People sometimes ask me which is my favourite run in La Plagne, and I’m never quite sure how to answer.
It’s a bit like asking me which is my favourite view from the mountains. It depends on the day, the weather, who I’m skiing with and, quite honestly, how my legs are feeling.
Some mornings I want a long, easy run where I can settle into a rhythm and enjoy the scenery. Other days I want something that makes me concentrate a little harder. And then there are those glorious mornings when the sky is completely blue, the snow is looking perfect, and I want to stay out for as long as possible.
That is probably what I like most about skiing in La Plagne. There isn’t one type of skiing here.
The ski area stretches from the lower villages and forests up towards the high-altitude slopes, with 139 downhill pistes and around 225km of marked runs. More than 70% of the ski area is above 2,000 metres, while the lower Montchavin-Les Coches and Montalbert sectors bring you back into the trees.
So, rather than giving you a definitive “top five”, these are some of the runs and areas I find myself coming back to again and again.
Mont Blanc: The Run I Would Choose on a Snowy Day
If you’re staying around Les Coches or Montchavin, you’ll probably get to know the Mont Blanc piste quite quickly.
It’s a blue run in the Montchavin-Les Coches sector, long and wide, with a varied profile that makes it enjoyable for both progressing skiers and more experienced skiers who simply want to cruise.
But there is another reason I like it.
The trees.
When you’re skiing on a beautiful clear day, the high mountain scenery is hard to beat. But when snow is falling or the weather closes in, I actually prefer dropping down into the forest.
The trees give you a much better sense of where you are. Everything feels quieter and more enclosed, and the snow-covered branches make the whole run feel rather magical. And then, when the clouds clear, you can suddenly emerge into those huge Alpine views.
It’s a stunning combination.
The Montchavin-Les Coches Sector in General
I suppose I should admit that I’m slightly biased towards this part of the mountain. It’s close to home, but I also think it gives you a wonderful variety of skiing.
The villages of Montchavin and Les Coches sit at around 1,250m and 1,450m respectively, and the ski area rises from the forest towards higher terrain.
One of my favourite things is that you can have a completely different skiing experience within the same morning. You can start among the trees, ski a long blue run, head higher for the views and then come back down into the forest. And there is something particularly satisfying about skiing back towards the village at the end of the day.
You know you’re nearly home.
Les Sources: One For When You Want a Proper Descent
For something quite different, I have a soft spot for Les Sources.
It’s a red run in the high-altitude sector, descending towards Belle Plagne. It has a varied profile, alternating between wider, gentler sections and narrower, steeper ones, and that’s exactly why I like it.
Some runs are enjoyable because they’re fast, others because they’re steep. For me, the really satisfying ones are those where the character changes as you go. You can settle into some wider turns, then suddenly find yourself concentrating a little more, before the run opens up again.
The top is around 2,700 metres, which is another reason it can be particularly appealing later in the season. I also love the fact that the run isn’t necessarily the busiest route down. Sometimes the best skiing is when you feel as though you have a little space around you.
Mont de la Guerre: When I Want to Feel Like I’ve Really Been Skiing
Then there’s Mont de la Guerre, and it’s a very different proposition.
Starting from the Verdons sector at around 2,500 metres, the red run descends towards Champagny-en-Vanoise at around 1,250 metres. It’s a descent of almost 1,200 metres through mountain pastures, smaller mountain landscapes and forest.
This is one of those runs where I don’t want to hurry. You can certainly ski it quickly if that’s your style, but I think it deserves to be enjoyed.
You start high up, with that enormous Alpine feeling around you, and gradually descend into a completely different landscape. The scenery changes, the temperature can change, the character of the snow can change, and before you know it, you’re much lower down, surrounded by forest.
It’s a real journey rather than simply a run, and I think that’s why I remember it.
The High Mountain Skiing Around Roche de Mio
Then there are the days when I want the opposite experience. I want to go up.
The summit of Roche de Mio reaches 2,739 metres, and from up there you get those wonderful high-altitude views towards the surrounding mountains and Vanoise glaciers.
The skiing from this area gives you a choice of blue and red runs, so you don’t have to be an expert simply to enjoy being up there. That’s something I think is important about La Plagne: you don’t necessarily need to be the strongest skier in your group to experience the high mountain scenery.
If you can ski the appropriate marked runs for your ability, you can get up into some extraordinary landscapes. Yet, sometimes I’ll go up simply because I want to see the mountains, and the skiing is almost secondary.
When the Weather Isn’t Perfect, Don’t Automatically Stay Low
This might sound slightly contradictory after I’ve just told you how much I love skiing through the trees on snowy days, but one of the great things about La Plagne is being able to adapt.
The ski area has different orientations and a huge range of altitudes, so the best place to ski isn’t necessarily the same every day. I’d recommend using the piste map and current lift and piste information because openings can change in real time.
I think this is something you learn after spending time in the mountains. You stop asking, “Where should I ski today?” And start asking, “Where is going to be good today?”
And then there are the completely ordinary days
Perhaps this sounds strange, but I don’t want to give you the impression that every day skiing in La Plagne has to involve a famous run or a huge adventure. Some of my favourite days are incredibly simple. I get up, the weather looks good, I take the first lift, ski something I’ve skied dozens of times before, stop for coffee, ski again, and have lunch. On those kinds of days, I often find a run that’s particularly good that day and do it again. And then I realise it’s nearly time to go home.
That’s the beauty of having a large ski area to explore. La Plagne has 78 blue runs alone, spread across its different sectors, so even if you’re not interested in chasing difficult pistes, there is an enormous amount of skiing to enjoy.
Why I Never Really Get Bored of It
I think I’ve finally worked out why I don’t get tired of skiing here.
It’s not because every run is spectacular, but because the mountain is never quite the same. A run through the forest feels completely different when it’s snowing compared with a bright blue-sky morning. A familiar piste can suddenly look different when the light changes, and a high-altitude run in January doesn’t necessarily feel like the same run in March. And then there are those days when the conditions come together perfectly and you find yourself thinking, “I really do love this.”
That’s probably the best reason I can give you for why I still enjoy skiing in La Plagne. There are plenty of bigger, steeper and more intimidating places you could go, but I don’t necessarily want skiing to be a competition. Instead, I want variety, beautiful scenery, forests and wide-open mountains, and somewhere I can have a challenging day when I feel like it and an easy, relaxed day when I don’t.
Those are the days I never get tired of.
Johanna
