LIVING DANGEROUSLY: Off Piste in Les Arcs

Les Arcs has a fairly dense piste network, but there is still a huge amount of off-piste terrain to explore - taking one of the local ski instructors with you, of course.

For a guide to many of the more challenging slopes, including runs from the top of the Aiguilles Rouge and Grive, click here.

More extensive is this guide from the Peisey-Info site.  It starts off with some useful routes on the Peisey side of the mountain, warning the reader about avalanche danger near the Derby lift and then showing the way to Notre-Dame-les-Vernettes.  The guide finishes with some videos of key routes, including the off-piste run from Col de la Chal down to the Nancroix Valley:

Col de la Chal, from the La Creche restaurant

Seated safely in your favourite armchair, the must-have coffee table book is Didier Givois' Les Clés du Paradiski, widely available in resort.  It covers a big range of routes in both Les Arcs and La Plagne, with perhaps the most terrifying account being the descent from Mont Pourri:

"You must test the snow on the North Face before your first turn.  

If there is ice, turn back, otherwise it will be the last turn you make"

Didier Givois' helpful advice on the Mont Pourri route.  For more, click here.

Similar guides to the 3 Valleys
and Espace Killy are also available