Hurtling down the Les Arcs Flying Kilometer trail at 80 miles per hour was undoubtedly the fastest way back home; the house was a comfortable flat in the high-altitude village of Arc 1950.
The track was built for the 1992 Albertville Winter Olympics, where speed skiing was the demonstration sport. A newspaper executive working behind a desk at the time thought I should test this before the Games started. I remember the fear I felt when I stepped onto the track years ago and accelerated to speeds of around 95 mph.
Nearly 32 years later, the adrenaline rush earlier this month was much the same, but without the fear. This time I wasn’t actually on the piste, I was securely tied to the ropes that went over the piste, minus the skis. Its length is 1.8 km and the journey from the top of the Varet gondola took just over a minute.
There are, of course, more traditional ways to reach the village of Arc 1950, one of four bases that make up the sprawling destination of Les Arcs. But following the herd is not in the nature of this facility.
From its beginnings in 1950, the vision of a French shepherd and the entrepreneurial genius of a Canadian property developer, Arc 1950 has been perhaps one of the most innovative and certainly one of the most charming family destinations in the Alps.
Two worlds collide
Unfortunately, the two men, both named Robert, were destined never to meet, but their dream resort is celebrating its 20th anniversary this winter with a promise for the future.
The first of the pair, local farm boy Robert Blanc, who became an international high mountain guide, founded the original Les Arcs in 1968. Over the next three decades, other Arc 1800 and Arc 2000 villages followed. But it was the opening of the traffic-free Arc 1950 in 2003 that really captured the imagination of the international ski world.
Interestingly, I skied with Blanc for the first time in 1979 in the 55,000 square meter area. This was the same mountain where he and his four brothers had tended their flocks in the summer months of his childhood. At the time of my visit, Club Med was opening a residence at what would become Arc 2000, just 50 meters vertically up the mountain but seemingly a world away.
Blanc knew every curve, every tree, every twist and turn of the mountain. As we stood in the open field he said to me: “You know, this would be a great sheltered spot for an apartment complex and hotel. One day I will build another village here.”
It wasn’t supposed to happen. Tragically, Blanc died in an avalanche in the same area of the resort the following year.
13 years later, his vision became a reality. Robert Jérôme, vice president of Europe for Canadian resort developer Intrawest, had his sights set on building a traditional mountain community infused with Disney-like magic in French Haute Tarentaise. The location chosen was the same sheltered clearing in the forest that Blanc and I had followed.
Brave building blocks
In 2002, as the first stone of the village was being laid, I found myself here once again, this time with Jean-Marc Silva, then tourism director of Embryo Arc 1950.
In the years that followed, Intrawest’s trademark Quaint Quebec concept evolved into the Surreal Savoie, a brightly painted mix of eight apartment blocks, a clock tower, shops, restaurants, two ski schools, a childcare center and a spa with a view. I watched with interest. Mont Blanc. They are all connected not by road but by the winding snow-covered Circuit of Fame (Piste aux Etoiles) that runs through the village. It drops skiers down to the first of 132 lifts that serve the massive 425km of pistes shared with neighboring La Plagne.
Beneath the buildings and the track is a labyrinth of garages with parking spaces for 688 cars and service tunnels connecting the accommodation. Most importantly, green development was limited to eight apartment blocks comprising 698 units with 3,900 beds. Intrawest and Les Arcs have kept their promise over the years in this now protected area; There are no buildings anymore, so there are no apartments. The resort’s popularity grew rapidly, but its size did not.
But aesthetics and practicality aside, what is so special about this hotel that they call a “five-star resort”?
For starters, it’s not five-star and even better beyond the local classification. Les Arcs’ only recognized five-star accommodation is Hotel Taj-I Mah, designed by Les Etincelles in Arc 2000. Accommodation at 1950 is extremely comfortable, low-key, family-friendly and reasonably priced. One criticism was that the rooms were small, but Intrawest correctly calculated that most visitors would spend more time outside than inside.
When I first arrived in the village in 2004, it was a construction site, the worst of which was luxuriantly masked by a blanket of snow. There was a block of flats temporarily run as a hotel with limited catering facilities, but even at that early stage you could see its potential.
Le Chalet de Luigi, a superb Italian restaurant, quickly followed and remains a strong feature of the village’s gourmet infrastructure. Soon, skiers who had previously opted for other villages in Les Arcs were heading here for lunch and then booking accommodation for their next trip.
A holiday village ready for the future
Amid the climatic challenges of the 21st century, you need more than a pleasant environment for a ski resort to succeed financially. The two Robertes were undoubtedly aware of the looming threat of global warming. But neither could have foreseen the ever-shrinking timeline.
They went for the heights and chose well. The current snow level at the resort this January is over 400 cm and rising. Its high altitude makes it one of the snowiest villages in the Alps. While year-round ice on the 3,226m-high Aiguille Rouge glacier is rapidly shrinking and the permafrost there is predicted to disappear completely by 2030, the Arc 1950 ice at the top and bottom of the mountain is expected to continue melting. Good winter cover from December to late April every year for the foreseeable future.
But none of this contributes to the extraordinary commercial success that Arc 1950 undoubtedly enjoys 20 years later. Jérôme’s genius was to introduce the North American idea of ’leaseback’ in property sales.
Many of the apartments in the first Hameau du Glacier residence were purchased by English families aware of the cheapness. Rather than being sold outright when not in use by the owners, it was leased back to management; The plan significantly reduced the number of cold beds and brought life to the village in winter and summer.
It’s good to see the village still developing, with a wider range of shops and good restaurants, but without imposing more buildings on such rural surroundings.
An ecologically responsible approach now makes this an even better place to explore this vast and exciting ski area. While trees and bushes that consume little water and are resistant to cold are planted in summer, environmentally friendly snow removal in winter gives the village a natural atmosphere. Arc 1950’s twenty years are still unfolding; As one of the youth of the Alps, we veterans must take this into consideration.
Fundamentals
For independent travelers, Pierre & Vacances offers seven-night self-catering accommodation from £1,790 for two people sharing a one-bedroom flat at Arc 1950. Except for travel. Travel to the resort via Eurostar and TGV from St Pancras via Paris and Chambéry to Bourg-St-Maurice. The nearest airport is Chambery.
Erna Low offers a week’s self-catering accommodation for families from £343; This includes a roundtrip Flexiplus LeShuttle pass, is based on four people sharing a one-bedroom apartment, and gives families the option to add flights, transfers, lift passes, equipment and lessons. Your reservation.
For more information, visit arc1950.com and lesarcs.com. Plan the perfect holiday at the resort with our guide.
Learn more; Which is better Les Arcs or La Plagne?
Peter was a guest of Arc 1950, Erna Low and Pierre & Vacances.