WHAT'S NEW IN LES ARCS

The great news is that, as elsewhere in the French Alps, there is loads of snow.  The resort is 99% open, which means it should cope well with the New Year crowds.

Here are six things to know about What's New in Les Arcs season:

1. Ride in Style
The Pré Saint Esprit lift is well and truly open, and it does indeed have heated seats.  It opens up the lower part of the Arc 2000 Valley (for more on the project, click here and here), replacing the old 1980 chairlift which left from a little lower down.  Good skiers based in Arc 1600/1800 can now access the  Arc 2000 valley by taking Clocheret and then the Muguet/Comborciere piste, which is much more fun than using the Arpette lift.  Next season sees the upgrading of the Comborciere lift itself - one hopes the reggae music will be able to continue.

2. Transport Hub
Arc 1800 has a new "bus station" at Charvet.  Actually it's rather more than that, with toilets, showers, baggage storage and a waiting area.

Click here for the resort's guide
on how to get to Les Arcs

3. All Change at the Hotel du Golf
It's now been taken over by a chain called the Belambra group, who seem to have a slightly uniform "club de vacances" vibe.  One hopes they will be able to keep the essence of the Hotel du Golf which, with its evening jazz bar, is very much a Les Arcs institution.  On the positive side, they are opening in the summer season, which is really important for the resort.

4. The Fast Lane
The Varet lift now has a special lane reserved for those skiers who have shelled out 299 euros for the full Paradise 6-day pass...

5. Get Away from It All
Villaroger now has artificial snow which means there's no excuse for giving this quiet and beautiful part of the mountain a miss.  It opens up completely different views, looking over towards Sainte-Foy and the Haute Tarentaise, and can mark a welcome break from the motorway pistes of Arc 2000.  And you don't need to take the mega descent from the top of the Aiguille Rouge to get there - Lanchettes lift from Arc 2000 provides a direct link. The Solliet restaurant half way down marks a fine pit stop.  It's under new ownership this year, apparently.

Aiguille Rouge, 3226m, 23 Dec 2017

6. Blot on the Landscape
It will open summer and winter and it's creating lots of jobs.  But I'm not keen on the style of the new Club Med development at all.  It sits arrogantly at the foot of the Mont Blanc piste, marking an abrupt end to the resort's most beautiful blue piste.  It would have been nice for the developers to have made at leas some reference to the architectural heritage of Les Arcs, but this does not seem to have been part of the brief.  At least they've built the lower part of the buildings into the hill.  It opens in December 2018.

New Club Med will be open summer and winter,
with a capacity of 1,050 beds

LA Radio Station

Les Arcs' fans will enjoy the R' Les Arcs Facebook page - which this week has been going back in time with these snowy retro pictures of Arc 1800.

I didn't know that the iconic L'Etranger bar (previously the Gabotte bar) was at one point called Le Grenier (the attic).

For more on the history of Les Arcs, including the story of Robert Blanc and the architecture of Charlotte Perriand, click here.

Back to the radio station.  If you are very keen, and can cope with its mixture of current Europop and 1980s hits - you can listen live from the comfort of your own living room.

WHAT NEXT FOR LES ARCS: The resorts

Linking with the developments coming soon for the ski area, here is an update on what the Bourg St Maurice town hall has in its plans for the coming years.  Again, info is courtesy of the Avenir et Animations des Arcs association.

On the agenda:

Arc 2000
- a new 5* hotel, opening December 2016, courtesy of the Schonauer Group
- 150M euro investment in a new 60m X 40m ice rink (Dec 2016 also)
- Upgrades to the shopping areas

Arc 1800
- renovation of the Villards parking area, including new bus station, baggage store, welcome area.  Similar improvements are planned to the Charvet "bus station"
- improvements to the dilapidated Place Basse at Villards

Arc 1600
- New Club Med (2018)
- Construction of 15 luxury chalets between the UCPAand the former Beguin Hotel (to the left of the Mont Blanc chair)
- Project (private investors) to turn the Beguin Hotel into apartments

Bourg Saint Maurice
- Extension of the medical centre (currently nearing completion)
- The start of works on the new tourist developments at the former army base
- New youth hotel
- Completion of the renovations of the pedestrian bridge linking the funiculaire with the town

That was then:
1970s marketing literature

THAT WAS THE SEASON THAT WAS

Loads of useful information in this update from the Avenir et Animation des Arcs proprietors' association.

