La Plagne Snow Report: 16th January 2012

Another glorious week in La Plagne; we have now seen blue skies for the past 10 days and still have excellent piste conditions. The snow cannons are doing a fantastic job of keeping a fresh layer of powder on most runs and the base is still at a depth of 2-3 metres on the upper slopes. The forecast is predicting fresh snow to arrive Thursday evening followed by moderate snow Friday afternoon and heavy snow Friday night. We are looking at up to 40cm by the end of the weekend.

Earlier in the week I took a trip to Les Arcs and from the photo you can see the fantastic view the Vanoise Express offers on the trip over there. I must say the tree lined runs in Les Arcs are great fun and would advise anyone to take a trip through them. Les Arcs seemed just as quiet as La Plagne has been over the past week. And to think that the excellent skiing conditions we have are set to improve further by the end of the week!!!

On Friday the main slopes in Plagne Centre were very quiet and the weather was perfect. What more could you ask for? If you haven’t already booked I would advise you to do so now as we are looking at brilliant conditions next week. So far last week saw the best conditions of the season with fresh powder everywhere and stunning sunshine.

I took a trip up to the glacier on Sunday for the first time this season as up until now the bubble running up there has been closed due to avalanche risk. The slopes up there were very quiet and the views were stunning from 3400 metres above sea level. After exiting the bubble I took the glacier chair up to the highest point and came down the Col. After this run I quickly hopped onto the Traversee chairlift where I was then met by a difficult traverse across which then lead me onto La Combe red run.

It is possible to ski all the way down from the glacier to the Bauches chairlift but I would not advise this route as you are faced with a moguly black run then a long flat spot. I, on the other hand, jumped back on the Bellecote bubble which took me back to the top of the Roche De Mio. From the top I took the black run down Mio which is a nice fast flowing black run with excellent views.

Today we headed down towards Montalbert first thing where, again, we pretty much had the slopes to ourselves. You can find lovely scenic runs down this way but be aware that the sun doesn’t get on these runs much and they were a bit icy which made it slightly difficult. By mid afternoon Plagne Centre and Bellecote are both in the shade and tend to get very cold. The best place to head late afternoon is over the back of Grande Rochette towards Champagny where the sun shines till 5pm.

By far the best run and most scenic is a trip to the top of the Roche De Mio via Carella chairlift which runs until 4:20pm getting you to the top around 4:30. A quick stop at the summit restaurant for a hot chocolate, priced at 2 Euros, is a great way to pass the next half hour before the suns starts to set. The run down Les Sources is a truly epic way to end the day with a deserted slope and a stunning backdrop.

Temperatures this week have stayed below freezing keeping the snow in very good condition and we are looking like more low temperatures to follow for the rest of the week.