Les Arcs Season 2014 - 2015, New Thread for this season starts on page 29.

Great pics, thanks.
I will be there for the first time for a week in January, it looks great and I can't wait.

Time to kick of the ski reports for the season!!

Finally going to get my skis on for the first time this season at the weekend! We had snow down to the valley floor where I live last night and the mountains in the distance are very white.

Take a look at the webcams for Les Arcs, even if it starts getting warmer again, I think there is enough snow higher up to start forming a base now. Many places are opening early this season. Pity Les Arcs is not one of them, well not yet anyway.

http://m.webcam-hd.com/lesarcs

Made it to the mountains again at last. Had a great day on the snow and another few days to go. Did it the lazy way and went up to Tignes and used the lifts. Will be in Val or Tignes again tomorrow even if it snows tonight as the lifts are open across the whole Espace Killy area this weekend. Should be good.

If you stay above 2000m the snow is in good condition in most places despite the high winds of the last week. There was still untracked powder to be found on my first day out in Tignes! Result! And even better, I was on my board for a change.

Will post a few photos shortly on my facebook page. The season for me has begun, I am very happy!!

If you want to go out on skins or snowshoes the conditions in Les Arcs are also very good higher up. Even if it gets warm, there should be a base to support most pistes in Les Arcs for the opening on the 15 Dec.

The Season starts in Les Arcs this weekend so time to get the posts started.

Finally finished posting the photos of my warm up days. Sorry nothing from Les Arcs this year, they do not open the lifts early so I visited other places for a change. Hope you still enjoy the photos and they get you in the mood for the winter. If you are interested click on this link.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.562235600519577.1073741833.195692797173861&type=3

The Les Arcs Film Festival is also on this week for those that are around. Should be some interesting films to watch.

http://2013.lesarcs-filmfest.com/home/home.html

The lifts open in Les Arcs on Saturday for the start of the season. Hope to meet up with some of you for a first day ski or drink. Send me a PM or Post a message on my facebook page if you are around and fancy meeting up. There are a few of us already planning a little ski around on Saturday and Sunday to stretch the legs a little.

Sorry to bring bad news, but I was looking at the forecast for the coming days http://www.meteofrance.com/previsions-meteo-montagne/les-arcs-bourg-st-maurice/73700

and http://www.snow-forecast.com/resorts/Les-Arcs/6day/mid

Still not any sign of fresh snow, at least it is still cold. The snow we have should last a while, but as it becomes busy I fear that some areas might become rather worn. Fingers crossed for more snow before the holiday period.

If you are planning to come out by train or passing through Bourg St Maurice, Polaire Star will be open from the first day of the season for ski and snowboard rentals. If you do not want the hassle of carrying your own gear to and from the Funi to where you are staying if you are in Bourg, you can leave your stuff at the shop for a small charge. See the link. Remember this season you must pay to park your car at the Funi. http://www.polairestar.com/

I will start posting daily updates shortly. I hope you all have good skiing this winter. Enjoy!!

Today was the first day of the season at Les Arcs and most of Arc 1600, Arc 1800, Peisey Vallandry and the Arc 2000 bowl was open. Even the Grand Col and the Aiguille Rouge. We did not have to stand in a queue all day even though it was quite busy for the first day of the season. The snow conditions on almost all pistes across the whole area were good for so early in the season. A few patches coming through by the afternoon in areas which were well skied, but overall an excellent first days skiing. The Clouds stayed a bit longer than I would have liked, but by the afternoon the sun was out and the sky was blue.

We even managed to find so passable soft snow off piste in a few sheltered areas despite the high winds of the last few weeks. You can ski down to all the stations that are open without problem and they still have plenty of spare snow around to keep the pistes in good condition over the coming weeks. It was cold so the snow cannons have been doing a good job of topping up the snow so although new snow would be great. Not a bad start to the season.

I will try and post some photos later, but time to get ready to go out now. More to follow.

It was very busy in the ski shop first thing this morning and the funi was packed to get up onto the slopes. So busy they needed to run extra funi's for the first hour every 10 min. If you need to hire ski gear and you are down in Bourg or need to get a ski pass, my advice is to do it online in advance. Ski shop web page. http://www.polairestar.com/ Online ski pass booking: http://lesarcs.paradiski.com/ Hope this helps with your planning.

Have posted the photos of today on my facebook page in the December, Season 2013 - 2014 album. Here are a few to get you interested. Click on the link below to see more.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.575273612549109.1073741834.195692797173861&type=3


The Arpette and Bois de l'Ours Chairs.



The 'White Lady' in the background. A blue sky afternoon. A nice first day of the season!