Despite the variable whether, unpredictable from the start of the season (not much snow) through to the end (a snowy/grey spring), Alain Giraudo reports that the season has been reasonable for local businesses, and indeed for the ADS lift company.

This winter of course saw the launch of various projects, including the Mille 8 development, the Le Lodge restaurant, the new Yuge app, modernisation of some of the pistes.  Apparently the net result is an extra 90,000 skier days: objectives met for ADS, it seems.

At Mille 8, the piste de luge did very well, the new beginners' slopes have been well received, and there has been success for some of the animations, including 6,000 people present at the site's inauguration earlier in the season.

More on plans for summer 2016 (and beyond) soon.

Le Lodge, Mille 8

SNOW REPORT: Not too bad, all things considered

It's fair to say that snow conditions are deeply underwhelming across the Alps - as witnessed by this week's edict from St-Martin-de-Belleville town hall for locals to leave the slopes for the tourists this week.

Les Arcs seems to be holding up reasonably well.  At first sight, things look reasonably white, at least on the higher runs.  But the thin snow cover means rocks and stones are never far away from the soles of your skis.  The pisteurs have done a fine job with what they have, and stakhanovite groups of them have been spotted digging out snow from the areas adjacent to the pistes. Apparently a lot of good work was done in November to make artificial snow while the real product was still falling.

Skiing in Arc 2000 is quite reasonable, as are the higher pistes on the 1800/1600 side above the Arpette.  Peisey is very bare, although a number of runs to resort are still open.  Sadly the run to the iconic Blanche Murée has been closed.  As is Villaroger.  

Above Varet (2600m), Dec 2015

NEW IN LES ARCS: Le Lodge

This year sees the culmination of the Mille 8 development above Arc 1800, with the opening of Le Lodge - an ambitious new restaurant/bar complex.  It's just below the excellent new beginners' slopes, and is a fine place for groups of skiers to meet.  In the absence of an Austrian-style "Ubi's Ice Bar" by the Vagere, this is where you should wait for your chums.

It's early days - but there is lost of space inside and out, including options to go for a restaurant meal (plat du jour €16) or a snack.  Non-skiers can come along too (access is via the Villards gondola).  It's no ordinary mountain restaurant - it's open until late on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays (last lift down is at 10.30pm) and various parties and events are already on the agenda.

Once everyone's back to work, there's the chance to bring your team here for an invigorating conference - the downstairs restaurant converts into a seminar room.

Last, but not least, the design is stunning, and it represents a fine modern twist on the original architectural vision of Perriand and Taillefer.

THE MISSING LINK

Thus far, people staying in the upmarket Edenarc and Chantal apartments at Arc 1800 have had to rely on a shuttle bus to link with the resort.  That, or walk up and down a slushy/icy piste.

This is all about to change with the arrival of a new pedestrian lift to link the expanding area at the top of the slopes with the front de neige.

This photo, taken last week, shows the new pylons.  A new Edenarc residence is also under construction.    For more on the transformation taking place at Arc 1800, click here.  

The Chantal slopes:
The old chairlift has been dismantled during the summer

Next up in terms of new developments: the proposed chairlift to link Arc 1800 with the Arc 2000 valley via the Col des Frettes.

ARC 1800: A Guided Tour

During the season Arc 1800's weekly programme of animations includes a guided tour around the resort.  This year it was at 6pm on a Wednesday.  It's in French at the moment, but there is a plan to do a version in English.

