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

Action Outdoors was set up in 2004 by Mark Gillis and David Robertson and was borne out of a frustration of searching for a reasonably priced way to go skiing, “For many years we spent holidays, with a big group of mates, squeezed into a tiny French Ski apartment. The final straw was probably in 2002, when we had 14 of us in a 8 person apartment. We then discovered how the French went skiing – UCPA – and have never looked back.”

And we’ve got to agree with them! Action Outdoors are the official UK partner of the UCPA, a national union set up by the French government to encourage more young people to take holidays (we can’t imagine why they need any encouragement!). They offer a range of package options from 4 day short breaks to week long trips with full ski or snowboard instruction, and all of their packages are offered on an all-inclusive basis, which includes accommodation, ALL meals, kit AND a lift pass.

We sampled the delights of a holiday with Action Outdoors for the first time last year and were so impressed that we’ve already booked our first trip of 2010 with them. They offer a fantastic group booking service that allows each member of a group to pay separately, saving lots of chasing and possible arguments! We stayed at the Tignes UCPA and whilst it certainly wasn’t palatial it was clean and comfortable and the meals (eat as much as you like, buffet style) were better than most chalet meals we’ve experienced, plus you even get to make your own packed lunch to take out with you. See our previous blog on May Bank Holiday skiing.

Action Outdoors also offers several transport options for getting to the Alps. If you fancy a bit of a road trip they have their own coaches that depart from London Victoria every Friday night during the winter season and drop you at your door in resort. Alternatively for some of their holidays you have the option of booking flights and/or airport transfers, or of course you can make your own way there instead.

So if you want a no-hassle bargain break then look no further than Action Outdoors, if you opt for a quickie in La Plagne at the end of January we might well see you there!

I know it sounds crazy but yes we really did go skiing in May! Liz is a seasoned May skier but the rest of us really were expecting 3 days in the bar looking at the bare muddy slopes and listening the the drip of snowmelt ringing in our ears!! Oh how wrong we were! We arrived in Bourg St Maurice (after the most blissfully easy journey by train) and were met by our grinning taxi driver from Arthur taxis (http://www.aarthur.fr/) and were then sped (with the obligatory green faces of an up the mountain taxi ride!) up to resort… where we were met with the most perfect conditions: sunshine and fresh snow! We checked into the UCPA (notes below), which we’d booked through Action Outdoors Holidays,  before heading to the nearest bar and having a few beers whilst congratulating ourselves on our decision to risk May skiing!

So, the UCPA… we had been warned, at length, not to expect luxury and sure enough it certainly wasn’t the most luxurious place (I can’t really call it a hotel!) i’ve ever stayed in but it’s lack of luxury was certainly made up for in lots of other ways. The atmosphere was fantastic and with the 7 of us squeezed into 2 rooms of 4 bunks and sharing one bathroom we felt like we were back on a school trip to Wales! The food was excellent (much better than food we’ve experienced in recent chalet trips!) with an eat as much as you like buffet style, although be warned you do have to clear your plates and wipe the table at the end (another similarity with the Wales school trips!). The entertainment was, well interesting! We were the only English people in the hotel (a positive for me!) and the French enjoyed laughing at our dancing skills and karaoke prowess!

So, moving on to the skiing, which i’ll sum up in 3 words – superb, deserted slopes! Yes ok we did have to deal with a bit of slush on the lower slopes at the end of the day, and Le Face was particularly challenging for the newbies, but the constant sunshine, blue skies and lack of anyone else on the slopes more than made up for it. We weren’t met with a single queue for a liftpass or a beer, total bliss! And to top it all we partied (almost to the point of missing the last lift back to tignes) in the sunshine at the Folie Deuce end of season party.

The only downside of the whole weekend was knowing that we’d have to wait a whole year until we could do it again. Tignes UCPA: 7/10 May Bank holiday skiing: 10/10!!