Special envoy to La Plagne
The cliff is dizzying, the valley immense.
Two kilometers as the crow flies and more than 400 meters of altitude difference to overcome.
With the creation of a single ski lift, how did three resorts in the Northern Alps manage to double the surface area of their ski area, without felling a fir tree?
Or almost.
This story took place twenty years ago, an exemplary combination of a human and technological adventure.
For a long time facing each other, Les Arcs and La Plagne decided one day to be side by side.
It all started in the 1990s. Jean-Pierre Sonois, president of the Compagnie des Alpes, which had become the owner of the two resorts, decided to study the possibility of a merger.
To do this, you have to cross the valley, the big mountain gap, with only fir trees and the void as your companions.
It was this challenge that Pierre Gonthier, a fine connoisseur of development in high altitudes, took on.
The largest cable car in the world
How to cross the valley?
How can we accompany a potential volume of 7,000 skiers every evening when the slopes close?
Not to mention convincing seven municipalities involved, some of whom displayed militant hostility.
The idea of a road shuttle was quickly abandoned.
That of a gondola plunging into the hollow of the valley over a 400 meter drop and going up 400 meters on the other side, too.
“
This would have required a forest of pylons, an ecological disaster at a time when the need to protect our mountains was felt
,” recalls Pierre Gonthier, today president of the La Plagne tourist office.
The La Plagne Glaciers gondolas.
OTGP
A call for tenders was therefore launched.
The Poma company responded by offering to cross the valley using two large capacity cable car cabins, each completely autonomous, moving on its own cable, horizontally.
“
On a normal cable car, activating the ascending cabin triggers the descending one.
What was new at Poma was being able to use one or two cabins of your choice, in the direction you wanted, depending on the number of passengers to transport.
A rather attractive flexibility of use in terms of energy saving
,” insists Pierre Gonthier.
Thus was born the Vanoise Express, 2 kilometers long, without pylons.
The cables, 80 kg per linear meter, were transported by road in a single incredible convoy.
“
Certain bridges had to be avoided because they would have given way under the weight of the load when crossing
,” continues Pierre Gonthier.
Two departure and arrival stations, the work of the architect Bernard Taillefer, accommodated the lift of the cable underground, equivalent to the height of a three-story building.
When it entered service for the 2004 season (it was inaugurated on December 20, 2003), the cable car, each two-story cabin of which can accommodate 200 people, was the largest in the world and undoubtedly one of the fastest: four minutes to go from one peak to another!
Totem of the domain, the cable car becomes the place of all exploits.
Customized for a time by the fashion designer Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, the cabins welcome the Grenoble chef Stéphane Froidevaux for a very lively gourmet dinner, an orchestra for an above-ground concert and tightrope walkers to connect one cabin to the other... “If
we bring the "Mountains were one thing, bringing people together was another
," says the president of the La Plagne tourist office.
Harmonizing the tracks and being part of the common path of the same development was not an easy task in a territory marked by individuality.
“The Savoyards are not Mediterraneans, used to falling into each other’s arms
,” laughs an observer.
From Arcs to Peisey-Vallandry
Twenty years later, the Paradiski ski area has risen to third place among the largest in the world, after that of 3 Vallées and Les Portes du Soleil, with 260 slopes spread over 425 km, of which more than 70% stretch above 2,000 meters altitude.
However, the two sides of the valley cultivate their differences, driven by resorts that have little in common.
The very design of Les Arcs follows an architecture (from Charlotte Perriand to Pierre & Vacances, etc.) and an urban planning solely serving skiing.
Arc 1600, Arc 1800, Arc 1950 and Arc 2000 form a fairly homogeneous whole, even if the last level looks like a movie set.
Wide slopes with a view of Mont-Blanc and its Italian face, you ski among the fir trees in its lowest part.
Above 2000 meters, steep cliffs give character to the landscape and slope to the slopes.
The village of Peisey-Vallandry Célia LÉCURU
It is at this station that one of the longest descents in Europe is located: 7 km, or around forty minutes without taking a ski lift.
We start from the Aiguille Rouge (3,226 m), the highest point facing the Mont-Blanc massif, which dominates the Tarentaise and the Vanoise.
We emerge from the summit via a single track, black, as its name does not indicate, "the Aiguille-rouge", which leads via a fairly steep wall to a sort of landing.
From there we descend via a string of red or blue slopes to Villaroger, a small hamlet at 1,200 meters.
That’s a difference in altitude of 2,000 meters.
To reach the Vanoise Express station and switch to the La Plagne area, you must take the Peisey-Vallandry sector.
This small resort stuck between two giants, our favorite, stands out by cultivating real authenticity through its villages, Landry, at the bottom of the valley (where the TGV stops), Peisey, Nancroix and two river fronts. snow, Plan-Peisey and Vallandry.
A world of farms, chalets, churches and baroque chapels.
You can slide through the fir trees on the Forêt, Plan-Bois or Barmont slopes, the most beautiful, a real refuge in case of bad weather.
At the top of Vallandry, a new arrival station was inaugurated last season.
