Les Arcs: Accommodation Reserved For All

Why, yes, both of these witty quotes retell the inherent risks of skiing. However, you'll neither "go broke" nor head "nowhere" (and, certainly, there are not ambulances at the bottom of any hills) in Les Arcs, France. A French ski destination where accommodation (from accommodating tourists' needs to après ski venues to rooms, hotels and apartments) is reserved for everyone.

Les Arcs Naturally Came To Be

A skier, mountain guide and area resident by the name of Robert Blanc thought it a novel idea to build villages sequentially at different heights above his hometown of Bourg-St-Maurice. When a one Roger Godino and Blanc met in the early 60s, anything was possible for the area. With respect to the nature around it, and with the forethought of conservation-this in a time when no one pondered up global warming and the like-local materials and laborers used the mountain and nature as their guide in the construction of Les Arcs, France.

The area accommodation and hotels reflect Blanc and Godino's "natural world" motif. The succeeding villages-1800 and 2000-take second-stage as the newest linchpin to the villages is Les Arc 1950. Inrawest (North America resort developer) led the first push to build a mega-resort here not too many years back. Though not keeping exactly to Blanc and Godino's concepts, the new area is as sensitive to design, being built open, letting nature, sky and natural light in.

Accommodating All Skiers

If you're an expert skier, then you've got no worries finding plenty of still challenging runs in Les Arc. Once you leave your Les Arc hotel, you'll be in resplendent awe at all the trails awaiting your fresh wax. Above Arc 2000, a lot of expert skiers go to Aiguilles Rouge peak, with black ratings aplenty to challenge your fate. Afterwards, head on over to Peisey Vallandry or Villaroger for some woodland runs.

Even if you're an intermediate skier, there's no way you'll stay nestled inside your Les Arc hotel to wait out the cold. Almost all the local accommodation is within minutes of some great runs, some steep prominences. If you want something a little on the mild side, Peisey Valladry has all sorts of wooded and machine groomed runs. You'll even find some steeper runs fully groomed. If you want surprises, you can find them. If not, you'll have no trouble finding plenty of groomed pistes awaiting your skis.

Though as a beginner you'd like to stay out for the afternoon and rest in the hotel during the wee morning hours, you'll want to beat the crowds to these groomed nursery slopes. You can find green and blue runs all the while staying warm in the sun. Some say Mont Blanc and Col de la Chal (above Arc 1600 and 2000 respectively) offer some surefooted easier runs.

Before Les Arcs was built, there really wasn't a challenging resort: nothing matching the accommodation, hotels or slopes of the Trois Vallees. However, Les Arcs joined up with La Plagne and Paradiski was born. Which is to say, there's now 425 km of skiing trails and slopes in the unbroken Paradiski area: roughly 106 runs, some 54 lifts and just south of 200 km of descents.

The whole Les Arcs skiing sphere is so thick with skiing that even knowledgeable skiers can take a whole day traversing from one end and back again throughout the five areas-Arc 1600, Arc 1800, Arc 1950, Arc 2000-with skiing generally achieved at over 1,200 meters; the highest crest is the Aiguille Rouge. The nice thing about such a vast ski area is the accessibility of all the gondolas and chair lifts. Plus, you can escape Les Arcs and explore the local wilderness, perhaps not seeing another person for the whole day, room for everybody. Now you know: Les Arcs is truly an accommodation in all aspects of the word.

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