Les Arcs Season Thread. (Where you can ask questions on Les Arcs , La Plagne or chat)

les arks 1950 7-14jan from nyc

We Hope we will have a lot of snow.sun and fun

Another fun day comes to an end. Managed to hit the slopes today with a group of skiers and a snowboarder that were up for most anything.

Started off with a few warm ups on the pistes going up to the Grand Col which had just opened. Most if not all pistes in the Arc 2000 bowl are in very good conditions, but the piste natures all need more snow to save your skis from damage. Once up on the Grand... Col spent of the morning putting fresh tracks down various places and finally a fun line cutting back towards the Aiguille Rouge and Arc 1950 for lunch.

A good lunch in Luigis and then a grand tour of Les Arcs by a route including both on an off piste runs from Arc 1950 all the way to Peisey Vallandry taking in Arc 1600 and Arc 1800 on the way. The new Mont Blanc chair opened and does work well making a quicker journey out of Arc 1600. So as a link lift is is good. But you also get a great view of the off piste which I think is a real shame for our quiet little corner. Oh well!

Although still closed we also skied the new piste at the Peisey end and all the way back to the Vallandry lift which allows you to miss out the stones down into the Peisey lift.

Overall today, with most lifts now open, it showed how much fun can be had in Les Arcs in the first week of the season and more snow is forecast for tomorrow and the next few days. We shall see.

Other good news, the ESF is now in Arc 1950 with a new ski school office. They have a full range of options which link into the school in Arc 2000 with the added bonus that they guarantee all English speaking clients will get an English speaking Instructor, whether for private or group lessons. they are also cheaper than Spirit 1950 school in all areas. Other discounts are being discussed and I will post more info about this once I here.

The link for booking online is currently still through the Arc 2000 ESF office:

http://esf-arc-2000.com/index-en.html

A white out above the trees, very windy in places, cold, BUT it kept snowing all day!!

Despite the poor vis today, I ended up with quite a big group again this morning to hunt out the best places to ski. The Peisey forest was good as always and we spent the morning over that side before heading back to Arc 1950 for lunch with near zero vis at the top of the Transarc lift.

In the afternoon another group came along and we headed to Arc 1600 and the new Mont Blanc lift. The Cachette red was interesting with fresh snow building on a very icy frozen cruddy base. But the new top of the Mont Blanc blue and the powder fields to the sides back down through the forest to Arc 1600 were very good. Much as it hurts me to say it, they have done a good job with the new pistes and it does not really interfere with the Malgovert red piste nature. The Deux Tetes black piste nature is still there, but needs more snow to make the start safe from rocks. But once over this problem (they seem to have dumped a lot of crud there) the rest of the run seems to be ok still.

Going back up and over into the Arc 2000 bowl was not fun in the late afternoon, cold and windy. But the snow has kept falling, although only lightly now most of the evening and more is promised for tomorrow and later in the week. If this keeps up, the holiday period should be really fun for everyone.

If you are driving out shortly, you will need chains for the car. The roads tonight are quite bad. More news tomorrow.

Remember, if you want to read the daily morning update direct from the pisteurs, plus details of weather and what's on in resort. I will be posting it around 8.30am each morning as long as I get up in time (otherwise could be a bit later). Go to my 'Les Arcs Winter' page on facebook. You do not need to be a member of facebook to view this page, just click the link below.

To give you a flavour of what it is like out here right now. I am posting a copy of the report of the last few days below. If you want to read the daily updates, check out my Les Arcs Winter page on facebook and follow me on twitter.

Here is a report of the last few days, enjoy!!

What a last few days. Tuesday the morning started off quite clear and calm. We were able to get up to the Grand Col and play in the fresh powder until lunch time again.

After lunch the predicted storm started to arrive, by 2pm most lifts were closing and only the Bois de l'ours stayed open which gave us access to the black piste nature back down to the bottom of the lift.

For the rest of the afternoon we made various routes down this sheltered face in poor vis, but good snow. Finishing with an untracked run down the closed red in knee deep powder blown into the gully by the ever increasing wind. Finally we stopped at around 4pm when the vis was almost down to zero. What a way to spend my birthday!!

After a great meal and a lively night, went to bed with the storm still going strong outside. They had forecast for the weather to improve for a while on Wednesday morning, but I think someone forgot to tell the weather gods.

I awoke Wednesday to the storm blowing strongly in the Arc 2000 bowl and although they had hoped to open more lifts, by the time we hit the slopes at 10pm only the Marmotte, Pre St Esprit and the beginner lift were still open. Just enough not to give lift pass refunds!!!

Even round the other side there were few lifts open. The new Mont Blanc could not open as it now goes to high and was effected by the wind so we have lost the whole Mont Blanc forest area on windy bad weather days. NOT VERY GOOD planning!! unless you know the secret traverse!!

We went out and made a few runs, but with the wind still gaining speed. We called it quits by 11.30 or so and went in for lunch.

The afternoon has been a complete white out. The group choose to hit the sauna etc and then go to see a movie, then dinner. I must say on a day like this the facilities of Arc 1950 are great.

Today, it has been snowing without any let up since I posted 8 hours ago on my twitter feed. It is still snowing now outside and they say it will keep going all night and tomorrow. They may close the road up to Arc 1950/2000 tonight, that will prove interesting tomorrow.