Lots of reference is made to the work of Charlotte Perriand, who masterminded the interiors at Arc 1800.  This involved a mixture of design and practicality, with the initial Charvet blocks of Belles Challes, Lauzieres and Pierra Menta built very quickly, and on a much larger scale than had been the case at Arc 1600.

For those not yet persuaded as to the merits of the resort's architecture, here is a bit of background, while this post talks about Les Arcs' history.

The tour points out how much attention was made to get the orientation of the apartment blocks right, so that they got the benefit of the sunshine as much as possible.  Unlike La Plagne, there was always a plan to make the resort a summer destination, as witnessed in the golf course and indeed the Hotel du Golf (1974).  And talking of summer, the awarding of appellation status to Beaufort cheese has further helped at least stabilise the economy outside the winter season.

 

Belles Challes, Arc 1800

There is a reminder of how priorities changed over the course of little more than a decade. When Charvet was constructed, there was a big emphasis on being a pedestrian resort. By the time Charmetogger was on the drawing board, everyone wanted to come in their cars, and the resulting plans evolved accordingly.

In terms of developments, it does look like Edenarc will be the last major addition, as the resort is now at the limits of what will be permitted, construction-wise.

PARADISE LOST: Force Majeure

Snow Therapy (French). Turist (Swedish).  And now Force Majeure (in English....).  Now on release in the UK, this Swedish film, set in Les Arcs, is now in UK cinemas.  You can also watch it online at home via Curzon Home Cinema.

Arc 2000 has moved location, and now sits
in the main Haute Tarentaise valley

The Guardian put it on the front page of G2, gave it four stars and interviewed lead actor Johannes Bah Kuhnke.  They filmed the interior scenes in a Swedish hotel (it looks like the Hotel du Golf, but rather swankier) with Les Arcs forming the backdrop to the exterior shots.

"This ice cold Swedish drama about a family torn apart by cowardice is like Bergman with a wicked streak", says the Telegraph, also awarding the film four stars.

At Le Solliet, above Villaroger?

For Les Arcs fans, there is of course the opportunity to completely miss the point of the film and play "spot the location".  These include:

• Arc 2000 moving location (see photo above)
• Drinking at Le Solliet
• Skiing from La Plagne back towards the Vanoise Express
• The Varet and Aiguille Rouge lifts
• The Pierra Menta block at Charvet
• The scary pedestrian tunnel linking Charvet with the Croisette parking at Arc 1800
• Plus, the star of the show: La Creche restaurant at the top of the Transarc, location for the pivotal avalanche scene:

Click here for an interview with
Ruben Ostlund

TWO MONTHS TO GO: Diary Dates

With two months of the season still ahead of us, the helpful folk at lesarcsnet.com have come up with a handy calendar of events - click here for details.

One hidden gem is the early morning "First Tracks" excursion with the pisteurs.  It does involve getting up early, but the jolly breakfast and opportunity to ski with the experts before the lifts open is well worth it.  For one account click here.  The next one is this Thursday, 26th February.

Monday sees ski rando coming to the front de neige at Charvet, in the form of an hour-long teams-of-two-relay race.  You used to only be able to rent equipment at Christina Sports in 1600, but its popularity seems to be growing somewhat: for example, skis and skins are now available for hire at the shop by the mini market in Arc 1800.  For a fine account of ski touring (in Austria) click here.

Click here for more.
NB You need a doctor's note to take part

THE WORLD TURNED UPSIDE DOWN

"This is what we want in our lives - get married and then have kids and live in a nuclear family.  To question that lifestyle is very provocative in our time"

Ruben Ostland

Les Arcs' connections with the film industry are further strengthened this week with the launch of Snow Therapy, a Franco-Swedish film set in a French ski resort - aka you-know-where.

