 Poster: A snowHead
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I've booked a place for 2014 half-term (I know it's early...) in Peisey underneath the cable car between Les A and La P - and a mate who has sometimes come with us has virulently refused to consider coming as it's "all blues and boring". Our kids are becoming pretty solid red run skiers, whilst we like to get into some steeper off-piste stuff whilst they're at ski school.
Following a quick google both resorts come across as having a reasonable spread of stuff, although perhaps rather more blue than red/black. He reckons the only place worth going was up a chair that was forever shut.
Have a I messed up? Will we be bored to tears? I've looked at some posts on the weather thread about Les Arcs and there seems to be loads to do!
Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Tue 26-02-13 14:00; edited 1 time in total
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Look at the piste map. Pleanty of nice reds above Peisey on the Les Arcs side.
Not the toughest skiing in the world but you won't be bored.
Mike
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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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Well yes there is lots and lots of genuine red and black pistes in Les Arcs and La Plagne. if you want to explore the off piste from the luxury of your living room a quick look in the Les clés de Paradiski by Didier Givois will demonstrate that the off piste potential is also very large.
May I humbly suggest that you find some more knowledgeable mates. I wonder what chair lift he was referring to?
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I think it went to Bellecote? I suspect they were only in La Plagne and it may even have been before the link was built.
I think we'll be fine but just wanted some reassurance! This is the family trip - we usually go to Cham for some gnarlier grown-up stuff, and as the kids'll be at ski school a good instructor will always know how to keep them interested. The kids are suitably challenged on reds and the occasional easy black run, which having looked at the map there's plenty of.
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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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La Plage is likely to require a fair bit of poling, IMV
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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andy from embsay, your mates wrong.
There's some good off piste in the area, both La P and Les A.
Do you hire guides in resort?
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Mosha Marc, not usually, no - I've usually got some inside info from SH or other sources (there's a good guidebook to Cham, for example) or just thought "that looks good"...
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Not much skiing at the beach I wouldn't have thought... 
There's definitely a good variety of harder runs and off piste at La Plagne; I recall some of the 'piste natur' blacks being challenging. Also did some off piste with our instructor at the Bellecote glacier.
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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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andy from embsay, the Blue runs in the Arc 2000 bowl are pretty boring once done
The blue/red/black runs and trees above Peisey and Vallandry are a lot of fun
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| Red Leon wrote: |
| La Plage is likely to require a fair bit of poling, IMV |
And don't forget your trunks and a lilo...
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Boris wrote: |
andy from embsay, the Blue runs in the Arc 2000 bowl are pretty boring once done
The blue/red/black runs and trees above Peisey and Vallandry are a lot of fun |
That sounds good - suspect we'll spend a fair bit of time there as it's above where we're staying.
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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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Get him to try the flying kilometer at ARC 2000.
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| Chasseur wrote: |
| Red Leon wrote: |
| La Plage is likely to require a fair bit of poling, IMV |
And don't forget your trunks and a lilo... |
Indeed.
I usually find Les Dunes a little more challenging than La Plage
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You know it makes sense.
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You comedy goldsmiths may not have spotted I've corrected the typo in the thread title...
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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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If you don't leave the piste so is anywhere
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Poster: A snowHead
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andy from embsay, I suggest you pm snowcrazy if you want some gnarly off piste to satisfy (or scare!) your mate. Look at some of his photos in the Les Arcs thread. I think you'll find there's plenty to keep you all amused.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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andy from embsay, Or ski with the SCGB ski Leader in Les Arcs, the club will be leading in France next year, it says on here somewhere.
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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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| genepi wrote: |
| andy from embsay, I suggest you pm snowcrazy if you want some gnarly off piste to satisfy (or scare!) your mate. Look at some of his photos in the Les Arcs thread. I think you'll find there's plenty to keep you all amused. |
I think it was his posts I'd seen on the weather thread.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| Quote: |
Get him to try the flying kilometer at ARC 2000.
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Has this now been reopened?
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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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| Boredsurfing wrote: |
| andy from embsay, Or ski with the SCGB ski Leader in Les Arcs, the club will be leading in France next year, it says on here somewhere. |
They are leading this year 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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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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Thanks all - mind put at rest. I've sent him a link to this thread and even ordered the Bumper Fun Book from a French website...
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Les Arcs has plenty of good, tough blacks but La Plagne piste skiing is mostly gentle so I can see how your friend might feel that. However both have some very tough off piste if you want it (40º - 50º) or gentler off piste (especially La Plagne). Don't miss the black from Aiguille rouge to Villaroger (actually only a bit of it is really black - most is red or blue but it is a terrific piste).
Last edited by Ski the Net with snowHeads  on Tue 26-02-13 23:09; edited 1 time in total
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Yes there are lots of gentle blues in La Plagne, but that's far from all it has to offer. There are some challenging blacks (Mercedes plus others!), some lovely long reds and a vast amount of mileage.
