Choose from:

4 nights with 3 whole days intensive ski tuition from £499pp

7 nights with 5 half day intensive ski tuition from £579pp

The courses are designed for all levels of skier, above beginner, and are adapted to each participant’s level giving personal attention to each individual, targeting weakness’ in existing ski technique whilst also building new ones.

Further Details:

In conjunction with Oxygène Ski School, VIP SKI’s new early season ski courses are available in Val d’Isère and La Plagne:

4 night/3 day courses running from Wednesday – Sunday with tuition from Thursday – Sunday, 09.30 to 15.30, with an hour for lunch.

Price per person from £499 for 4 nights at Bellevarde Lodge, Val d’Isère, 5th December departure or Lucerne Suite, La Plagne, 12th December departure.

Or

A 7 night/5 half day course running from Sunday to Sunday with tuition from Monday – Friday from 09.30 to 12.30.

Price per person from £579 for 7 nights at Bellevarde Lodge, Val d’Isère, 5th December departure or £699 at Lucerne Suite, La Plagne, 12th December departure.

All prices are per person based on 2 sharing a room. Single supplements apply. Flights and transfers not included. Cost also includes evening debrief in-chalet, video feedback session and an end of course report. Maximum class size will be 7 and off-piste equipment will be provided if required (transceiver, probe, shovel, rucksack).

For more information or to make a booking with VIP SKI ring 0844 557 3119 or visit www.vip-chalets.com.

If you haven’t got time to take a full week skiing, then why not consider a La Plagne ski weekend. You can often get nearly as much time skiing a weekend in La Plagne as you do in a week with only 2 or even 1 days holiday from work. The problem often is that ski weekends in La Plagne can cost nearly as much as a weeks skiing. But…… if you are happy to go with budget options a Ski Weekend La Plagne needn’t cost a small fortune.

We’ve listed a good options for a La Plagne ski weekend below.

Ski Weekend La Plagne

UCPA – on the piste in La Plagne 1800. Better comfort than most UCPA’s, rooms for 4 all ensuite. On the piste, literally. Prices start from 200euros for a few nights / days skiing. UCPA ski weekend La Plagne deals include full board, ski hire and La Plagne lift pass. Bargain! You are probably better off booking through Action Outdoors, the UK reseller. FOr some reason they don’t always list the weekends on their website but a phone call to them will find out what they have available.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXO7myRl_-A

Video © Arthur Bullard

We stayed at the UCPA in La Plagne on a 4 day weekend ski trip. All UCPA skiing or snowboard holidays include lift passes for the area, ski or board hire and all meals. For all this the cost was only £250. With week long trips you can also choose to have group UCPA ski or snowboard lessons. Travel is not included but there are plenty of reasonable independent ways to travel to the Franch Alps.

When you check in at the La Plagne UCPA, manned by the extremely lovely Audrey whilst we were there, you will be handed your lift pass, and your voucher to pick up your ski’s or snowboard from the onsite hire shop. You will need to have 100 euros in cash on you as a deposit.

The La Plagne UCPA is situated right on the piste in La Plagne Centre, with several lift options. You can walk about 100metres to the Funiplagne that goes up to La Grande Rochette or ski down to Melezes chairlift or beyond that to La Plagne 1800. Either way you can get to a number of different ski areas in La Plagne very quickly.

The UCPA itself sleeps 240 people with all it’s rooms ensuite and sleeping either 2 or 4 people. Typically you will be allocated a 4 bed room with either friends or others if you’re travelling on your own or in a group less than 4. However if you’re travelling with a partner, or you’d like a 2 bed room, just ask at the point of booking and you can upgrade for 50 euros.

We stayed in one of the 4 bed rooms and it was spacious with everything you’ll need, 2 wardrobes, a large chest of drawers and each bed had a bedside table and lamp. There was also a large ensuite bathroom. We were located on the piste side of the UCPA, which offered great views up the mountain but also meant that the piste bashers could be heard at night, so we’d recommend ear plugs if you’re a light sleeper. Saying that any convenient piste side hotel / chalet is going to be the same anyway.

