busy French resort Les Menuires of 3V in the same Tarentaise Valley |
Not normally picky about these things, but get your facts straight 
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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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rob@rar,
I think the post is about La Plagne Centre. The bottleneck at Les Arc is nowhere near its magnitude. My photoes of La Plagne were snap shots of videos.
The les Meniures photo I post depicts several chairlifts crossing each other and a photo can't lie about this feature.
I do aware of photos can show different things at different times and at different parts of the resort. Thus I have inserted a La Plagne photo away from the bottleneck as a comparison. If you have La Plagne centre near the French mid term break that will be a useful comparison. My visits to La Plagne were in months January and February in years 2004 and 2005.
I was curious of why rebuilding La Plagne Centre but it looks a satisfactory answer has yet to provide.
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Poster: A snowHead
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I'm tempted to add some photo of empty French pistes myself, but this is getting silly! Of all the daft generalisations I've seen on SHs, the suggestion that "French resorts are crowded and Austrian resorts are almost deserted" is possibly one of the daftest! Really hardly worth arguing with.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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saikee, Reasons for the re-build are as follows
The new Becoin lift, the removal of the Z drag lift due to age and dropping the Colorado lift back to serve the Verdons Nord and Verdons South lifts/runs, the Stadium is also being re-furbished and sculpted. The bottleneck between The Stadium finish area and Scottys bar will also be removed.
The need to 'push' across from one lift to another is no longer accepted by the leisure skier hence the re-profiling will negate the need to push!
The under used Biolley lift is being moved to the Glacier to replace the oldest lift (1978) up there.
I could post photos of empty slopes in La Plagne at half term and Bellecote with no queues at half term but frankly CBA, they are in the snowMedia zone if you want to see them.
But hey please stay away from La Plagne that will leave more empty pistes and untracked powder fields for me
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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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| saikee wrote: |
| If you have La Plagne centre near the French mid term break that will be a useful comparison. |
If your point is that bottlenecks during school holidays tend to be busy then it's hard to argue against that. But to say that is a uniquely French attribute, or even a uniquely French Large Resort attribute, is, to be honest, just a bit silly.
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The photo of Les Menuires is very old. The lifts have been tidied up significantly in recent years and that ugly mess of pylons is a thing of the past.
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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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stevew, But they still have the very pretty bus station 
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| boredsurfin wrote: |
| stevew, But they still have the very pretty bus station |
Not something I can say I've noticed!
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gutted that they're getting rid of the deadly duo on the glacier....happy memories...
my 2nd ever boarding holiday my mates took me up that - you'll be fine, then it was a long toeside traverse (was rubbish at those) followed by a load of bumps (hated it..). Now they've quiched it out a bit, upgraded the bubble to the glacier (Who's the firestarter), now they're upgrading the chair to access it..
what next heater chair seats?
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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 really want to go back to La Plagne to see those changes, the bits I can see on various websites and on the webcams look very interesting. I love La Plagne. Yes it can get crowded at times but it's so huge there are plenty of ways to escape the busy bits if needed.
I can't be bothered to argue about the photos posted for the same reasons as Rob and Pam, but here's a photo I took of that same base station in Pila back in 2004!
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I always find La Plagne a bit 'package holiday' in comparison with Les Arcs. I know it's an illusion in some respects but that god awful point at Plagne Bellecote where the lifts radiate off in all directions really is the pits. For some reason, I always seem to get funneled back into it when coming off the glacier - gawd knows why or how - and end up crawling around 100's of stationary beginners in the middle of the slope. I hope they make the whole place better but what I really want to see is another lift off the back of the glacier - that would be money well spent.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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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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You know it makes sense.
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I love La Plagne, such a lovely village that hasn't been commercialised at all....true alpine resort.....lmao
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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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Chris Brookes, Spot on. La Plagne was opened as a purpose built ski resort 50 years ago last winter. Villages in the area clamoured to be connected to the main resort over the years, La Roche being the latest addition.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Boredsurfing, i also love the fact you dont have to Q in La Plagne and no looking over your shoulder while sking into La Plagne bottleneck city just incase you are going to get ramped by an idiot on a board or skis.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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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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I used to turn my nose up a little bit at La Plagne, based mainly on pictures of Plagne Centre. Then in March 2011 I actually went there, staying in Plagne Centre.
OK, mid-March is not the busiest time but the queues were minimal to non-existent. The ski area is fantastic for someone at my level (and I would guess, for most Brit skiers) and with access to the Paradiski you are in one of the biggest and best linked areas in the world.
We had to carry our skis all of 10 paces from their rack before clicking in and scooting off down the piste - how many pretty Austrian resorts can you say that of? We skied over to the Aguille Rouge and back, travelling on two of the most spectacular cable cars you'll see anywhere. The view from the top with Mont Blanc to the north is breathtaking. It was a brilliant holiday.
Centre and Aime La Plagne are not exactly chocolate box, granted, but the views are still beautiful and the other villages are quite attractive. Last season we went to Vallandry but our best day's skiing was over to La Plagne and back - maybe next season we'll try somewhere new but I wouldn't hesitate to go back to La Plagne.
Last edited by Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see? on Sat 15-09-12 8:59; edited 1 time in total
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^ exactly. The architecture in many French resorts isn't the prettiest, but they're often huge with good lift systems. I feel a little protective of La Plagne as I think it has a great deal to offer for all levels. Austria is a different skiing experience, and although generally not ski-in-ski-out, the resorts themselves are more attractive and the apres rocks.
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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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If you can't find a decent series of pistes which are quiet and uncrowded in the whole La Plagne area then you are definitely a tool. Knowing that Bellecote can be a bottle neck at specific times just avoid it....plenty of other uninterrupted skiing for everyone elsewhere.
We loved it there last season and are going back again in January having found it no busier than than Ski Welt or Milky Way
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BUMP
Latest update and pictures, the re-location of the Colorado lift gives some idea of how much re- profiling of Plagne Centre is being done.
Click here for more photo's
http://www.perso-laplagne.fr/Actualites.htm#06_10_12
Last edited by You'll need to Register first of course. on Sun 7-10-12 12:43; edited 1 time in total
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stevomcd, brilliant! I agree! 
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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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snowcrazy, surely if you're pushing across Plagne centre you can't be going fast enough on the approach
We usually head via Plagne 1800 to miss the polling along
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FAQ
Colorado is droopping back down a bit.
I look forward to going over and seeing if it makes any difference to that long push across the flat once the snow arrives. 
