Ski Resorts In France

The ski resorts of Les Arcs and La Plagne in France is surrounded by spectacular mountain ranges and both ski resorts attract phenomenal amount of skiing enthusiasts on vacation in France and Europe. La Plagne is like a space city, with its own suburban satellites and at least 2.5 million so called 'skier days' and is arguably the single most visited ski resort in the world along with its link to neighboring Les Arcs ski resort. With so many visitors to La Plagne and Les Arcs, it follows that there are many hotels and accommodations to cater to the skiers and tourists alike.

La Plagne, is a 'third generation' French ski resort and it probably influenced other French resorts like Flaine, Avoriaz and Les Arcs to go for brave new world space age architecture abandoning the traditional charming rustic designs of ski resort architecture.

Skiing in La Plagne, you will encounter every conceivable permutation of piste and off piste, from exhilarating descents on the huge sweeping glacier at Bellecote (3,000m or almost 10,000ft), to delightful cruising down quiet, meandering, larch lined avenues to the charming villages of Montchavin-Les Coches, Champagny-en-Vanoise and Montalbert. In between these two extremes is La Plagne's biggest attraction for intermediate skiers anxious to cruise till they drop in the seemingly endless wide open skiing adventure.

Having extended its empire to 10 different ski villages, La Plagne is planning to send a tentacle across the valley between Montchavin and Peisy Vallandry to form what will arguably be the third ski domain in the world.

Les Arcs, whose connection by Eurostar train terminal at Bourg St. Maurice makes it the most accessible high-altitude French resort and has always been at the cutting edge of skiing and snow boarding. It pioneered 'ski evolutif', a technique for fast learning by progressing quickly from very short skis to longer ones. It became the principle home of the Kilometre Lancee in which daredevils on huge 237cm or 8 ft skis, clad in thin aerodynamic plastic suits and 'Darth Vader Star Wars' style visors, speed down a special track at breathtaking speeds of about 240kph or 150mph.

Similar to La Plagne, Les Arcs has acres and acres of good cruising and its off piste opportunities are simply fabulous. The Aiguille Rouge, which dominates the resort has many challenging runs down its front face and is also the starting point for one of the longest skiing descents in the French Alps. The largely black run down to the charming village of Villaroger is over 16km or about 10 miles long. Can you beat that!

With such wonderful skiing opportunities, is it any wonder why La Plagne and Les Arcs ski resorts claim to attract the most holiday vacation skiers not just in France but in the world as well?