All holidays at the UCPA are fully inclusive and, unlike other catered ski holidays, include lunch too. The day starts off in the morning with a cold breakfast, with a range of cereals, yoghurts, fruits, bread and juices. Also an interesting one to watch is that tea and coffee is taken in a cereal bowl. Strange, but I got to love my cup of tea in a cereal bowl every morning! Lunch can either be taken as a packed lunch (requested the night before) or a hot meal back at the UCPA. Evening meals are 3 course buffet style and offer a range of food, including traditional French meals with the odd themed night thrown in (Caribbean when we were there.) All the food on our stay was plentiful and nutritional. Puddings are provided, but for a lighter option try the ice cream and sorbet available every night, which was of really great quality. After all meals you are responsible for returning your plates and cutlery and ensuring your table is clean. It takes only a couple of minutes and is no hassle at all.

After dinner you can take advantage of the large piste side bar where the drinks are very reasonable. Drinks are purchased by a token system, each token pack costs 22.50 euros and will buy you a good few beers behind the bar. We worked out that a bottle of wine cost around 9 euros, which is very good value for a ski resort. The bar is lively, but doesn’t tend to have live music. For that you can head along the fantastic underground tunnel to the Igloo Bar, which has live music every night and a great atmosphere.

All in all we loved the weekend at the UCPA, the facilities themselves were better than some hotels we’ve stayed in and the value for money is truly outstanding. It’s also a great option if you’re travelling solo and want to ski or board with others. La Plagne ski area is great for all levels of skier or boarder, more can be found about the La Plagne area here.

An all inclusive 4 day weekend at the La Plagne UCPA costs around 235 euros or a weeks holiday starts from 535 euros (490 euros without lessons). Unfortunately all 4 day weekend breaks at La Plagne UCPA are sold out for this ski season (2010), a 2 day weekend can still be booked for only 170 euros.  Alernatively 4 day weekend breaks are still available at various other UCPA’s and start from 220 euros. You can find out more and book online at the UCPA website.

UCPA centres can be found in the following ski resorts (note they are all different, and have a different standard of accommodation):

UCPA Argentière
UCPA Chamonix
UCPA Contamines
UCPA Flaine les Lindars
UCPA La Plagne – Le France  (the one we stayed in)
UCPA La Plagne 1800
UCPA Les Arcs 1600
UCPA Les 2 Alpes
UCPA Saint Sorlin
UCPA Saint Lary
UCPA Serre Chevalier
UCPA Tignes
UCPA Val Cenis
UCPA Val d’Isere
UCPA Valloire
UCPA Val Thorens
UCPA Vars

After a few (literally) warm-up runs we decided to take the Verdons Nord chair lift over to the Champagny ski area. We hadn’t realised quite how large the ski area was on this side of the mountain and took a few minutes   to take in the amazing view from the top of La Grande Rochette. The snow was fantastic and we took the Kamikaze red run down to the bottom of the Verdons Sud chairlift. From there we were going to go back up and come down a blue the other side but the queue was pretty long so we decided to keep going towards Champagny itself. At the top of the Les Bois red run leading down into Champagny was a sign saying that the run was for ‘Very good skiers only’. This put a slight element of doubt in our heads as to what we were about to experience but in actual fact the run was no harder than any other run we’d been on, just a bit narrow. Although having said that I’m sure if the snow conditions were poorer it might not have been the same story!

Champagny looked like a  lovely little village and being just a quick bubble ride up to the main ski area would be an ideal option for those looking to stay in a more traditional alpine village. From the top of the bubble we took another chairlift and spent the next hour practicing our off-piste mogul technique on a great spot of powder between the two blue runs coming down from the Borselierss chairlift. After tiring ourselves we headed to the restaurant at the bottom of the lift for a much needed lunch. Because of the glorious conditions the sun terrace was packed and we were slightly concerned that we’d be spending the rest of our final day in a queue for a horribly overpriced baguette but were pleasantly surprised at both the speed of service and the food.

After lunch we endured three very cold chair lift rides to take us back to the top of the Rocher de Mio. Our plan had been to then take the Bellecote bubble up to the glacier but with no feeling left in our fingers and toes we decided that we just needed to get moving again! We took the glorious Les Inversens red run down to the bottom of the Inversens chair lift. From there we spotted an interesting looking black run and after a trip up the chair and another run down the red to get full feeling back in our extremities we decided to try the black, Les Crozats. It wasn’t the hardest black run we’ve ever skied but it was narrow and the main mogul field was pretty carved up with powder on one side and sheet ice on the other. Needless to say it was challenging and we all felt we’d had a good work out by the end. Five minutes later we’d have given anything to be back on that black run when we were poling along the incredibly flat Route des Bauches blue run towards Montchavin. There had been a warning sign at the start of the run telling us that it was ‘flat for 1km’ but for some reason we hadn’t believed it and had carried on regardless, how sorry we were!!

