Les Arcs - Which level?

A snowHead

Hi,

Thinking about going to Les Arcs this year. Which is the best level to stay at for aprés ski and piste access? Thanks for any advice!

A snowHead

Piste access is generally good in al the villages although that will obviously depend where in the village, but plenty of places offer ski in/out. Arc 1800 probably best for more lively apres-ski.

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

What do you want from the Apres? If you want night clubs dancing then the best place is Arc 1800, 1600 has live music at the Abrevoir, restaurants, a cinema but not much else. Bourg has all the amenities of a large town including an excellent swimming pool. There are fairly lively bars in 2000 and a new bowling alley complex. I haven't stayed in Arc 1950 or Villaroger and it has been so long since I have stayed in Vallandry it wasn't called Vallandry then, so I cannot comment on them. There are nice bars in each of the villages

As to slope access I will rank them as follows:

Arc 2000,
Arc 1950
Arc 1600.
Vallandry
Arc 1800 - much of the accommodation is below the bottom stations of the lifts
Bourg

Though I have walked back to 1600 after a night out in 1800 the other villages are really too far apart to contemplate a night out in another. (I had better put a health and safety warning on that. "Bearing in mind the number of British skiers who have died returning home while drunk please do not do that walk while intoxicated")

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johnE, nicely put. Very Happy

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Thanks for the advice! That's really useful. Thinking about going later in the season so probably the higher the better...

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It depends on what you mean by "later in the season" I take it you mean mid to late April.
The only time I have any problems were both at the very end of April: in one case they closed Arc 1600 on the very last day of the season and the other when we had one day descending to Arc 1800 on the chairlift before the snow returned with a vengeance and that was over 20 years ago. They really try hard to keep the runs to the resort open so it doesn't really matter how late in the season it is.

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That's good to know, thanks johnE!

After all it is free

stay in 2000, couple of hours in 1950including singing at George's wine bar, then back to 2k for a late one

1800....I was in les arcs last dec and stormy weather closed the resort a fair bit esp the links between 1800 and 2000. People in 1800 got the best deal, usually still able to ski 1600, 1800 and Peisey Vallandry. But people, in 2000 were confined to 2000 and quite often just 2 or 3 runs. (just enough to avoid refunds on lift pass!!!!)

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Despite good lift system Les Arcs not as easy to move around as eg 3V or EK. 1800 has best access to all areas as well as quick access to Vanoise cablecar to La Plagne. If you are looking to join advanced or off-piste group you can only do this in 1800 outside peak times. You will have extra 30m trek to slopes which won't be a dealbreaker. I normally stay in 1600 because we like hotel cachette which is good for kids but takes longer to get to lots of places

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We stay3d at 1950 last January. Seems great access to slopes. Straight out of door, walk up tiny hill for 10secs and ski to first chair lift which just opens up all the runs. Took about 30 mins for us to ski to big lift taking us over to la plagne but because the way la plagne is we could only get as far as belle plagne before we had to start skiing back. If we were staying in other heights we would be closer to L.A. plagne lift so could get further into la plagne, but don't think would get that much further (ie couldn't ski all of it when staying les arcs) 1950 is quiet but really pretty fora ski resort/area. V picturesque in the snow. Good pools etc, spar is quite expensive as are the restaurants, but that could be les arcs in general. We loved the area for skiing. Best place we have been to (but we have only been to a few resorts). Here is one of my vidsfrom skiing and some 1950 footage
http://youtube.com/v/THPQYcCzDRc&feature=youtube_gdata_player

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Indeed it doesn't take that long to get to La Plagne, Last Christmas we went over Champagny for lunch on Christmas eve. It is only 2 lifts from Arc 1600 and one from the other centres to the Vanoise express. In normal circumstances you can get to anywhere in La Plagne from anywhere in Les Arcs, but why you should want to is a bit beyond me.
bertie bassett, the only lift you need to get from 1950 to the Vanoise express is Bois de l'Ours.

You know it makes sense.

We are cruisy blue skiers. We take in the sights, do a bit of filming, stop for a.hot choccie. All the things that make skiing a joyful holiday (well, for us anyway)

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

Bit off topic but is the Flying Squirrel bar still operating in Plan Peisey ? Had a few happy evenings in there - including quiz night. I heard Will had moved on....

A snowHead

Jon Ford, I think you should do 1800. The main run back to 1600 is red (cachette) but quite steep. 1950 and 2000 access some great but all difficult mogully blacks. You will probably enjoy the skiing most around 1800. Personally I think Les Arcs is not good for cruisy blue skiing, most of blues on map are flat or linking runs. La Plagne would suit you much better

A snowHead

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

Arcs 1950 is well located for skiing access (a piste goes right through the village), although I did find it a bit like a Disney set (well it was built by Intrawest). Nightlife when I was there was v quiet v little apres and for our after dinner beer there was only us i the pub.

Andy

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Thanks for all the advice guys! I think we will go with 1800 this year and try to explore the whole area from there. Sounds like it is a pretty good base and accommodation looks reasonable.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

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Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

johnE, I think he was talking about the lower half of the cachette piste which you join from the blue run coming back to Arc 1600 from the Arpette resturant. He is correct, it is steep and can be very icy as they use the left side for race training. Everyone gets put over the right side and it gets very skied out. But you are also right, you can get back on the blues the whole way, so it has something for everyone. Me, I like going through the trees and coming out almost in ARc 1600 when there is fresh deep powder like last year. Very Happy

After all it is free

snowcrazy, Do you mean turning off on the cachette piste where Source crosses it? If so Roulles (which is red on my old piste map) or that lovely cuttoff down the footpath to the top of the drag lift are perhaps more fun. If you want to go down the Cachette then stick to the left hand side and down the gentle bumps.

Cachette itself is definitely worth doing in its own right. It is often almost deserted and has great visibility so you can charge really fast. We often do it as the first warm up in the morning.

johnE, yes there are loads of ways to get back to Arc 1600, it just depends how well you ski and what you like. I know some people who only ski pistes, others that prefer off piste like me and some that just enjoy crusing everywhere. That is what is great about skiing a place like Les Arcs, you can do loads of everything in one ski area. Even in bad weather we have more skiable forest areas than most resorts.

If you like skiing back country and you are out in Les Arcs this season, send me a PM or post me a message over on my facebook page and we could meet up for a beer or even a ski in the powder if we are lucky. Very Happy

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Les Arcs - Which level?

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