To help you all get in the mood for your holiday and for those out already. Here is a copy of the daily update which is posted on my Les Arcs Winter facebook page each morning by 8.30am to help you plan your day on the slopes. Hope you find it interesting reading. If you want to receive this info each morning during your holiday you will need to like my Les Arcs Winter page. https://www.facebook.com/LesArcsWinter

Hope those that have just arrived have a good holiday. If you fancy meeting u for a drink later today, I will be in George's Wine Bar in Arc 1950 after skiing today from 5pm.

2013 - 2014 SEASON DAILY UPDATE: Sunday 15 December

WHAT IT IS LIKE OUTSIDE:
Blue sky with a few clouds and cold right now. I can see all the mountain peaks around and there is a frost on the cars. Mind the black ice when walking or driving until the sun warms everything. If you follow the sun during the day, it should be a great day for riding.

SLOPE CONDITIONS: (Info by ADS on slope daily analysis.)
Altitude 1620/1800 m 2040 m 2400 m 3000 m
Hauteur de neige 20 cm 45 cm 62 cm 80 cm
Température -3.5, -3.6, -5, -8, (at 8am)
Risque d'avalanche (1 à 5) : 1 risque FAIBLE
Dernière chute de neige : 5 cm - vendredi 29 novembre 2013

RECOMMENDED PISTES: (Info Provided by the Security de Piste.)
SECTEUR 1600 : CACHETTE
SECTEUR 1800 : VAGERE
SECTEUR 2000 : GRAND COL
SECTEUR PEISEY-VALLANDRY : OURS

LIFT OPENINGS: (Info provided by ADS Lift company.)
SECTEUR PEISEY-VALLANDRY : OUVERT except GRIZZLY / COMBE / PARCHEY
SECTEUR 1600 : OUVERT except MONT BLANC / SNOWPARK / CLOCHERET / VEZAILLE / MILLERETTE / TOMMELET /
SECTEUR 1800 : OUVERT except VILLARDS / CHARMETOGER / GRAND RENARD / JARDIN ALPIN /
SECTEUR 2000 : OUVERT except COMBORCIERE / PLAGNETTES / LAC DES COMBES / FLAMME OLYMPIQUE
SECTEUR VILLAROGER : Closed. Forecast to open Thurs 19 DEC. 2013

LIAISONS: (Info provided by ADS.)
AIGUILLE ROUGE : OUVERT
TRANSARC 1 : OUVERT TRANSARC 2 : OUVERT/Open
LIAISON ARCS 1800 VERS ARCS 2000 : OUVERT/Open
LIAISON ARCS 2000/VILLAROGER : FERME/Closed
VANOISE EXPRESS : Closed. Forecast to open Sat 21 DEC. 2013
LIAISON MONTCHAVIN-LA PLAGNE : FERME/Closed

NEWS OF THE DAY / TIP OF THE DAY: (Info by ADS lift company.)
With sunny weather today, enjoy the high sector of Aiguille Rouge and Grand Col respecting the safety rules

COUNCIL SAFETY / SECURITY ADVICE: (Info by Security de Piste.)
A helmet is strongly recommended. Prudence in all circumstances, remain able to control your speed and stopping distance .
FOLLOW THE SIGNS , RESPECT NATURE.

Have a good day!

http://www.polairestar.com/

Blue Sky today and slowly became warmer as the day progressed.

We managed to ski the whole of the Les Arcs ski area that was open. Here is a general overview of piste conditions across the whole Les Arcs ski domain.

The pistes were a little busy in some places and we even had to wait two or three minutes at a few of the main lifts. Managed to get up the Aiguille Rouge and back down the black to Arc 2000. Very nice.

Looked over the back into the National Park. The snow covering is still OK, but it could do with a top up everywhere off piste with a lot of wind blown slabs and breakable crust about. Later in the day we did find some nice soft untracked snow which was fun to ski all the way down into the higher section of the forest.

The pistes that were open are in reasonable condition and some have a firm layer of snow that helps you hold your turns when carving, but many are also hard packed and in the more worn areas coming into stations and lifts it is starting to become a little icy in places.

They have had the snow cannons blasting on some pistes and you had to avoid some rather large snow hills on the pistes down into Peisey and Vallandry today. The lower half of the race piste in Arc 1800 is not presently possible to ski.

Overall the conditions in Les Arcs are reasonable for this time of year and with the amount of snow around. The resort should make it through the holiday period without to many problems. For all those coming out, you should have a great time. However more fresh snow would be nice and they are now talking about a little snowfall later in the week or next week. MAYBE!!

I will post some pictures from today later.