La Plagne

La Plagne, situated in the heart of the Tarentaise Valley in the Savoie département of southeastern France, encompasses a ski domain of 100 km² across the communes of Aime, Bellentre, Champagny-en-Vanoise and Mâcot-la-Plagne. Since its founding in December 1961 as a rural revitalization project, this alpine cluster has evolved into one of the world’s foremost winter destinations, linked via the Vanoise Express cable-car to neighbouring Les Arcs under the Paradiski banner. Perched between 1 250 m in Montchavin and 3 250 m atop the Glacier de la Chiaupe, La Plagne attracted in excess of 2.5 million skier-visitors per season as of 2014, offering 225 km of marked slopes, an extensive off-piste network and modern lift infrastructure under the ownership of Compagnie des Alpes.

From its inception, La Plagne was conceived not merely as a recreational site but as a bulwark against valley depopulation. Confronted with the decline of traditional agriculture and mining in the late 1950s, four communes—Aime, Bellentre, Longefoy and Macôt—formed an alliance to stimulate economic renewal through winter tourism. Under the guidance of Dr. Borrionne, then mayor of Aime, two drag lifts and four slopes opened on Christmas Eve 1961. The resort’s immediate success was accelerated by the involvement of ski champion Émile Allais, whose expertise shaped early piste design and training facilities. A landmark moment arrived in 1966 when national television host Guy Lux staged “Interneiges,” pitting La Plagne against another resort in a live televised competition that drew public fascination and cemented the young station’s reputation.

Modern La Plagne’s lift system exemplifies Alpine engineering at scale. Eight gondolas, thirty-six chairlifts—including two eight-seaters, eleven six-seaters, nineteen four-seaters and five two-seaters—and thirty-eight drag lifts efficiently shuttle guests across four altitude tiers. The Telemetro funicular links Plagne Centre with Aime–La Plagne, while the Vanoise Express, inaugurated in 2003, spans the valley at speeds exceeding 40 km/h, earning its reputation as one of the fastest double-deck cable-cars in operation. These installations facilitate seamless passage between La Plagne and Les Arcs, expanding Paradiski’s marked slopes to 425 km and uniting four communes under a single ski pass.

The resort’s vertical range once peaked at 3 250 m on the Chiaupe Glacier near Bellecôte. However, as of the close of the 2022–23 winter season, lift access to Chiaupe was suspended in favour of a “rewilding” initiative aimed at preserving high-altitude snow conditions. Although skiers may still ascend the Bellecôte Glacier above 3 000 m, the reconfigured domain acknowledges climate imperatives and signals a shift toward ecological stewardship in high-mountain tourism.

Central to La Plagne’s character is its constellation of eleven village-resorts, each reflecting a distinct chapter in alpine urban planning. The original integrated model, Plagne Centre (1 970 m), unveiled in 1961 and renamed in 1982, embodies the functionalist vision of architect Michel Bezançon. Its separation of vehicular and pedestrian ski zones, punctuated by a chapel adorned by designer Pierre Guariche, set a template for later developments. A funitel system, the Funiplagne, anchors Plagne Centre within the broader lift network, underscoring its role as the resort’s nucleus.

At 2 100 m, Plagne Aime 2000—originally labeled Aime 2000—opened in December 1969 amid a planning dispute over projected bed capacity between the Interministerial Commission for Mountain Tourism Development and developer Robert Legoux. Nicknamed the “Snow Liner” for its streamlined form, the main structure earned the French “20th Century Heritage” designation in 2008. Adjacent to it, Club Méditerranée’s four-trident “Plagne 2100” village and MMV-operated former three-trident centre testify to evolving holiday-resort trends. An ambitious R’évolution project (2015–2024), led by Mayor Jean-Michel Wilmotte and the Pierre et Vacances group, sought to double accommodation capacity and introduce leisure, retail and aquatic facilities; however, it was cancelled in December 2024 due to financial pressures, environmental concerns and post-Covid market shifts.

Lower-valley sites include Champagny-en-Vanoise at 1 250 m, which in 1969 opted to affiliate with La Plagne rather than Tignes, opening its slopes on sunlit southern exposures beneath the Vanoise massif. Montchavin, revived from a half-ruined hamlet, welcomed 1 500 beds in 1972 and linked to central La Plagne a year later. Les Coches, designed by Bezançon in 1977, retains a familial ambience, while Plagne Villages (2 050 m), introduced in 1972, diverged from uniform plateaus by following natural contours and relying on shuttle and Télébus connections.

