High ski resorts that suit beginners: Les Arcs leads the seven that pass
The Ski Snug teamUpdated 12 October 20268 min read
We are beginners, or most of us are, and we want somewhere high enough that the snow is not a worry. Where should we go?
Les Arcs.
Of the 55 resorts we cover, seven are both high on our own measure and gentle enough for a beginner, and Les Arcs leads them. Forty eight percent of the piste we measure there is gentler than 15 percent, a share no resort we cover beats. Its blues average 12.6 percent, the gentlest of the French resorts we cover, and there are 117 kilometres of green and blue to move on to. Seventy three percent of the piste is at or above 1,800 metres, up to 3,208.
How we decided
High means snow sure on our own measure: more than half the piste around the village at or above 1,800 metres, and skiing that reaches 2,500 metres or higher. Thirty two of the 55 resorts we cover pass cleanly. Six more carry a note where the measurement needs a human eye: Chamonix, Wengen, Grindelwald, Lech, Zürs and Madonna di Campiglio. We set those aside rather than call them.
Then four beginner tests, all measured.
Gentle ground: at least 35 percent of the piste gentler than 15 percent. Nineteen of the 32 pass.
Soft blues: an average blue gradient of 16 percent or less, a touch kinder than a typical French blue at 16.2. Fifteen are left.
Room to progress: at least 40 kilometres of green and blue, so the week after the nursery slope is not one run on repeat. Seven are left.
Our ratings: at least 2 for improvers in our terrain ratings, on a stored scale that runs from 0 to 3 across the 55. All seven clear it.
We rank the seven by gentle share, breaking ties on the gentler blues. Gradients are averages per run segment, and a run's grade is set by its steepest pitch, so read them as how a week feels, not as any one run.
| Les Arcs | 1,600 m | 73% | 3,208 m | 48% | 12.6% | 117 km |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Val Gardena | 1,563 m | 66% | 2,731 m, lift top | 40% | 12.8% | 42 km |
| Alta Badia | 1,568 m | 65% | 2,509 m | 40% | 14.4% | 76 km |
| La Plagne | 1,800 m | 80% | 3,022 m | 39% | 15.5% | 128 km |
| Laax | 1,100 m | 72% | 2,968 m | 37% | 14.4% | 57 km |
| Sestriere | 2,035 m | 91% | 2,788 m | 35% | 12.0% | 50 km |
| Arosa | 1,800 m | 65% | 2,848 m | 35% | 15.4% | 97 km |
The catch: France has the room, the Swiss and Italians the soft blues
Every resort that failed the blue test is French: Courchevel, Val Thorens, Saint-Martin-de-Belleville and Serre Chevalier, with plenty of green and blue but blues of 16.5 percent or steeper. All eight that failed the room test are Swiss or Italian, Verbier, Zermatt and Cervinia among them: gentle, but short of blue.
Part of that is grading, which is set nationally and is not comparable across borders. A typical blue averages 16.2 percent in France, 16.4 in Austria, 15.0 in Switzerland and 14.4 in Italy, and the Swiss and Italians paint more of their easy ground red. At Cervinia, 39 percent of the piste is gentler than 15 percent, yet only 24 kilometres is marked blue and easier. A beginner skis the colours, though, and so does a ski school, so the room test counts what is marked.
Austria drops out at the first test: none of its four resorts that clear our snow measure has more than 30 percent gentle piste. And height alone guarantees nothing: of the four highest villages we cover, only Sestriere makes the list, on the line.
1. Les Arcs: the gentlest French blues we cover, and room to use them
Only Verbier equals Les Arcs on gentle ground, and the blues explain it. They average 12.6 percent, the gentlest of the 17 French resorts we cover and the third gentlest of all 55. There are plenty: 117 kilometres of green and blue, the seventh most of the 55, so an improver can roam rather than lap one run.
The skis go on at the door, our guide finds the nursery slopes sensible and the ski schools established, and a funicular climbs from the railway at Bourg Saint Maurice. Paradiski, shared with La Plagne, is 425 kilometres, for when the confidence arrives.
What it lacks is green: 4.8 kilometres, measured. Our ratings give Les Arcs 2 for improvers but 1 for first timers, so it suits someone with a few days on skis better than someone with none.
2. Val Gardena: the least steep ground here, but less of it is blue
Only 13 percent of Val Gardena's piste is steeper than one in four, the second lowest share of the 55 we cover, and 40 percent is gentler than 15 percent, joint fourth with Alta Badia and Samoëns. Its blues average 12.8 percent, and even its reds average 17.3, gentler than a Courchevel blue.
