We are driving to Italy in 3 weeks time and was thinking of stopping at La Plagne on the way past, as the Colorado Bike park looks like it will provide a gentle intro for my son, who hasn't ridden in the Alps before. Plus we are both very rusty, having not ridden much downhill this year.
I was wondering where the best place to camp in the campervan would be.
Also previous posts on La Plagne say that it is a bit hit and miss and not very well joined up. So looking for some advice on the best area to ride.
Mainly looking for easy to follow bike park type stuff rather than having to navigate our ourselves.
Or would we be better off basing ourselves in Bourg and riding Les Arcs?
Thanks in advance.
Having just returned from Bourg and ridden Les Arcs/La Thuile/Pila/Meribel in that week, I would be looking at Meribel which is further down the N90, turning off at Moutiers. I say this as although Les Arcs has some fantastic singletrack, it has been a little under funded and under worked. It could have loads more trails if the community would spend a little more investing in it.
Meribel on the other hand has a huge area with a mass of bike park trails and also some fantastic "enduro"/footpath trails if you want to explorer further afield.
It was my first time in Meribel and although we had it ear marked for a day, we returned for a 2nd day as it was so good! Lots of blue and green trails for your son to try, whereas Les Arcs has maybe 2 blue trails that I can think of.
If you do go, be aware that the E trails, or "Enduro" can be very hit and miss! Some black enduro trails that we did were just bloody fireroads with a load of uphill and then down fireroad. Waste of time. However, the Le Crete trail at the top of Olympic lift (not open, you have to cycle/hike a bike to it) is absolute mint (for the more experienced). Dont be afraid to finish at Les Alures as there is a regular 15 min bus. Brides-les-Bains however is every 2hrs. Les Alures descent was just as good.
The village is lovely and there are plenty of restaurants. There are also kids playgrounds at the bottom of the main chairlifts in Meribel.
It appears that there is only 1 public campsite:
https://www.meribel-unplugged.co.uk/resort-information/camping-meribel
Thanks. But Meribel is a bit off track for us. But really useful to know for another trip.
I last rode Les Arcs about 10 years ago and looking at the VTT map it doesn’t seem to have changed/improved. Hence why we are looking at La Plagne.
I’m aware there is plenty of great singletrack at Les Arcs that is not marked/signed, as we had a guide bzck them and it was great. But looking for something easier to follow/ride for a day or two.
I haven't been to La Plagne in a couple of years, but over the years I've tried it a few times coming over from Les Arcs and been disappointed. Lifts seem to be designed to only serve individual resorts with no easy way of linking them together without some big pedals - possibly why they were pushing themselves as an ebike resort? For added entertainment most lifts are only open on alternate days, and in past years you couldn't find out what days until you got there. Also had the issue a couple of times that trails in the resort map (which you need to buy) don't actually exist and seem to be a figment of someone's imagination. I'm sure there's some great riding there, but good luck finding it.
Have you thought about Tignes OP? Greens there are pretty smooth from memory, as are the blues.
The VTT map online for La Plagne has details of which lifts are open on which days and also times. So seems pretty well organised.
However, reality may be different.
The website is very good too. With details of all the trails. However as has been pointed out the 3 areas dont seem to be linked up without a lot of climbing. So we may just stick to the bike parkZ
Was planning on riding Tignes the day after. Before heading to Italy.
The Colorado bike park area of La Plagne is pretty cool for that kind of riding. It's all just laps off the one lift, so no issues with linking up, etc. You want to be based up in that part of the resort though. There's a huge car park just below the resort where you could park up the van for a brief stop-over. Not sure if there's anything "official" up there.
That said, the Les Arcs bikepark / marked trails have changed almost completely in the last 10 years. I don't think there's a single marked run that isn't either entirely new or entirely re-cut in that time. The Cachette DH probably comes closest although it's been extensively re-worked too. For what you want to do, I'd camp in the campsite down in Bourg, take the funi up and ride Legend, Marsupilami, Woodstock, etc.