We then took the long trek back across to La Plagne Centre, encountering by far the biggest queue of the day at the Colosses chair lift. From the top of there we skied our final run back down to the UCPA wishing that we didn’t have to go home…

And that’s us signing off from the #TwiSkiTrip to La Plagne. Keep an eye on our blog and twitter feed for more useful ski information.

The Ski-C girls

Photo’s © Arthur Bullard

Once we had finally managed to get out of the UCPA we discovered fantastic conditions on and off piste. Due to the amount of snow overnight many runs were left unpisted so great for enjoying the powder. We started off heading down to the 1800 lift on our way towards La Roche. From the top of 1800 we took the Corne Gidoulle blue which swept through the forest down to La Roche, from there we took the La Roche chairlift up and then the Emille Ailais red run back down to La Roche again. This run was unpisted and was an absolutely fantastic run down, so much so we got back on the La Roche chairlift and did it again!! This red is fantastic for improvers as some parts were steep and challenging, excellent progression onto blacks.

We then decided (probably due to our hangovers) that we should head down towards Plagne Montalbert to have an earliesh lunch. After our third trip up La Roche chairlift (which by the way is a 6 seater speedy lift), we headed down the Corne Guidoulle blue and onto the Adrets chairlifts, from there we skied down the Fornelet red into Plagne Montalbert.

The runs into Plagne Montalbert were really lovely, and empty too. A great spot for getting away from the crowds it seems. It’s a lovely little resort at 1250 with good connections up to La Plagne. It’s very traditional and has several restaurants and bars, ski school and a good nursery ski area. We had a fantastic pizza a piste side restaurant, it was very reasonable at 9-12euros each. After lunch we went up the Montalbert then Fornelet chairs and then needing some warming up we skied down the Pralloud long unpisted winding blue through the woods with some great powder.

Later in the afternoon, with the skies clearing to leave a lovely clear sky, we headed up the Becoin chairlift to do the unpisted Sardane red run, having had a great time skiing down the powdery moguls, we did it once more for good measure and then headed up the Z button and then the Verdons Nord, which was quite a slow, though sheltered chairlift. From here we went down the Les Verdons blue run which again was unpisted and absolutely fantastic powder all the way down. It being pretty chilly and 4.30 we decided to call it quits and head in for a hot chocolate in La Maison bar, and what fantastic hot chocolates they do, I’d definitely recommend a visit.

Photo’s © Arthur Bullard

So what is a TwiSkiTtrip?

A Twitrip is a trip that is driven by twitter followers suggestions and recommendations. We’ve just put our own ski slant on the concept. Our TwiSkiTrip will be asking our readers and followers for recommendations such as the best ski runs, the best mountain restaurants, other things to do in resort etc. We’ll be taking up some of these recommendations and tweeting our thoughts. In addition we will be doing some general blogging and tweeting whilst in the area. We went on the first ever TwiSkiTrip to the Three Valleys in December 2009 which proved popular with our followers.

How can you get involved?

Please please please help us out by sending us information on the best ski runs, lifts, mountain restaurants and other things to do in the La Plagne area. We’ll be sending out requests on a regular basis so just follow us on Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/skiconcierge) and help us out.

Some Tweet Tips for the #TwiSkiTrip:

• Please start any tweets directed to me @skiconcierge. I’ll retweet as many as I can.
• Don’t forget we’ll be in La Plagne, so tips only for that area please.
• Please tag your tips with #TwiSkiTrip.
• Lastly, thanks to everyone that helps us out on our TwiSkiTrip!

1. Of all the visitors to La Plagne 76% are French. Of the foreigners British come highest with nearly 13% of visitors coming from Britain, closely followed by the Belgians and Dutch.

2. 50% of holidayers to La Plagne come with their families.

3. 15% of all visitors to La Plagne are snowboarders.

4.  Only 5% of visitors to La Plagne are beginners.

5. 36% of all visitors are returning to La Plagne.

6. 13% of all visitors regularly ski in La Plagne.

7. Men make up the vast proportion of La Plagne visitors with 65% (get on over single gals!)

8.  33% of all visitors to La Plagne are aged between 35 and 44 years old. A quarter older than in other surrounding resorts.

