APRES SKI: Summer in Les Arcs

Update 27 May 2013

Les Arcs is open this summer from 6 July to 30 August, with "pre-ouverture" on a couple of weekends in late June.  Cyclocoeur runs from 9-11 August.

There are one or two parts of the Alps - the Chamonix Valley and the Jungfrau region which do at least as well in summer as they do in winter.

This isn't the case in the Tarentaise.  But the resorts are open, the sun is (usually) out, and you are much further from the madding crowd than you are in winter.

Here's a "Top 10" Guide of things to do in Les Arcs.  If it rains, go to Le Lagon in Tignes for a swim.

The Les Arcs website is now in "summer mode", with the resort (including key lifts like the Transarc) open from 7th July.

Although there are lots of things to do, it's arguably the cycling that's the jewel in the crown.

Tour de France 2009, lower slopes of Cormet de Roselend

For cycling uphill, there is an almost endless range of options from Bourg St Maurice: Le Cormet de Roselend, Petit St Bernard, Cold de l'Iseran, plus of course the mythical climb to Les Arcs :)

The best English-language guide to cycling I've found is www.grenoblecycling.com, which covers just about every col you can think of.

In Bourg St Maurice, the big local event is Cyclocoeur, which runs from 10th-12th August, in aid of local disabled charities.  It involves various events for road and VTT, including the hard-core climb to Arc 2000, which takes the experts around an hour.  More on the event below:

For cycling downhill, there are endless VTT trails, including the Cachette piste at 1600 which is used for competitions.  The video below gives a good guide to the terrain. NB The initial descent, from Aiguille Grive down to the Nancroix valley can also be covered more sedately on foot, ending at the Hotel de La Vanoise in Peisey.  A chacun son gout....