Incidentally, La Plagne is better linked-up than it used to be, with all lifts open every day now. Still irritating to get around though. I personally think the singletrack is better than Les Arcs, especially for mid-level riders. Most of the good stuff at Les Arcs is steep/tech.
Thanks. But Meribel is a bit off track for us. But really useful to know for another trip.
I last rode Les Arcs about 10 years ago and looking at the VTT map it doesn’t seem to have changed/improved. Hence why we are looking at La Plagne.
I rode at Les Arcs last year for the first time - expected a lot from a storied Alpine biking destination and the bike park itself was a bit average tbh - tired I thought. Had a great time nonetheless as it's still the Alps let's face it - it was more of a family holiday and I hadn't been doing any DH either, so a funicular and stuff like black 8 felt exotic for me. But for a dedicated bike trip I doubt I'd have spent more than a day in the actual park. I guess people must use the lifts to ride the footpaths there, did one of them (double header) that was too hard for me on that trip.
It was quite poor for beginners - wife and 8yo daughter didn't really like the trails, too rough and some stuff really spread out. My 11yo son, though, really liked it - the whole uplift thing and I guess the blue and red trails were at the right level for him.
So it might work as a clearly-laid out intro to Alpine riding for your son - if you've not been shredding it this year then for sure there's stuff there to go out that feels Alpine without taking you out of your comfort zone too much. Just depends on the alternatives I guess, of which there must be loads and loads.
Thanks for all the info/advice.
Lots of options to think about by the looks of it.
I think there’s an official aire at La Plagne for Motorhomes. However, due to Covid this has changed from a Boys road trip to a family holiday. So campsites are preferable
Interesting to hear that Les Arcs has changed, as that doesn’t come across on the VTT map. Camping at Bourg and getting the funi was my initial thought. But didn’t look like there was much easy stuff. My last visit there was with White Room and as you say Steveomcd I remember it being steep and techy.
Thanks again.
Glad you enjoyed your trip with us FieldMarshall! We’re based down in Bourg these days.
Memory of exact dates might be getting hazy, but I don’t think any of the current blues or greens existed 10 years ago. Of the reds, Rock and Arolles is younger than that (and partly re-cut this year). Yellowstone follows the same line as it did way back when but has been almost entirely re-cut. Even Black 8 is very different, less than half of it even follows the same line. The greens, blues and reds are all decent and pretty mellow. Blacks are probably mellow for blacks too, but still a step up. Dre Dans le Pentu is mostly just steepish pre-existing singletrack but still not for newbies.
My experience of la Plagne seems a bit more positive than the people above. We rode there as part of a trip last year with 11/13 year old kids. We stayed in the camping at Montchavin and rode across from the top of the Montchavin lift. That bit sucked but the rest was great.
There is a brilliant smallish bike park atea, probably called Colorado, at the poster above says. We loved it. Amazing smooth swoppy sculpted trails weaving around that weird spikey/gullyey terrain that La Plagne has.
We saw people staying at the Site de Camping from the lift and I nearly went out and bought a motorhome there and then so we could ride Colorado without the nasty traverse from Montchavin every day.
We rode Tignes, Val D'espace, Méribel as well on thé same trip.
Thanks that’s useful info.
I looked at that campsite but was unsure of the link to the other parts of La Plagne.
How bad was that traverse. I assume it’s a climb?
Alas not just a climb. Up and down in both directions. I can't recall the height gain/ drop but it was bad enough that the kids refused to do it again and despite the fact that we had a lovely campsite in montchavin and we all loved the LP trails. We upsticks and moved to Tignes
One kid had done the WHW 3 years earlier and the other was happily doing stuff like Grizedale TNF at night 4 years earlier and did some 6km vert days in Val, so not completely nesh.
TBH, it wasn't that bad, especially as I would have towed the little one, maybe they are just nesh