The film is called Turist in Swedish and
Force Majeure in English-speaking countries

While at a mountain restaurant that looks rather like La Creche at the top of the Transarc, a Swedish family witnesses an avalanche which briefly threatens the assembled skiers.  It turns out to be a false alarm.  But, amidst all the excitement, the father apparently makes a run for it - taking his iPhone, while leaving his family.  Result: the existing family relationships, including his role as "patriarch" are thrown upside down.

The film made its debut at Cannes, but is now on general release in France.  It is getting quite good reviews, like this one in Le Parisien.   The New York Times quite likes it too.

Many of the Les Arcs' sights are on show - including a scene on the Transarc, and fine shots of the architecture, including the family's holiday accommodation in what looks like Belles Challes in Arc 1800:

THE SEASON SO FAR: A tour of Les Arcs

One month into the season, a quick tour around the resort to pick up on what's occurring.

At 1800, the big news is of course the Mille 8 development, which is settling down well.  A new ski cross course (Les Bosses) was built at the end of the year, running parallel to the foot of the Vagere lift.  It will video your performance, giving you the option to review your style half way down the run and upload the film to social media, if you so wish...

Peak time queues do remain a problem at Arc 1800, and the Vagere simply can't cope with New Year and February crowds.  Help is at hand, however..  The next stage of the Masterplan for the resort will be the new Col des Frettes lift, which will give a direct link to Arc 2000.  Two bits of gossip on this:

1. It will leave from Edenarc/Chantel - the intention is to create a new "axis" from the upmarket development.

2. Although the budget is in place, planning permission is not yet forthcoming.  So let's see if it arrives for 2015/16.  Meanwhile, it looks like the "urban lift" which will link Edenarc/Chantel directly with the front de neige will happen in time for next season.

New Year crowds at Arc 1800

Up at the Col de la Chal, the new extension to the La Creche restaurant is now open - giving another 80 or so seats for dining inside, without feeling that the space on the panoramic terrace has been compromised.  (For a summer view of the site, click here).   It's arguably the best place in resort for a mid-morning coffee, although for lunch I would tend to go elsewhere.

La Creche, Col de la Chal

La Creche just got bigger

One place worth considering for eating is the Bulle café in Arc 2000.  It is now well-established and has a bit of a buzz about it.  This relatively new establishment gets high marks for its varied offering - those with deeper pockets have oysters and champagne on offer; student types can opt for a slice of pizza at less than €3.  For more on where to eat in Les Arcs click here.

January weather outside the Bulle café

Local hero Simon Beck has been in resort, and he was creating one of his trademark pieces below the Varet earlier in the month:

Impressed? Click here for more...

Looking ahead to March and April, take a look at this account of late season skiing in the Telegraph.  And, because of the changes to the French school holiday calendar, it is likely to be very quiet.  Much to the irritation of resort bosses and businesses.

A "dinky facsimile of a traditional ski village", according
to Ben Ross of the Telegraph. Click here for a guide to
the original (and far more interesting)
architecture of Les Arcs

WHAT'S NEW IN LES ARCS: Mille 8

The big news in Arc 1800 this year is the revolution taking place on the Chantel slopes - part of an ambitious €30m investment by Compagnie des Alpes.  The new development is billed Mille 8, and includes a new gondola, beginners' area, luge track and "discovery" blue run.

Click here for more on Mille 8

The telecabine replaces the crusty old Villards chairlift.  It comprises 8-seater cabins which you can sit down in.  Journey time is only a couple of minutes.  Very nice it is too:

The Villards telecabine

At the summit is a dedicated beginners' zone, well away from the pistes, with a covered lift.  Coupled with the new blue run, Arc 1800 has now moved overnight from being quite a poor place for beginners to a being a very good prospect indeed.

There is also a new run which goes directly under the Vagere lift.  It is called Les Bosses, so one imagines it may become a mogul field once there is enough slow.  Part of the descent includes a "video zone" - it looks like you can pause and watch your skiing on a big screen.