9. 436,517 holidays were taken in La Plagne in total in the 2008 / 2009 ski season.

10. La Plagne has the only official bobsleigh run in the whole of France 

The last interesting fact is that no doubt you’ll have a great holiday in La Plagne should you win our great competition at http://www.ski-concierge.com/competitions.

Ski-concierge.com are offering 1 lucky winner and their friends or family (4 people in total) flights from London Oxford Airport to Geneva, a weeks stay in Belle Plagne and four lift passes for the La Plagne ski area. Enter here, or read on for more information.

Situated in the Paradiski ski area, La Plagne has a wide variety of runs for everyone to enjoy and is relatively uncrowded compared to some of the other popular French ski resorts. The La Plagne area is fantastic for all levels of skier and will suit a family or group of friends equally well.

Résidence Pierre & Vacances Belle Plagne le Quartz is a self catering apartment in Belle Plagne, provided by PV Holidays, it is on the piste and within 150m of the nearest ski lift. It has recently been refurbished and will provide a comfortable stay for your weeks skiing. Quintessentially Savoyard with a welcoming nature, the aptly named village of Belle Plagne blends local materials such as timber and slates to bring you comfort, calm and well-being at the foot of the pistes.

To get you there we have teamed up with Fly Baboo to offer 4 return flights on their newly launched ski route, London Oxford to Geneva. Oxford is located in central England and is easily accessible from many areas in the UK. Plus, as it’s a small airport, you’ll find that you sail through check in with no stress at all!

To have a chance at winning this great prize just visit our competitions page – http://www.ski-concierge.com/competitions

Best known as an intermediate destination, La Plagne ski resort and neighbouring Les Arcs actually boasts more skiable terrain than the entire Epace Killy. You cannot actually ski from La Plagne ski resort to Les Arcs, and therefore you are most likely to spend your days in one resort or the other. Similarly to Les Arcs there is plenty of high altitude snow sure skiing in La Plagne as well as plenty of tree runs, guaranteeing skiing in bad weather and poor light.

La Plagne ski resort is certainly an intermediates playground with 60% blue runs and 22% reds in La Plagne itself and if you are an intermediate you probably can’t find a better place to improve your skiing. However it shouldn’t be overlooked by experts as La Plagne has an abundance of powder and the unpisted terrain means that this can be taken full advantage of. There are plenty of off piste opportunities, try staying right at the top of the glacier runs, walk for about 5 minutes and follow the ridge down past the Pointe de Friolin where you’ll find powder and 2,000m of verticle to play in.

There is plenty of accommodation in La Plagne ski resort, but the resort is split into a number of areas:-

Plagne Centre – the main area with shops and apres ski, shown right, La Grande Rochette, Aime La Plagne, where the ski train stops, Plagne Villages, Plagne Bellecote, Beille Plagne, Champagny and Montchavin. Got all that?!

Champagny and Montchavin are the most outerlying villages. Champagny is often overlooked. Facing Courchevel across the valley it has some great runs and is a charming village with a notable ice climbing centre. Montchavin has been given a new lease of life as the gateway into Les Arcs and is a good option for affordable accommodation.

We’d recommend staying in Plagne Centre or Plagne Soleil (part of Plagne Villages) which has a range of prettier more up to date chalets or in Champagny if you don’t mind being a bit further from the action.

A bus system does run through all the La Plagne villages, so you can get around if you go for one of the more outerlying villages. 

What can be said about La Plagne ski resort is that for the majority of areas it hasn’t got that much going for it aesthetically, however there is a large amount of ski in / ski out accommodation, so for those looking for the easy life, then La Plagne ski resort is really a good option.

For apres ski activities in La Plagne you can have a go at the Olympic Bobsleigh where you get plunged down in a 4 man bob, with a pilot of course! Speeds reach 100 km/h. Or go and have a go at the Ice Climbing in Champagny, it’s pretty impressive to look at even if you don’t fancy it.

La Plagne is not a mega big resort for evening entertainment, if you’re looking for that head to Val d’Isere instead. However there are plenty of bars and restaurants to keep you entertained all week.

The Ski C resort review in brief for La Plagne: All in all a good resort, with a massive ski area using the Vanoise Express. Perfect for intermediates and powder hounds.

For more information on La Plagne ski resort visit http://www.la-plagne.com/en/Resorts-En.phtml