La Plagne
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| La Plagne | |
|---|---|
| Location: | Tarentaise Valley, Savoie, Rhône-Alpes, France |
| Nearest city: | Albertville |
| Top elevation: | 3250m |
| Base elevation: | 1250m |
| Skiable area: | 100 km² (38,6 mi²) |
| Snowmaking: | snow cannons |
| Night skiing: | Yes |
La Plagne is a French ski area in the alpine valley of the Tarentaise (Savoie). Since 2003, La Plagne and the neighbouring resort of Les Arcs form Paradiski's ski area.
Contents |
[edit] Ski area
La Plagne lies at altitudes between 3250 metres (10,660 feet) (on the Glacier de la Chiaupe near the top of Bellecôte) and 1250 metres (4100 ft) (in the village of Montchavin). La Plagne has 10,000 hectares (38 mi²) of ski area spread across four communes (Aime, Bellentre, Champagny-en-Vanoise and Macôt-La Plagne). La Plagne has 225 kilometers (140 mi) of slopes (134 slopes : 15 black (expert), 30 red (advanced), 72 blue (intermediate) and 10 green (beginner)), and an immense off-skiing area, with great spots like Bellecôte's North Face. La Plagne is a modern ski resort with 2 cable-cars (the Telemetro, linking Plagne Centre and Aime-La Plagne and the Vanoise Express, which links La Plagne to Les Arcs and was opened in 2003 and travels at over 40 kilometers/hour (25 mi/hr), making it one of the fastest of its kind in the world), 8 gondolas, 36 chairlifts (1 8-seater, 11 6-seaters, 19 4-seaters and 5 2-seaters) and 38 drag lifts[1]. A bobsleigh piste was built in La Plagne for the 1992 Winter Olympics held in nearby Albertville.
[edit] History
La Plagne was created in 1961, as with many resorts in the Alps, to save the valleys from becoming deserted. The traditional agriculture or the mining activity didn't allow a correct life. In 1960, four towns (Aime, Bellentre, Longefoy and Macôt) created an association to defend their interests, with an initiative of Dr. Borrionne, mayor of Aime. On 24 December 1961, La Plagne opened, with its two drag lifts and its four slopes. Emile Allais, great ski-champion, has helped La Plagne to grow. Immediately, La Plagne generated a great deal of success, and in 1966, Guy Lux, a French TV, presented "Interneiges", a live competition between two French resorts. La Plagne has had four logos over the last forty years :
 |
 |
 |
 |
1961
A sun pointing towards La Plagne with its finger on a map of Savoy : this was the first logo for the newly-created resort of La Plagne.
1966
At the time of Interneiges, La Plagne chose an evocative, simple and outstanding symbol. Mathieu Diesse, a Basque artist and graphic designer from the Havas agency drew this logo featuring a man in a red bobble hat in a pair of sunglasses with a picture of a sun on. The red bobble remains in today's logo.
1982
The sun is removed and replaced by simple white stars. The new slogan of the station is added : Toute la montagne en 10 stations (the whole mountain in 10 resorts).
2001
New revamp with the appearance of a notch towards the bottom of the hat and the replacement of stars with twinkles. The slogan, incorrect since 1990 after La Plagne Soleil became the eleventh resort, is replaced by a note of the resort's minimum and maximum altitudes[2].
[edit] Eleven resorts
- Plagne Centre (1970m)
The first of the resorts of La Plagne opened in December 1961. The name of "Plagne Centre" dated from 1982, before which the resort was before simply called La Plagne. Plagne Centre has an urban, but functional architecture, and was created by Michel Besançon. Plagne Centre is a model of the "station intégrée", where cars and skiers are separated
- Aime-La Plagne (2100m)
Located in the commune of Aime, the bilding of Aime-La Plagne began in 1968, but the resort itself opened in December 1969. Called the "Steamer of the snow", the main builduing (picture on the right) of Aime-La Plagne was created by Michel Besançon. In 1990, the "Club Med" was built, with a design inspired by Tibetan temples.
- Champagny-en-Vanoise (1250m)
At the end of the 60's, this little village, located in the valley of Bozel, wanted to grow. The Vanoise National Park gave Champagny possibility to develop its summer activities. In 1969, Champagny became attached to the La Plagne resort, rather than to nearby Courchevel. Champagny is on a south-facing slope, unlike the other parts of La Plagne, meaning it gets more sunshine, therefore less snow.
- Montchavin (1250m)
Montchavin is found in the commune of Bellentre. There are 3 chairlifts serving the village of Montchavin, with one linking to Les Coches.
- Plagne Villages (2050m)
Opened in 1972
- Plagne Bellecôte (1930m)
Created in 1974 this resort was in project since 1968. It was to be called "Les Ours", but it's the summit of Bellecôte which gave its name to the new resort. Michel Besançon drew the resort like an hydroelectric dam to close the valley. In 1975, a gondola linked Bellecôte with Roche de Mio, and three years later with the summit of Bellecôte, in 40 minutes. In December 2005, the first 8-seater chairlift in La Plagne (Arpette Chairlift) is built in Bellecôte.
- Les Coches (1450m)
Opened in 1980
- Montalbert (1350m)
Opened in 1980
- Plagne 1800 (1800m)
Opened in 1982
- Belle Plagne (2050m)
Opened in 1981
- Plagne Soleil (2050m)
Opened in 1990
[edit] References
- ^ La Plagne's piste map ''www.PERSo-LAPLAGNE.fr
- ^ History of La Plagne, old photos, old pist maps and old skipasses www.PERSo-LAPLAGNE.fr
[edit] External links