Next year there will be a restaurant on the site, which will make it a real focal point.  With the addition in 2015/16 of a pedestrian lift to Edenarc & Chantel, and the new chair giving direct access to Arc 2000, it's fair to say that Arc 1800 is going through something of a transformation.

The lift gives direct access to the MGM Chantel apartments

The local council has provided the money for the new indoor swimming pool on site. Arc 1800's redundant ice rink has been replaced with new pools which are open summer and winter.  The entrance is next to the Vagere, with a lift to take you up to the site.

There is an option of including swimming as part of a week's lift pass

Building the indoor pool has involved extension
to the right and rear of the existing building

NO WEATHER BOMB FOR THE ALPS

It's beginning to look not a lot like Christmas....

French resorts have been able to make snow this week, but all that may be thwarted by high temperatures in the days to come - the latest update from Telegraph Ski sets out the sorry scene.

Les Arcs is currently registering a feeble 6cm at 1600m and 30cm at the top.  A small number of pistes have been opened above 1800 and 2000, but it's all looking very threadbare - see the webcam at Arc 1950 for an illustration.

This has prompted the newly formed Les Arcs Freeski Academy to decamp back to the gym at Bourg St Maurice for its training/auditions this afternoon.

The British students arriving in resort this week - including parties from Bath and Manchester - will not be happy.  They will have to make do with going to the cinema, courtesy of this week's Les Arcs Film Festival.

It all adds up to a low key launch for the new "Mille 8" development above 1800, centrepiece of a series of developments for 2014 and 2015.

Across the valley at La Rosiere the resort is "sur les starting blocks", but has delayed opening any lifts until next week.

That was then...
Above Arc 1800, 20th April 2014

LES ARCS 2014/15: The Ski Schools

There aren't zillions of ski schools in Arc 1800, but there certainly is a choice.

Which to choose?  All the instructors have the strict French ski teaching qualifications. They all speak English (although they are always happy to help you with your French). Everyone's on the same mountain.  In some ways, it comes down to time of day:

For a quick lesson at 9am, choose  Privilege.  They only have a few instructors, but are very flexible and friendly.  Based out of a ski shop in Villards.  You can have an hour lesson with them and, after a quick refresh, you can be on your way.

If you have two hours, between 10 and 12, there is Arc Aventures.  Part of the ESI network, they run these handy sessions outside the absolute peak weeks.

For an hour over lunch, either 12-1 or 1-2, best to go to ESF.  They have more instructors than anyone else, and there is usually space.  Note: they do have a tendency towards being dull bureaucrats.  Last year, during the Paris school holidays, I tried to make a telephone booking while en route to the resort.  This rather modern approach was not permitted.  When I got to the resort they were booked up.  Make sure you take note of the French school holiday calendar: the February/March holidays for the various zones go on for quite some time.

There are plenty of options in the other Les Arcs villages of course.  For example, the New Generations school has a bases in Vallandry and Arc 2000; instructor JP McCarthy is happy to meet clients in Arc 1800.

If you want to explore the off-piste, the Bureau des Guides at Villards has a macho back-country vibe.  But they have very few actual guides.  If you want to book one just for your party, it's likely to be touch and go.  You might want to consider going to Ste-Foy or Tignes for such a trip.

Le Monal, Ste-Foy-Tarentaise

TRANSFORMATION: Building work at Arc 1800

There are big changes taking shape at Arc 1800.  Some see this as a necessary upgrade to help the resort complete with rivals like Tignes (which was recently crowned Europe's most improved ski resort.  Older proprieteres have been overheard worrying that the resort is losing its soul, and Val d'Isere-style prices will surely follow.

The development is certainly ambitious.  The Chantel slopes will see the installation of a new gondola, piste luge and beginners' slope.  Compagnie des Alpes is putting nearly €30m into the investment.  

And that's not all.  Out goes the defunct ice-rink.  Step forward a new indoor swimming pool complex, aka the centre aqualudique.  This has been funded by the local council. For more on the background, click here.