The upper-mid elevations saw further expansion through Plagne Bellecôte (1 930 m) in 1974, whose dam-like architecture by Bezançon conveys both monumentality and functional efficiency; in 2005 it boasted La Plagne’s first eight-seater chairlift, the Arpette, to accommodate increasing skier flows post-Paradiski linkage. Montalbert (1 350 m), born of three departmental holiday centres in 1970, matured into a full ski village by 1980. Plagne 1800 (1 800 m), inaugurated in 1982 on ex-mining land, contrasts scattered private chalets with UCPA group residences. Belle-Plagne (2 050 m) of 1981 heralded a “fourth generation” return to Savoyard tradition in its chalet-style façades. Finally, Plagne Soleil (2 050 m) rounded out the eleven-resort ensemble in 1990, completing a panoramic stepped hierarchy from valley floor to glaciers.

By 2014, the eleven villages collectively hosted 66 322 tourist beds within 8 823 establishments. Plagne Centre alone accounted for 43 725 beds across 5 555 units, followed by Montchavin-Les Coques with 12 359 beds, Champagny-en-Vanoise at 5 792, and Montalbert at 4 446. A TripAdvisor study that year ranked La Plagne as France’s priciest ski resort, with average daily costs of €322.83—comprising €151 per night and €53.50 for an adult ski pass—placing it fifth in Europe behind Courchevel, Méribel, Val-d’Isère and Megève.

Underlying these accommodations is a governance framework that melds public oversight with private investment. The Paradiski area, born of the 2003 Vanoise Express linkage, spans 1 000 hectares from 1 250 m to 3 250 m over four communes. Its 425 km of pistes and renowned off-piste routes such as Bellecôte’s north face draw experts and leisure skiers alike. Coup-de-coup promotions since 2008 have offered discounted Saturday passes via samedije skie.com, reflecting efforts to diversify clientele and optimize lift usage.

Operational responsibility lies with the Société d’aménagement de la Plagne (SAP), a Compagnie des Alpes subsidiary headquartered in Plagne Centre’s Cembraie building. SAP’s annual investments upgrade lift capacity—its Arpette and Colosses chairlifts rank among the world’s most efficient. The Intercommunal Syndicate of Grande Plagne (SIGP) serves as the ski-lift delegating authority, uniting La Plagne Tarentaise, Aime-La Plagne and Champagny-en-Vanoise since 1961. A 2018 regional audit flagged a convoluted pricing structure, delayed financial reporting and an overly lengthy forty-year DSP contract; it also prompted the 2022 elimination of privileged free passes that had cost the community an estimated €150 000 annually.

Complementing its ski domain, La Plagne hosts France’s sole operational Olympic bobsleigh, luge and skeleton track, stretching 1 800 m with 19 turns from the 1992 Albertville Games. This facility, integrated into the resort’s winter sports portfolio, underscores La Plagne’s legacy of hosting elite competition and its capacity to repurpose Olympic infrastructure for year-round attraction.

Physically, La Plagne occupies a cirque on the northern slopes of the Vanoise massif, oriented northwest to capture morning light and shelter pistes from southerly winds. Access from Paris, Lyon and broader northwestern Europe follows the A43 and A430 motorways to Albertville, then the N90 dual carriageway to Moûtiers. From Aime, the D221 ascends twenty-one switchbacks to Plagne Centre and Bellecôte; departmental roads D225 and D220 serve Montchavin-Les Coques, while local buses link landward valleys to resort centres during winter months.

Over six decades, La Plagne has woven together ambitions of rural preservation, architectural innovation and alpine authenticity. Its layered village-resorts trace a trajectory from 1960s functional modernism to four-trident luxury and contemporary environmental responsiveness. As climate change reshapes high-mountain snow regimes and socio-economic trends redefine holiday-patterns, La Plagne’s ongoing adaptations—from glacier rewilding to the aborted R’évolution masterplan—reveal a destination in constant dialogue with its heritage and its future.

In embracing both its origins as a communal lifeline and its role as a global winter playground, La Plagne exemplifies the resilient spirit of the Alps. Its slopes tell stories of civic determination, architectural daring and athletic endeavour; its lifts and lodges embody evolving notions of comfort, efficiency and ecological stewardship. Essential to its identity is the balance between gravity and aspiration: a place rooted in valley soil yet reaching ever skyward, measured by neither spin nor speed but by a collective conviction that high-mountain landscapes can sustain both human endeavour and natural wonder.