Off-piste Ski Areas in Les Arcs
Discover the top Les Arcs off-piste skiing
Les Arcs has a very good reputation for off-piste skiing. The resort is spread over a large area, much of which is not touched by lift systems resulting in more powder!
Book a mountain guide to make the most of the off-piste in Les Arcs, avoid going off-piste alone and always keep abreast of the avalanche risk.
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Advanced areas in Arc 1950
Private Ski Lessons & Instructors in Les Arcs
See all Private Ski Lessons & Instructors in Les Arcs-
Private ski lessons
Established in 1991, this ski and snowboard school was one of the first British-run ski schools in France. Their team is known for going the extra mile, offering excellent customer service and delivering outstanding lessons and guiding.
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Private ski lessons
This British Ski School was set up by John Paul McCarthy, a fully qualified British instructor, who has successfully created a school of like minded, passionate snowsports professionals, who care about promoting safe and enjoyable skiing experiences.
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Private ski lessons
This ski school offers private snowboard and ski lessons for adults and children. They provide a personalised service for all abilities.
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Private ski lessons
This ski school offers private snowboard and ski lessons and more for adults and children in Arc 1600 and 1800. They provide a personalised service with private lessons for all abilities.
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Group ski lessons
Established in 1991, this ski and snowboard school was one of the first British ski schools in France and is renowned for its fantastic instructors and excellent customer service.
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Private ski lessons
This ski school connects snow sports enthusiasts of all abilities with expert ski and snowboard instructors across Europe’s top resorts. With thousands of top-rated, verified instructors to choose from, their private lessons offer a flexible and personalised learning experience.
Beginner areas in Arc 1950
Ski School Lessons in Les Arcs
See all Ski School Lessons in Les Arcs-
Group ski lessons
Established in 1991, this ski and snowboard school was one of the first British ski schools in France and is renowned for its fantastic instructors and excellent customer service.
-
Private ski lessons
This British Ski School was set up by John Paul McCarthy, a fully qualified British instructor, who has successfully created a school of like minded, passionate snowsports professionals, who care about promoting safe and enjoyable skiing experiences.
-
Group ski lessons
This ski school offers group snowboard and ski lessons for adults and children.
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Group ski lessons
This ski school offers group snowboard and ski lessons for adults and children in Arc 1600 and 1800.
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Private ski lessons
Established in 1991, this ski and snowboard school was one of the first British-run ski schools in France. Their team is known for going the extra mile, offering excellent customer service and delivering outstanding lessons and guiding.
-
Group ski lessons
This ski school offers group ski lessons for both children and adults, catering to all ability levels. Their group lessons provide a great and affordable way to improve your skiing in a safe, social and supportive environment.
Beginner ski hire
Ski Hire in Les Arcs
See all Ski Hire in Les Arcs-
La Cachette
Ski and snowboard rental located in La Cachette commercial building and residence in Les Arcs 1600, with direct access to the pistes and the Combettes 1 and 2 ski lifts.
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Snow Pro Charvet 1800
This ski hire shop is near to the lift pass office and the ski schools. Benjamin and his team will welcome you to the store and assist you with their technical knowledge and expertise.
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Lagrange
Ski and snowboard rental located in the Legrange residence in Les Arcs 1600, right next to the funicular lift entrance and with easy access to the Mont Blanc and Cachette ski lifts.
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Delay Savoie
No need to carry your ski equipment around with you! Simply pick it up from the ski shop in resort. You can collect your equipment from at least 5pm the day before your 1st skiing day.
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Alpiski Le Charvet
Want to rent skis or snowboards in Les Arcs? Just visit the Skiset Le Charvet store!
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Villards Place Basse
This ski & snowboard rental shop is situated in Arc 1800, Les Villards within the main shopping centre ‘Les Aiguilles des Glaciers’.
Beginner ski lessons
Ski School Lessons in Les Arcs
See all Ski School Lessons in Les Arcs-
Group ski lessons
Established in 1991, this ski and snowboard school was one of the first British ski schools in France and is renowned for its fantastic instructors and excellent customer service.
-
Private ski lessons
This British Ski School was set up by John Paul McCarthy, a fully qualified British instructor, who has successfully created a school of like minded, passionate snowsports professionals, who care about promoting safe and enjoyable skiing experiences.
-
Group ski lessons
This ski school offers group snowboard and ski lessons for adults and children.
-
Group ski lessons
This ski school offers group snowboard and ski lessons for adults and children in Arc 1600 and 1800.
-
Private ski lessons
Established in 1991, this ski and snowboard school was one of the first British-run ski schools in France. Their team is known for going the extra mile, offering excellent customer service and delivering outstanding lessons and guiding.
-
Group ski lessons
This ski school offers group ski lessons for both children and adults, catering to all ability levels. Their group lessons provide a great and affordable way to improve your skiing in a safe, social and supportive environment.
Off-piste areas in Arc 1950
Mountain Guides Les Arcs
See all Mountain Guides Les Arcs-
AIM Snowsports mountain guides
18 Oct 20256hrsThis ski and snowboard school offer off-piste guiding with fully qualified British instructors so you can enjoy the best spots in the Paradiski area in safety.
Price: €350
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Snowshoeing
This is a perfect way to discover the charm and serenity of the mountains away from the busy pistes.
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Mountain Spirit mountain guides
With a team of experienced mountain guides and ski instructors, discover the exceptional off-piste areas around Les Arcs.