The catch is the marking: 42 kilometres of blue and easier against 86.5 of red, though those reds average well under a typical Italian red, at 20.4, so the step up is a soft one. It is a classic Dolomite valley on the Sellaronda.
It passes on height with 66 percent of the piste at or above 1,800 metres and lifts reaching 2,731, but the highest piste we measure starts at 2,480, so that call leans on the lifts.
3. Alta Badia: more blue than any Italian resort we cover
Alta Badia matches Val Gardena's 40 percent gentle, with blues of 14.4, exactly a typical Italian blue. It adds room: 76 kilometres of blue and easier, the most of the ten Italian resorts we cover, and only 15 percent of the piste is steeper than one in four. Our guide describes gentle nursery areas, long easy runs to progress on, and mountain food worth the trip.
Its top is the lowest of the seven, 2,509 metres, nine over the line, with 65 percent of the piste at or above 1,800. Our ratings give it 2 for improvers and 0 for strong skiers: right for a group that is all learning, not one with an expert in it.
4. La Plagne: a higher village and more room, with steeper blues
On village height and room, La Plagne beats Les Arcs. The village is at 1,800 metres, 200 above Les Arcs; 80 percent of the piste is at or above 1,800, up to 3,022; and there are 128 kilometres of green and blue, the fifth most of the 55. We list beginners among its strengths, and our guide describes wide, gentle, sunny bowls above the high villages.
It ranks fourth here on gentle ground, 39 percent against 48, and its blues average 15.5 against 12.6 next door. Green is thin here too, 4.3 kilometres, and our ratings score it exactly as Les Arcs. They share Paradiski, so this is a choice of village more than mountain.
5. Laax: high skiing above a low village
Laax is the only resort here our ratings put at 3 for improvers, the top of that scale. Only 14 percent of its piste is steeper than one in four, the third lowest of the 55, and there are 57 kilometres of blue and easier on a linked area of 176 kilometres. The skiing is high, 72 percent at or above 1,800 metres, up to 2,968; the village, at 1,100 metres, is the lowest here. Modern and youthful, it is known for freestyle.
6. Sestriere: the highest village on the list, in on the line
Sestriere's village is at 2,035 metres, the fourth highest of the 55 we cover, and 91 percent of its piste is at or above 1,800, up to 2,788. Its blues average 12.0 percent, the second gentlest of the 55. It meets the gentle line exactly; 30 percent of its piste is steeper than one in four, the most on this list. It has 50 kilometres of blue and easier against 92 of red, and is purpose built, high and practical.
7. Arosa: more blue than any Swiss resort we cover
Arosa is on the line too, with blues of 15.4, a shade steeper than a typical Swiss blue. It has room: 97 kilometres of blue and easier, the most of the 15 Swiss resorts we cover, from a village at 1,800 metres, with 65 percent of the piste at or above 1,800, up to 2,848. Gentle, sunny and family friendly, it joins Lenzerheide by one cable car, 225 kilometres in all.
The near misses, and three we will not call
Verbier has the gentlest blues of all 55, averaging 11.5 percent, and equals Les Arcs on gentle ground. It misses the room line by just over a kilometre: 38.9 of blue and easier, on a domain that measures about 97 kilometres.
Val Thorens has the highest village we cover, 2,300 metres, 96 percent of its piste at or above 1,800, and 134 kilometres of green and blue, the third most of the 55. Its blues average 16.5 percent, half a point over our line.
Grindelwald, Madonna di Campiglio and Wengen pass all four beginner tests, but each sits where our snow measure needs a human call. Grindelwald and Madonna top out at 2,496 metres, measured, four short of the line, with 59 and 61 percent of the piste at or above 1,800. Wengen has 66 percent at or above 1,800; its mapped skiing reaches the Jungfraujoch, but its own skiing stops far lower. We would rather show you the figures than call them.
Who should ignore this advice
True first timers who want green.
Our ratings put eight resorts at 2 for first timers, the most they give, all French. The six that are high, Val Thorens, Courchevel, Méribel, Tignes, Val d'Isère and Serre Chevalier, all have blues of 16.5 percent or steeper, which alone keeps them off this list. If the whole week will be green, Courchevel's 55.7 kilometres of it, or Serre Chevalier's 40.8, matter more than the blues.
Anyone for whom height is not the point.
Adelboden and Schladming pass every beginner test we set and fail only on height.
A group with a strong skier.
That is a different question, answered in our shortlist of linked areas for mixed ability groups.
So, which one
you want a higher village and more easy piste, and can live with steeper blues.
everyone is learning and lunch matters.
height at the door counts most.
Nobody can promise snow, but on our measure it is high enough, and it is the one high resort that gives you both halves of the answer: blues as soft as the Swiss and Italians measure, and the room of a big French resort to use them in.