Paradiski (La Plagne, Les Arcs)
A constellation of high villages and the friendliest big mountain in France.
Skiing La Plagne, told properly
La Plagne isn't one resort but a constellation — eleven villages scattered between orchard hamlets at 1,250 m and the stark, snow-sure balconies of Belle Plagne and Aime 2000 above 2,000 m. Built from the 1960s onward to revive a valley losing its mining and farming economy, it grew into one of the most-visited ski areas on the planet, and the reason is simple: nowhere serves intermediate skiers more generously.
The terrain rolls on and on — enormous, confidence-building reds and blues beneath the Bellecôte and up to glacier skiing at over 3,000 m, with proper adventure available off the back (the Bellecôte north face is a guided classic). Since 2003 the Vanoise Express, a giant double-decker cable car, has spanned the valley to Les Arcs, uniting the two giants into the Paradiski area with more than 400 km of pistes on one pass.
And La Plagne owns one attraction no other French resort can match: the 1992 Albertville Olympic bobsleigh track snakes down through the trees at La Roche, and in the evening you can ride it.
Signature runs
Les Inversens
A long, rolling red off the Roche de Mio that shows off the whole area — glacier views in, tree-lined finish out.
Bellecôte glacier runs
High, snow-sure pistes above 3,000 m with the wild north face lurking beyond the ropes for guided groups.
Mont de la Guerre
A classic long red dropping over 1,200 vertical metres to Champagny, quiet and scenic, on the sunny side.
Local tips
- Book the public bobsleigh experience early in your stay — weather can cancel sessions, and you'll want a retry window.
- The lower villages (Montchavin, Les Coches, Champagny) have charm and trees the high blocks lack — great storm-day bases.
- Cross the Vanoise Express early and make a full Les Arcs day of it; last cabins back come sooner than you think.
- Aime 2000's brutalist 'ocean liner' looks divisive but is ski-in/ski-out like nowhere else.
Good to know
- La Plagne regularly records among the highest annual skier visits of any resort in the world.
- Its 1992 Olympic bobsleigh track is one of the few in the world open to the public, with 'bob raft' rides most winter evenings.
- The Vanoise Express to Les Arcs is a double-decker cable car crossing 380 m above the valley floor.
Ski Paradiski (La Plagne, Les Arcs) with the map in your pocket
Every run and lift on this page, rendered in interactive 3D — and it keeps working in airplane mode at the top of the mountain. Free on the App Store.