The coach ride from airport to resort can often make the head spin. Perhaps it’s just the excitement of knowing where we’re headed, but being sat on the large bus as it winds it way up the narrow roads always leaves me on the edge of my seat – it’s a part of the journey with all the trepidation of ascending a rollercoaster coupled with the overwhelming hope that there’s no big drop at the top (although to be fair I’ve never really been one for theme parks either). Still, the nerves are always worth it when the destination is the fun-filled resort of La Plagne.
La Plagne
We’ve done a couple of these packages holidays before, and we had a fantastically good time. The chalet was impressive, the food was delicious and the skiing was absolutely top-notch. We were very much looking forward to returning for 2021, but funnily enough most travel plans were called off that season (I forget why).
The next time we would finally get away to the mountains would be in April 2022, on a trip to Alpe de Huez to experience the Tomorrowland music festival. This was certainly an impressive experience – the food and atmosphere alone made the whole trip worthwhile – but the one thing that was sadly lacking was decent snow. It was, of course, later in the season and so we were perhaps foolish to hope that our first post-lockdown trip would be fresh powder and glorious conditions every day. Nonetheless, it always leaves one feeling disheartened to spend so much time and money only to arrive at a resort filled with scrubby patches of brown grass and grey slush.
Hence why, on seeing the lack of snow as we made our way up to La Plagne, our usual bus nerves were tinged with an extra sense of foreboding. As we rose further up the mountainside, the patches of snow remained few and far between, and we started to worry there might be little skiing that week.
However it turns out we needn’t have worried. When we finally did come upon the village of Plagne 1800 (above) the slopes were white, and the snow clouds were building towards a big overnight dump. Upon our arrival at our SkiBeat Chalet Alisier (below) we were swiftly introduced to our hosts for the week Sasha and Emily, who showed us to our rooms to let us get settled before running us through the dinner schedule over a cup of tea.
At this point I should mention the chalet was one of the best we’ve stayed in. Complete with outdoor jacuzzi and sauna, as well as being situated right above our rental shop, Ski Beat really played a blinder with this one! Speaking of the rentals, these were smooth and mostly painless (PSA: always make sure your boots fit comfortably folks, or you’ll be making a return rental trip the following day). Regardless, the staff were extremely friendly and seemed to have a great sense of humour (although as a non-French speaker most of the jokes went over my head).
For two days the clouds were pouring down snow as far as the eye could see. Which wasn’t very far, due to such a heavy fall. Due to the poor visibility, we spent much of the first 48 hours relaxing in the jacuzzi, or playing cards in our favourite wintery watering hole, “Le Mine” (nice place with a fun theme, good beer, decent live music in the evenings and an all-round great atmosphere). It’s always great to have a comfy base when the skiing isn’t available, and the combination of a relaxing jacuzzi and a lively pub within 5 minutes walking distance of each other is pretty perfect in any circumstance. Furthermore, the promise of perfect ski conditions on the horizon will do wonders for morale.
Tuesday 28th March 2023 was certainly a day for perfect conditions in La Plagne. One of those days when you set the alarm a half-hour early to get your breakfast down and out the door before the lifts are moving. After the overwhelming blizzard and overly-tight boots had kept us off the slopes for the first few days, come Tuesday morning we were on our skis and stood by the chairs at 7:59, counting down the seconds until everything opened.
Twenty minutes and three lifts later, we were on top of the world. The powder was fresh, the sky was cloudless and the pistes were empty. That morning brought some of the best skiing in many years, and despite the slopes getting steadily busier over the course of the day our spirits remained high until long after the sun went down. After the skis were off we headed down to La Plagne’s Bobsleigh track to experience a rush unlike any other, whizzing down a chute of ice in a big bullet-wagon travelling at 100mph. Finally, Sasha and Emily provided a delicious dinner, and we topped off the day with a big night out at Le Mine and a midnight dip in the jacuzzi. We all have our best ever days on the mountains and that Tuesday was one of my most memorable ever on the slopes.
Unfortunately, as we were on the cusp of Spring, the perfect ski conditions wouldn’t last long. Tuesday’s cloudless skies were replaced by rain clouds on Wednesday, and the snow got sticky and grey. We would still hit the slopes, but with several hours spent in various mountainside restaurants we knew the best of the skiing was behind us. However, despite the wet weather our spirits were not dampened. SkiBeat would still provide access to more pleasant activities, such as ache-blasting massages courtesy of Massage Me. We’ve made use of these folk’s services before, and after a day of travel plus a couple of days on the slopes their massages are the perfect thing!
Wednesday would also be a well-earned day off for the SkiBeat staff in our chalet, so without the expert skills of Sasha and Emily to provide dinner for a night, we instead made use of the new raclette delivery service provided in La Plagne. This was a truly excellent dining experience, with a large crate filled to the brim with cheese (and toaster), bread, deli meats and leafy greens being dropped at our chalet door in the early evening. After devouring as much as we could, the heating equipment was packed away back in the crate and left for collection the following morning. Simple and delicious!
For the last few days of the trip, the weather did not improve much, but this was okay. Whilst it’s always nice to get as much skiing in as possible, sometimes fate has us find other fun things to do. Besides which, the skiing enjoyed on Tuesday was so spectacular as to make the entire trip worthwhile. As the week came to a close, the snow clouds once again closed in, and on the early morning of our departure the mountains were once again carpeted in a thick layer of white powder. We were guided back on the buses that had ferried us here a week ago, and steadily drifted back to sleep as La Plagne began to reset, readying itself for next week’s guests. Regardless of whether the snow lingered or swiftly melted, we left confident the new arrivals would be in for a pleasant getaway – SkiBeat would guarantee it!
More Information
Ski Beat has catered chalets in seven of France’s highest altitude ski resorts with prices from £674pp for a week’s catered stay, including flights and transfers, and £773pp for a week’s stay at Chalet Alisier in Plagne 1800. The price includes chalet hosts to prepare cooked breakfast, afternoon tea with home made cakes, three course evening meals with wine, return flights from Manchester or Gatwick and transfers. www.skibeat.co.uk, 01273 855100.
Pic top credit Oliver Allemand