LIFT PASSES :

Prices today are pretty much the same wherever you go in the French Alps so La Plagne and Les Arcs, two of the biggest resorts, offer really good value for money. A six day FULL AREA pass will cost about £120. The new Paradiski combined domain pass, gives you six days skiing in the two domains for about £150.

La Plagne: Beginners may save a little by taking the LOCAL SECTOR pass (20 lifts) at £85. There are 15% reductions for the over 60's and FREE passes for anyone over 72!

And there's another very good reason to ski at La Plagne or Les Arcs: A 6 day (or more) FULL SECTOR pass entitles you to ski for one day, free of charge, on each of the other ski areas belonging to Espace Olympique Savoie :
• Les Arcs / La Plagne
• Espace Killy (Tignes - Val d'Isère) (about 120 lifts, 300kms of piste and 60 mins drive)
• Les 3 Vallées (Courchevel-Méribel-etc) (about 160 lifts, 600kms of piste and 60 mins drive)
• Pralognan la Vanoise and Les Saisies (two small resorts about 60mins away with lots of off piste)

Your pass also entitles you to a discount on a one-day pass at Sainte Foy Tarentaise. That means with your own car you can ski a different resort every day!

After about 15th. April all prices are reduced by about 30%. As it's possible to ski here well into May, any sun worshipers should love the April skiing when frequent snow at night allows glorious powder in warm sunshine.

Note: One day "polyvalence" passes must be issued by the lift-pass office in the visited resort. The reciprocal arrangement (polyvalence) is valid, subject to snow conditions and providing that the entire Olympic ski area is open.

SKI INSURANCE :

The standard lift pass price does not include insurance. We strongly recommend skiers to obtain local insurance coverage: - Carré Neige (£1.50 per day) or Carte Neige (£25 all season). This will cover you for any emergency evacuation from the mountain, civil liability if you hurt someone else and any first aid assistance. Please note that any help given to you by the emergency services will be charged at a minimum of £100 should you have no insurance.

SKI and EQUIPMENT HIRE : Everything you need to ski may either be bought or hired in the local area. Ski wear prices are appreciably lower than in UK with many promotions for last season's equipment. Salamon ProLink 9.0 Equipe boots for example are sold for about £210 here against £280 in London. Hire charges vary according to the equipment you prefer. A standard set of skis, boots and poles will cost about £35 for the week whilst Snowboards are a little more at about £50. Serious skiers may prefer to hire specialist skis by the day depending on snow conditions. For the very best racing skis, you should reckon on about £10 a day or £40 a week.