Try travelling from Aime La Plagne right over to the furthest point in Les Arcs in a day, and get back over before the lifts shut - that'll soon tire your mate out.
I would go back time and again.
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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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| Quote: |
the black from Aiguille rouge to Villaroger
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I did that. I was actually giddy at the top it was so high, the bottom of the valley seemed absurdly far away. No part of it was really hard, but it was loooong. A real thigh burner, especially if you can do it in one hit (I couldn't)
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North Face of Bellecot is fun (not skied often hence spelling)
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You know it makes sense.
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My mate's refusing to come, so the question was more whether the rest of us'll be bored - I'll be fine, as I can just go and find something to do in the bumper fun book, and it sounds as if there'll be plenty to keep the kids happy. We're not really mileage-bunnies - prefer to do something interesting and a bit thought-provoking than miles of piste. I think that's why I went to Argentiere so much on lads' trips - only three main lifts but infinite variety and lots of stuff that's steep enough to make you go "blimey...".
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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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andy from embsay, where exactly does your mate ski?? I would say blacks above Arc 2000 are as tough or tougher than anywhere. North Faces of Bellevarde and Aiguille Rouge are some of most famous off-piste runs in world. La Plagne has few steep groomed pistes and reds in Les Arcs would be less steep than Tignes or Val d'Isere but blacks are in a league with anywhere. Your mate is talking thru his back bottom. I would love to know just where he thinks is more challenging.
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Poster: A snowHead
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To compare with Argentiere- I would not consider any of the black pistes in les Grands Montets to be particularly steep.they are still great pistes due to great snow and the view from point de Vue. Robert Blanc in les Arcs to me is very similar to either of the runs from the top of les Grands Montets, just not as long. There are some great tree-lined natur (ungroomed) runs in les Arcs and yopu will get truly massive moguls in places. There is great variety in kind of off-piste runs. I have skied a lot of places and like to do lots of challenging skiing, and I rate Les Arcs as my personal 2nd fav resort after espace Killy (and ironically what tips EK over LA for me is better blues and reds! Not better blacks )
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Why does he find blues boring?
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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've been a couple of times as a piste skier and recall at least as many reds as blues. The blues seemed to be paths that crossed the reds.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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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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andyfromembsay, get to 2,000 if you can, there's some great inbounds skiing there and I can't wait to go back when the deal suits us all. Off the Aiguille Rouge summit there are some great routes off into the bowl below, probably Genepi and Robert Blanche being the least used and the two I enjoyed most and of course, the namesake run, 'Aiguille Rouge' which isn't really a black even at the top. You don't need to go all the way up to the summit to enjoy most of the run down to Villaroger though because there's a chair from Arc 2000 to the col a bit lower down that's barely used. The wildest and prettiest (and often ungroomed runs) in Les Arcs are also in Arc 2000 except for Malgovert (just above 1600) which is a stunning and slightly mad run with shrubs and bumps). Droset is a run off the col shortly below the chair, down through quite wild terrain and which crosses the road to the village. Comborciere is a another very pretty, remote and quite gentle couloir which gets bumped up from top to bottom as it winds down through scrub and trees from the lift above 1600, down to 2000. Refuge at Grand Col really feels like proper big mountain terrain, sitting under one of the tower block sized buttresses off Aiguille Rouge and skiers left as you look up has some interesting lines. Lastly, Bois de L'Ours is a steeper route down into Arc 2000 area on the main drag in from 1650/1850 which avoids the crowds. Can't really remember any blues.
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andy from embsay, i hope your mate-who-has-sometimes-come-with-us is not a close friend, but usually those who declare a place is "all blues and boring" have a grossly overinflated idea of their skiing ability. rob@rar asked: "Why does he find blues boring?". Quite. As that well-known ski guru Mary Poppins said: "In every run that must be done there is an element of fun - You find the fun and snap! The run's a gass!" Go fast, go slow, on one leg, backwards, slalom the piste poles, try some off-piste, try not turning at all. Blues are fun!
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Your mate's gonna miss out on a great holiday IMO. Over the last two years I reckon I've skiied pretty much every run on the La Plagne side and no way did I get bored. I'd happily go back a third time and do it all again. Yes there are some easy blues but they are still good fun and more than enough red and black. Tell him get a grip and book up!
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To be honest I think they probably didn't leave La Plagne, and it sounds like they had a fairly ropey week with high winds. It must be a while ago as he thought I was there!
I've never been so fancied a different area as we've taken the kids to PdS the last two years.
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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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patricksh, i'm talking about the stuff between the runs at Argentiere rather than the pistes - the bowls between the Herse and the Bochard for example. It sounds like there's lots of stuff like that to keep me happy. The kids enjoy reds and playing about in the trees, so Vallandry will be good for that too.
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Most of the off piste I have done at La Plagne and Les Arcs was far from the pistes. Not sure how much there is near pistes as at Argentiere (the comparable runs relate more to the Pas de Chevre in my experience).
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FAQ
