La Plagne: Belle Plagne Slope Height 1250-3250 m

Paradiski - FRANCE

AMAZING SKI CHALETSLa Plagne: Belle Plagne

WEsay This high-altitude satellite of La Plagne is built in a pleasing neo-Savoyard style. A family friendly resort and guaranteed snow on the Bellecote Glacier.
Ski Chalets in La Plagne: Belle Plagne - Image Credit:Shutterstock
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Ski Chalets in La Plagne: Belle Plagne

Set high in the magnificent Savoie French Alps, dominated by the mighty Mont Blanc, La Plagne is one of the most famous and exciting high altitude ski areas in the world. One of the first purpose-built resorts in France, La Plagne comprises ten ski centres, each with shops, restaurants, ski schools and children's village, with direct access onto the ski area. The villages are well-connected and gondolas and a bus service run between them. Skiing has taken on a new dimension with the introduction of the Vanoise Express cable car combining the two areas of Les Arcs and La Plagne on the Paradiski lift pass.

In terms of skiing La Plagne boasts possibly the biggest single resort lift system in the world and has superb and extensive runs for all grades of skiers and boarder.  Beginners can slowly find their feet on the 11 green slopes, before progressing to the more gentle blues and try their hand at a bit of off-piste before the week is up.  Intermediates can clock up the miles, whilst experts can take on some truly terrifying off-piste.  Paradiski is vast but its intricate network of variously graded runs mean almost all levels of skier can take themselves from one end of the resort to the other and return back to their chalet with a real sense of achievement.

At 2050 metres Belle Plagne is one of the highest of the Villages making up La Plagne. It is designed in traditional alpine style with wood effect and sloping chalet roofs.  Main access is via the Roche de Mio gondola which starts in Bellecote and finishes at the Roche de Mio at 2,700m.  From here you can go further up still to the Glacier de Bellcote for guaranteed snow coverage at over 3,000m, or take one of the reds or blues down to Belle Plagne.  From here you can also ski all the way down to Montchavin and Les Coches.  For the boarders there is a terrain park with a boardercross course, pryramids, tables and hips.

There are numerous restaurants and bars in the village. A further selection of bars and a couple of nightclubs are on offer in nearby Bellecote. Other activities across the villages include paragliding, skidoos, squash Turkish and seaweed baths, massage and a health and fitness centre in Belle Plagne & Plagne Centre. 

RESORT highlights

New for 2017/18

The long, slow Crozats quad chair on the Montchavin side of L’Arpette will be replaced by a smart new six-seater transporting 3,600 people per hour. And new public toilets will be constructed at the top. The Plan Bois beginner area above Montchavin-Les Coches will be improved. The existing draglift will be replaced by a new moving carpet lift and a new draglift roughly 500m long will be built to allow beginners to reach the Lac Noir gondola and Plan Bois chairlift to ride back down. The beginner section will be fitted with more snowmaking.

New for 2016/17

A new 6-seater chair lift, Les Envers, is being constructed out of the valley between Le Fornelet, the low peak above Montalbert, and Plagne Aime 2000, further improving access from Montalbert to the central resort areas. This is more or less in the same place as the Coqs chair, removed some years ago. Presumably the lift co has realised that sending everyone down the tricky blue run to La Roche wasn t such a great idea after all. The runs on the glacier will no longer be groomed, increasing the area s appeal for adventurous skiers (and meaning these slopes can be opened more quickly after a dump). A family fun run will open at the top of the St Jacues blue piste, in the Bellec�te sector. Chauffe Marcel will open slopeside above 1800 sounds a bit like a Folie Douce ( best sound system in the Alps ). A steeper than usual zipline will open, descending from Plagne Aime 2000 to Plagne Centre; special braking system at the bottom it says here! Work will commence on a major development of Plagne Aime 2000, to include a 5-star hotel and an aqua-leisure centre.

best FOR

  • Wide array of intermediate pistes
  • Brilliant off-piste
  • Great nursery slopes
  • High and reasonably snow-sure
  • Extensive choice of resort villages
  • Wooded runs of lower satellite resorts are great in poor weather Cable car link to Les Arcs

LA PLAGNE: BELLE PLAGNE weather