What's on in Les Arcs winter 2018/19

The opening weekend of the ski season coincides with an excellent opportunity to eat classic alpine fayre. In France, there ain’t no mountain high enough that you cannot enjoy hot melted cheese at the top. Suitably, pop-up fondue stations will appear at various locations across the mountain, ensuring you always have easy access to a cheesy interlude.

If you love cinema as much as you love skiing, then you will be on cloud nine when the 10th annual film festival begins. Every resort will be screening a variety of feature-length and short movies so, regardless of where you are staying, you can boogie down to an exclusive premiere, a provocative art-house film or a comedy about the Chinese pet industry. If you want to ski all day and watch movies all night long, make sure you check out our essential Insider’s Guide.

Santa Claus is coming to town and, as usual, Les Arcs will be celebrating in style. It seems that, when it is Christmas time, too much is never too much. There will be yuletide villages, mulled wine, torchlit descents, reindeer, parades and a sackful of other festive frivolities. The main event, Father Christmas, will be making his customary visits to each of the resorts, so there is no need to climb up the ladder to the roof to catch a glimpse of the big jolly man.

If you generally eschew the comfort of a ski lift, preferring your journey to higher ground to involve considerably more effort, then this is the weekend to visit! Involving three major events and a variety of different workshops, the Big Up & Down literally takes ski touring to the next level. On Friday 25th, night time is the right time for the 'Kilianometre,' as both professionals and amateurs don their head-torches and ascend from Arc 1600 to the Arpette peak before hammering back down to resort. Saturday’s 'Belle Montée' is a more relaxed walk in the night: with no time pressures and instructor supervision, you should be able to take a look around (and maybe even enjoy it) a little bit more. On Sunday, the 'Big Nak' finishes the whole event (and perhaps some of the participants) off. What can I say? Respect.

If your response to a vertiginous incline, untouched powder and unknown terrain is “let’s get it on,” then you are going to love Freeride Week. Featuring some of the world’s greatest skiers and snowboarders, you can expect amazing action, sensational speed and thoroughly fearless feats of freeriding. In addition to a junior contest, Arc 2000 hosts two qualification stages for the Freeride World Tour. Suffice to say, the competitors will bring their “A” game.

If you prefer a place in the sun, the longer days of April provide plenty of skiing but also tons of other activities. British Week (March 30th to April 5th) celebrates anglo-french relations. The Feel Good Village (April 17th & 18th) promotes fitness and wellbeing through yoga, massage, complimentary conferences and healthy smoothies. If you are wondering “what do I do” when the winter season ends, then Ski to Bike (on April 21st & 22nd) should give you a clue: it’s a combined skiing and downhill mountain biking event (presumably) designed to help you transition from winter to summer sports.

Everything described above is just a tiny taste (or 'amuse-bouche') of things to come this winter. The entire Les Arcs ski area is celebrating its 50th Anniversary and new events are being listed practically every day. At Lesarcsnet we are qualified to satisfy you and committed to staying ahead of the curve with regular “what’s on” reports and comprehensive events listings. Regardless of what the happening is, if you have got to be there, you can be sure that we will keep you up-to-date.

The particularly observant (or bored) amongst you may have noticed a few (25) hidden song titles from classic soul and Motown tracks in the above article. It wasn’t just your imagination. The full list is as follows:
Get Ready (The Temptations), Feeling Good (Nina Simone), Got So Much to Give (Barry White), What’s Going On (Marvin Gaye), Zoom (The Commodores), Hard to Handle (Otis Redding), Ain’t No Mountain High Enough (Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell), Easy (The Commodores), Cloud Nine (The Temptations), Boogie Down (Eddie Kendricks), All Night Long (Lionel Richie), Santa Claus is Coming to Town (The Jackson 5), Never Too Much (Luther Vandross), Up the Ladder to the Roof (The Supremes), Higher Ground (Stevie Wonder), (Night Time is) the Right Time (Ray Charles), Walk in the Night (Walker Junior & The All Stars), Take a Look Around (The Temptations), Respect (Aretha Franklin), Let’s Get It On (Marvin Gaye), A Place in the Sun (Stevie Wonder), Do I Do (Stevie Wonder), Qualified to Satisfy You (Barry White), The Happening (The Supremes), Got to Be There (Michael Jackson).

Read more from our Les Arcs reporter Sam on his blog.