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Back country ski guides
A private ski or snowboard session for all ability levels – on and off-piste. It’s all about fun, improvement and discovering new off piste terrain.
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Snowshoeing
This is a perfect way to discover the charm and serenity of the mountains away from the busy pistes.
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Compagnie des Guides de la Vanoise
The bureau of Mountain Guides Montchavin les Coches can tailor each activity to suit you and your group, from canyoning, hiking, and high mountain adventures.
What should I wear when skiing or snowboarding?
Ski Hire in Les Arcs
See all Ski Hire in Les Arcs-
La Cachette
Ski and snowboard rental located in La Cachette commercial building and residence in Les Arcs 1600, with direct access to the pistes and the Combettes 1 and 2 ski lifts.
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Snow Pro Charvet 1800
This ski hire shop is near to the lift pass office and the ski schools. Benjamin and his team will welcome you to the store and assist you with their technical knowledge and expertise.
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Lagrange
Ski and snowboard rental located in the Legrange residence in Les Arcs 1600, right next to the funicular lift entrance and with easy access to the Mont Blanc and Cachette ski lifts.
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Delay Savoie
No need to carry your ski equipment around with you! Simply pick it up from the ski shop in resort. You can collect your equipment from at least 5pm the day before your 1st skiing day.
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Alpiski Le Charvet
Want to rent skis or snowboards in Les Arcs? Just visit the Skiset Le Charvet store!
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Villards Place Basse
This ski & snowboard rental shop is situated in Arc 1800, Les Villards within the main shopping centre ‘Les Aiguilles des Glaciers’.
More inspiration...
Take a look at this year's ski pass prices and find your way around with piste maps for Les Arcs.
Off-piste skiing in Les Arcs
Even with its reputation of being a great place to ride powder, it takes a surprisingly long time to become tracked, unlike many other Alpine resorts. There are some areas which will hold fresh snow longer than others and, like all ski areas, you’re more likely to get powder higher up.
The Grand Col
An off-piste playground. The lift is small and slow, which can be off-putting, but there are typically fewer people on the two (one red, one black) pistes than in the off-piste areas surrounding them.
Because the whole area is above 2,500m it receives, and keeps, more fresh snow than most other areas in the resort. Be prepared for the very flat (if not slightly-uphill section) towards the bottom of the red run, you’ll need some serious speed to traverse it without undue effort.
Vagere
Similarly, but a bit lower down, there is plenty of off-piste accessible from the top of Arc 1800’s Vagere lift around the Golf and Vagere red runs. There are some hidden streams towards the end of the Golf run however so, as with all off-piste skiing, exercise caution in areas you do not know well.
Beginners
For beginners who want to try some off-piste, they should try the wide-open area above Peisey-Vallandry, around the 2300 lift. Although largely groomed, there are some patches which are left unpisted, and can be great fun immediately after a snowfall. You’ve got to get up there quickly though!
If you like dodging the trees, there’s plenty of forest near the Derby lift which can be successfully negotiated by those with the requisite skills. There’s also lots of other woodland leading down to, and beyond, Arc 1600.
Off-piste skiing in La Plagne
As with the intermediate pistes of the La Plagne ski area, the smaller villages are good places to head for fresh snow.
Champagny
The Verdons Sud side of the Grand Rochette is a big open face that has an amazing formation and fun terrain.
Montchavin/Les Coches
Many runs through the trees, big open bowls in between the Dos Rond and the Mont St Jacques which is also perfect on bad weather days.
Plagne 1800
There is an amazing route through the trees from the Mont St Jacques all the way to the bottom of the Olympic Bobsleigh run below Plagne 1800. For beginner powder hounds there is a nice gentle off-piste run that follows the blue Les Bauches down from the top of the Dos Rond.
The glacier
The main area, of course, is the glacier. The most famous runs are on the north face and there are many off-piste routes to choose from. The best place to see the north face is from above Vallandry in Les Arcs where you can see the difficultly increasing just by looking from right to left. Parts are very steep and large avalanches are common so a guide is definitely needed for all runs on the glacier.
- The ‘Petit Face Nord’ is the easiest and most accessible choice as it's a pretty simple traverse from the Traversee chair.
- The ‘Couloir Canadian’ is the next step and involves a hike up.
As with all off-piste skiing make sure you are well equipped and ready to tackle the un-groomed mountain, check out our avalanche safety guide for more tips. We also recommend that you take a mountain guide with you when heading off-piste, they have extensive knowledge of the mountains and can show you the ropes.
Before heading off-piste
Before you head off piste, here's a few things you should be thinking about:
- hire a guide
- take a course in avalanche awareness and practice the techniques learned
- look at the weather and avalanche forecasts for France, reviewing the degree of local avalanche risk also
- don’t ignore advice given by local mountain guides or others if advised to ski a certain path, or to keep a specific distance between fellow members in a group
- plan the route carefully, evaluating all different options and assessing all elements of danger
- look at the timings for each route and inform others of your route, and when you expect to arrive back
- attach your transceiver properly to you and DON'T FORGET to turn it on, test the signal is working, and make sure you have all the necessary equipment
- a transceiver is of no use if the user has not been trained in its use, it is turned off, or it is in a rucksack - unless you want just your bag to be recovered
Read more about understanding avalanches and how best to avoid them.