Timing-wise, it all seems to be on track, although it looks like the restaurant on the map will have to wait until the following year.  Below are some August 2014 pictures.

Click here for full details of the plan

The new Villards telecabine has replaced the old  chair

The summit of the new telecabine in the foreground,
with the next wave of Edenarc behind

The outside pool was closed this summer...

...to enable construction of the new centre aqualudique

TAKING SHAPE: The Chapel at Arc 1800

Les Arcs' founder, Robert Blanc, described the lack of a chapel as "the missing link". Nearly 35 years after his death, a new building is now taking shape at Arc 1800.

It sits at a strategically important point - at the entrance to the Charvet parking and gare routiere.  The structure is in place, but it's difficult to see how advanced the association is in preparing the interior.

For more on the Chapel project, click here.

Charvet, Arc 1800, August 2014

IN TRANSITION: Building for the future at Arc 1800

The Les Arcs Paradiski Summer Facebook pages provide a guided tour of what's on during the short summer season.

This includes a series of summer photos, which range from horses grazing outside Notre-Dame-les-Vernettes through to a cluster of diggers at the Vagere lift in Arc 1800 - you can see them here.

The green slopes of Arc 1800 are subject to an onslaught of construction work this summer with a serious amount of money going in both from the town and the lift company to upgrade the "offer".  For more, click here.

Notre-Dame-les-Vernettes: A shortish walk from Plan Peisey
in summer; also accessible from the summit of the Vallandry lift.
Click here for more on summer in Les Arcs

ARC 1800: All Change

Paradiski's YouTube channel has a new video setting the scene for the big changes planned at Arc 1800 (more on the background to this €30m project here).

Arc 1800 has been falling behind some of its rivals somewhat in recent years.  It has little for non skiers (no pool, for example), the beginners' area isn't the best, and links to the fancy Chantel and Edenarc appartments are a bit rubbish to say the least.  Meanwhile, the Chantel front de neige is inconveniently laid out, with no handy restaurant/bar meeting places and a lot of huffing and puffing up and down the slope as people trundle to and fro.

*DRUMROLL*  

Step forward "a new recreational area dedicated to the pleasures of snowsports".  It will include:

• A beginners' area
• A new piste decouverte
• Toboggan track
• Freeride area (by the Vagere lift)
• The new Centre Aquatique
• A new restaurant on the golf course pistes

It will be open from 9am to 9.30pm, and will be powered by new lifts, for example:

• The new Telecabine des Villards (December 2014)
• A new "Dahu" telecabine serving the Chantel/EdenArc accommodation (2015)
• A revitalised Carrely lift, which will start higher up than the current slow lift - according to the plans published last year this will take skiers direct to the Arc 2000 valley (also for 2015)

A summertime view of the Chantel slopes

BEST FOR BEGINNERS? Les Arcs makes the shortlist

Les Arcs has been nominated in the Chillfactore awards in the "Best Resort for Beginners" category.

It is up against Soldeu, Arinsal, Alpe d'Huez, Saas Fee and Cervinia.

Not a bad place to be, although I fear Les Arcs may be something of an outsider when pitted against these rivals.  There is little in the way of resort-level nursery slopes.  For example, the excellent area for beginners above Peisey-Vallandry involves a lift up and down.  Meanwhile the home runs to Arc 1800, 1600 and Plan Peisey are all not without their difficulties for first time skiers.  For me, Alpe d'Huez clearly has the edge, with its mega area of green-piste-gradients just above the resort.

Les Arcs is however an excellent proposition for 2nd and 3rd week skiers - easy blue runs take you from top to bottom of the Grizzly (Peisey-Vallandry), Vagere (Arc 1800) and Arcabulle (Arc 2000) lifts.  And of course we have the new beginners' zone coming soon as part of the remodelling of the Chantel - more here.

Home runs above Arc 1800