In a very well-designed museography, a space is devoted to local fauna.
It is completed by a rest room, where vending machines offer drinks, snacks with Opinel knives, mountain sausages and Savoie tomes to be enjoyed on a large panoramic terrace.
Certainly, Peisey-Vallandry offers many surprises.
A gem, whose charm and potential have not escaped Club Med, which opened a 4-trident there.
La Plagne invents Live 3000
At the exit of the Vanoise Express, the Mont-Blanc blue slope, in the Montchavin-Les Coches sector, gives access to the La Plagne area,
“in which every skier can feel like a champion”
, summarizes Maxime Denis, one of the directors. of the ESF.
A set of wide and very open slopes with more or less steep slopes, which allow a very good skier to have fun and an intermediate skier to access the highest peaks, without the fear of never being able to come down. .
New this season: Live 3000, a plateau with a breathtaking view, considered the roof of La Plagne (3080 meters).
To get there, take the Glaciers gondola.
Commissioned last December, ultra-fast and modern.
With the descent of La Combe, we escape from this summit via a red slope.
The beginning appears as a curved path, then widens, before ending in an XXL slope.
The diversity of the environment in this area, fir trees or lunar landscape, particularly under the Inversens chairlift, in the Mio rock sector, makes skiing in La Plagne attractive and very endearing.
The resort remains the leader of this three-way marriage, celebrated twenty years ago, to give birth to a little skiers' paradise.
Nicolas Provendie: “Few estates can boast of such variety”
Nicolas Provendie, General Director of the La Plagne Development Company.
SAP
Managing Director of the La Plagne Development Company (SAP) since 2018, this forty-year-old,
who has worked in Méribel
and Tignes, combines ecological clothing and economic development in the daily life of the busiest resort in the world.
LE FIGARO. - What can you find in Paradiski that you can't find elsewhere?
NICOLAS PROVENDIE. -
The diversity of landscapes and skiing.
Both village, medium and high mountain atmospheres, skiing in the trees or on the peaks... Few areas can boast of such variety to offer their skiers.
There are approximately 750,000 of them with us each season, which represents nearly 5 million skier days sold.
By creating Paradiski, didn't you create a ski factory?
We connected two large areas to increase the offer, which did not necessarily have the effect of increasing the number of skiers.
The flows remain very balanced, there are as many people going from Les Arcs to La Plagne as the reverse.
Also read: Tignes, at the height of eternal youth
You should know that each station keeps its package.
When you come to La Plagne, you can take a package for La Plagne only.
The same goes for Les Arcs-Peisey-Vallandry.
But you can also buy a Paradiski pass to ski in both areas.
What 35% of skiers do.
How is Paradiski virtuous?
Since the creation of the domain in December 2003, we have made clear choices.
By opting for the Vanoise Express route, we have chosen a means of transport that emits little CO2.
Read alsoIn the midst of change, La Plagne is reinventing winter sports
For twenty years, we have been purchasing green-labelled electricity, with an additional cost that demonstrates our commitment.
All grooming equipment runs on Paradiski with HVO, a certified sustainable fuel, produced from hydrogenated vegetable oil, which limits our carbon emissions.
Finally, each resort has an environmental observatory, where the impact of the ski area is measured.
We are very in love with our domain!
TRAVELOGUE
GO
By TGV, aim for: Aime-la-Plagne for La Plagne, Landry for Peisey-Vallandry (station shuttles to get to the heart of the stations), and Bourg-Saint-Maurice for Les Arcs, with connection to the funicular (7 min to at Arc 1600).
SLEEP
In Arc 1600,
La Cachette, Friendly Hotel
is a 4-star recently renovated and installed in remarkable 20th century architecture by Charlotte Perriand.
Beautiful spa, family rooms, very cozy lounge and ski-in/ski-out.
From €150 per night in a double room.
Arc 1600 commercial gallery
. Tel.
: 04
79
07
70
50
;
lacachette-lesarcs.com
In Peisey-Vallandry,
Club Med Peisey-Vallandry
4 tridents, 319 rooms.
All the inimitable know-how of the famous brand, particularly suitable for families.
A week in high season for a family (2 adults and 2 children aged 3 and 6) from €7,296 and outside school holidays for 2 adults from €4,180.
Such.
: 04
79
04
07
50
;
clubmed.fr
.
In La Plagne,
the Hotel Carlina
, a 5-star hotel located in Belle-Plagne, on the edge of the slope of the same name.
Featuring 45 rooms, 5 apartments and 3 private chalets.
Rates from €273 for a double room with breakfast.
Such.
: 04
65
84
45
84
;
etincelles.com
PACKAGES
For the entire Paradiski area: 6 days: €369 adult (13 to 64 years old);
€296 child (5 to 12 years old);
1 day: €70 adult;
€56 child.
CLOSURE OF THE DOMAIN
April 20, 2024.
PARADISKI YUGE APP
Preparation of the stay, geolocation on the ski area, crowds on the slopes, timetables, weather information etc.
You can buy your package there and download it.
Paradiski.com