© Sam Birch
© Sam Birch
© Sam Birch
© Sam Birch
© Sam Birch
© Sam Birch
A Very Merry Christmas in Les Arcs
Sun, snow and Santa in Les Arcs
Skiing conditions across the mountain continue to impress as the school holidays get underway. A deep and consistent snow-base at all levels, aligned with low temperatures and the constant attention of the piste-bashers, has ensured that practically every inch of available piste is in excellent order.
Since Les Arcs opened just over a week ago, the thermometers at every echelon have been stuck in the minuses, preserving all the pre-season snow. Around Christmas Eve, following a few days of clear and sunny weather, the freezing level rose to around the lower resorts (Arc 1600, Peisey-Vallandry). This meant that Christmas day was not only sunny, with barely a cloud in the sky, but also fairly warm (once you got going). Conditions underfoot have stayed nigh-on perfect, making festive skiing very enjoyable indeed.
Off-piste
Visibility across resorts has been almost unerringly excellent for almost a week. This has given people the confidence to hit many of the large off-piste sectors found across Les Arcs. As a result, many of the powder fields (such as the huge area under the Plagnettes and Arcabulle lifts in Arc 2000, or the many interconnected places beneath the Arpette lift) are pretty much tracked out. However, the lack of super-soft snow in these areas is both bad and good news for powder-hounds. Although you cannot ride fresh tracks today, the off-piste areas now have a nice compact base which will hold any new snow beautifully. Now is the time to observe those off-piste areas, looking out for any unwanted obstacles, low-points and cul-de-sacs, so you are ready when the next round of powder comes. Spoiler alert, it’s coming soon to a piste near you. In the meantime there is still some fluffy off-piste in some of the forested sectors but, as with all trips beyond the normal bounds, stay safe and exercise the necessary caution.
Pistes
By Christmas day, all the lifts across Les Arcs were open, providing access to hundreds of kilometres of pistes. The Aiguille Rouge gondola was up-and-running, offering unparalleled views from its 3226 metre-high summit and the opportunity to ride over 7km, with 2km of descent, on a single, epic and thigh-burning run down to Villaroger. In terms of the Aiguille Rouge run, the face of the Varet glacier is a little sheer as, at these altitudes, the wind can quickly strip the soft top-layer from the piste, and the first couple of corners after the split from Arandelieres is (typically) littered with a few small stones. Otherwise, it is a very pleasant ride from top to bottom. The domain has created a large queueing area for the gondola, but I found that this lift was by no means over-subscribed and did not need to wait more than 15 minutes. For the holiday season, and especially considering the monster December snowfall, I think the lifts have been pretty quiet and have only needed to wait relatively short periods at some of the usual suspects: Aiguille Rouge, Arcabulle and the Transarc.
Whether you choose a black, red, blue or mauve (yes, we do have one mauve “fun” run), piste conditions are good all-round. There are only a small handful of closed pistes at present and these are almost exclusively the steep blacks running down into Arc 2000. In general, the slopes are smooth with a grippy top layer, ideal for comfortable cruising. In areas where the incline is more precipitous, such as some of the open black runs, moguls are beginning to form as collectively making turns is preferred to “hurtling headlong.” I am still yet to find any patches of ice, even if sheer, windswept sections (like the Varet glacier mentioned above) can be somewhat harder than average.
Forecast
Currently, we are beginning to see the return of cloudy weather with the quality of light getting progressively “flatter” throughout the day. By Wednesday morning the snow will have started, with falling temperatures bringing it right down to the valley floor. Thereafter we are expecting constant, sometimes heavy, snowfall until around Thursday evening, with further dumps likely for the rest of the week. As if Santa had not given us enough already, we can now look forward to some festive powder days (the gift that keeps on giving). Sn-ho, sn-ho, sn-ho!