I have been rather busy or it has been to cold to mess about with taking pics, but I will try and get some tomorrow.

Today we did manage a ski again in the morning for a few hours in near white out conditions, but the powder was good and even going down to Pre St Esprit was fun. Fresh tracks the whole way. As you would guess we had the place mostly to ourselves, not many people out skiing over on the Arc 2000 side.

As those that followed my tweets today saw, we stopped by lunch time and that was it for the day. The whole of Arc 2000 side was shut down by 1.30pm. Even the Cabriolet closed early afternoon. ( https://twitter.com/snowcrazychris )

Tomorrow promises to be more of the same. I will post the daily update in the morning as soon as I get the details.

Back home nice and safe!!!

What a drive down that was. Having kicked the idea of skiing on the head today. I visited a few friends in various Arc stations and then headed for home. It was snowing when I left Arc 1950 after lunch having been up in Arc 2000 and it was still snowing as I passed La Grange having called into Arc 1600 and Arc 1800 on the way down a few hours later.

I did hear they were not wanting people to go to other ski areas, but that was more about not overloading the lifts in those areas than anything else. The road was only briefly closed in the morning and the buses were running until after lunch. But they stopped around 4pm and the road over to Arc 1950 and 2000 was closed around 5pm until tomorrow morning. You could still get up to the other Les Arcs stations after 5pm, but maybe later tonight they will close the road from BSM as well, although that has not been annonced when I was out in town earlier.

After visiting the other stations I set off again and just after La Grange the snow turned to sleet and then to rain. But there was plenty of snow all the way down to the valley and right into my garden.

The roads were crazy!!! I watched a guy in a 4x4 going to fast coming up the hill straight towards me having misjudged the bend and bounced off the barrier before just gaining control again. Thank god I was going slowly or we would have hit head on. I just stopped and let him pass on my side of the road!! . He was very lucky, if there had not been a barrier he would have gone over the edge and crashed.

I then came across a shuttle bus, still in the ditch and the driver just arriving in a car to start digging it out. The shuttle buses are now stopped until tomorrow morning when they will review the situation. So if you need to use them, you should check.

Up in Arc 2000 there was high banks of snow on both sides of the road. Down towards Arc 1600 the road was still covered in a layer of fresh snow and without winter tyres would have been a nightmare. Even the slush lower down was so deep that your steering locked and you had to take real care on the corners.

I have posted the pics of the drive down in the December folder on my Les Arcs Winter facebook page and you can now also follow me on Twitter. Links below.

If you are driving out do take care. There is more snow on the way. This drive was a real challenge today.

As for the skiing, if the lifts open tomorrow and the weather improves there is going to be some amazing snow out there. Where it has been windy, the conditions could be very difficult, but in the more sheltered areas I hope to find some deep powder.

I will post again tomorrow evening, hopefully with some more pics.

Sounds s hard day. Keep it coming. Post your full site, I can't see any Sig on the mobile site

WHAT A FUN TIME WAS HAD TODAY!!

Despite the 'Level 5' avalanche warning they did manage to open the Funi and the beginners lift in Arc 1600 plus the Transarc 1 and Chantel chair in Arc 1800.

This meant we could get up from the valley and head straight to Arc 1800 (I was very pleased I drove down yesterday, the road looked even worse this morning).

On our way to Arc 1800 by bus, as we went round a corner in Arc 1800 another 4x4 skidded in the snow and hit the side of the bus. Nobody hurt and after a few words by the bus driver (not his fault), the bus moved off so we did not waste any ski time. Crazy drivers going to fast.

Up the Transarc 1 and straight into the powder in the trees and over to the Vallandry chair. Up top and back down under the chair almost the whole way in more powder to the Vallandry chair again. Then up and over to the Peisey side of the forest and down through the forest until I hit the new Combe Ecureuils piste. Interesting that the top half was great powder and the bottom section coming onto the new piste had started to go 'off'.

Then down to the VE and over to Montchavin for lunch. There were suppose to be musicians and Vin Chaud at the VE, but it did not happen when we passed through in both directions. On the way down to Montchavin the snow higher up was good but as you approached the village it had become very crusty off piste and hard packed on piste.

After lunch over on the Montchavin/Les Coches side we headed up as high as possible and found some nice untracked powder through the meadows back down towards Les Coches and then on down back to the VE at the sides of the pistes.

Finally heading back through the trees of Peisey Vallandry to the Derby chair and back to the Chantel Chair, then across to Arc 1600 along the Gollet forest piste. Loads off snow everywhere and looking up from the Gollet piste the snow looked great, just waiting to be skied.

Just for a change we headed down the Granges red to the lower Funi station. We had considered going all the way to Bourg, but even before La Grange despite there being loads of snow, the top surface had gone off and turned to breakable crust so we jumped on the Funi and home.

Despite the very high avalanche risk, if you go where there is NO risk of anything moving, you can have real fun off piste. Now let us hope they can get it safe enough to go higher tomorrow before the next snow arrives in a few days.

Just for you Iceman,but I think I should not keep posting the links now they are at the bottom.
http://www.facebook.com/LesArcsWinter and Twitter https://twitter.com/snowcrazychris