Ski Resort Guide: Les Arcs

Les Arcs  Highlights: 

✈️ Getting to Les Acs:
Les Arcs is accessible from Geneva (218km, 2¾ hrs) or Grenoble (217km, 2½ hrs), offering a journey as scenic as the skiing experience.

Why we love Les Arcs :

Nestled among high-altitude, ski-in-ski-out villages, purpose-built Les Arcs boasts diverse architectural styles, offering something for every taste. Linked with Paradiski, the world’s second-largest ski area, it spans 2000m of vertical descent, ranging from 1200m in Villaroger to 3200m at Aiguille Rouge. With over 400km of pistes, abundant off-piste options, and a renowned snowpark, Les Arcs ensures an alpine adventure for a lifetime.

Les Arcs’ villages, including the unique Les Arcs 1600, feature timber-clad apartment blocks and snow-covered streets, creating a pedestrian-friendly haven. Each center, car-free during peak season, caters to different preferences—quiet 1600, lively 1800, sports-centric 2000, and luxurious 1950.

Ski and Snowboard Guide:

Photo: New Generation Les Arcs

Les Arcs’s top lift, the Aiguille Rouge gondola, stretches to 3,223m and gives skiers access to the Glacier du Varet. This is the tip of the iceberg (literally), though, as you can descend down past Les Arcs to the lowly depths of 1,200m, grabbing a lift up from Villaroger some 2 vertical kilometres below! That means you can ski uninterrupted all of that way, making Les Arcs a very desirable destination for those who like to ski without taking lifts all the time.

Les Arcs’s facilities and lift system are amazing. There’s no other word for it. Their grooming and snowmaking are both top-notch, and conditions are always as good as the weather allows. With 77 fast and efficient lifts servicing 108 pistes of varying difficulty, there’s never a dull moment at one of the Alps’ best ski resorts. All that’s left to do now is see for yourself.

Les Arcs for Beginners:

Photo: Evolution 2

Beginners will find nursery slopes around every town, and will no doubt be given directions by the ski school they choose as to where to meet. Once the lessons are done, however, heading up on all the lifts will give you access to great, sweeping blue runs. Top Tip: Just don’t go up to Aiguille Rouge or Grand Col as you won’t find anything but blacks and reds down from there.

Les Arcs for Intermediates:

Photo: New Generation Les Arcs

Intermediates can sample everything on offer, again, perhaps only finding difficulty at the glacier. But even then, the terrain is manageable, and if you’re looking for off-piste, heading for the Grand Col and exploring the snowy bowls above Les Arcs 2000/1950 will give you lots of chances to find some high-altitude powder.

Les Arcs for Experts:

Photo: Evolution 2

Experts will love the fact that almost every lift gives access to at least a blue and a red, and the higher you go, often a black, too. Les Arcs knows it attracts as many daredevils as it does learners, so it has worked really hard to give a variety off every lift. Something which advanced skiers are always thankful for.

Learn to ski and snowboard in Les Arcs