La Plagne or Sestriere: the bigger easy area, or the higher village
The Ski Snug teamUpdated 12 October 20265 min read
La Plagne and Sestriere have more in common than a French resort and an Italian one usually do. Both are high, purpose built and modern, both sit on a big linked area, both run December to April, and both are snow sure on our measure. Of all the Italian resorts we cover, our matching puts Sestriere closest to La Plagne. Both even list value among the things they do best.
So the question is not snow or size in the abstract. It is what the skiing is made of, and who is in your group. La Plagne is built around easy, gentle kilometres for families and beginners. Sestriere sleeps higher, you fly to Turin for it, and it is mostly red. The numbers first.
The numbers, side by side
| Figure | La Plagne | Sestriere |
|---|---|---|
| Village altitude | 1,800 m | 2,035 m |
| Top of the skiing, measured | 3,022 m | 2,788 m |
| Linked ski area | Paradiski, 425 km, shared with Les Arcs | Via Lattea: about 305 km on the standard Italian pass, our own estimate; quoted at 400 km with Montgenèvre |
| Piste we measure around the village | 202.5 km | 160 km |
| Green and blue | 128 km, 63% of the piste | Blue and easier: 50 km, 31% of the piste |
| Black | 28 km | 18 km |
| Marked off piste itinerary | 3 km | 10.8 km |
| Piste steeper than one in four | 27% | 30% |
| Piste gentler than 15% | 39% | 35% |
| Piste at or above 1,800 m | 80% | 91% |
| Season | December to April | December to April |
| Nearest airport | Geneva or Chambéry | Turin |
Look at the green and blue row, then at the two steepness rows underneath it. The first says these are very different mountains. The other two say they are not nearly as different as the colours suggest.
Altitude: Sestriere starts higher, La Plagne climbs higher
Sestriere's village sits at 2,035 metres, the fourth highest of the 55 resorts we cover and 235 metres above La Plagne's 1,800. La Plagne's skiing goes 234 metres higher, to 3,022 metres on our measure, against 2,788 at Sestriere.
More of Sestriere's skiing is high. At Sestriere, 91 percent of the piste we measure is above 1,800 metres, up to 2,788 metres. At La Plagne it is 80 percent, up to 3,022, and the piste runs down as low as 1,242 metres. Both are snow sure on our measure, and nobody can promise snow anywhere, but Sestriere has a little more of its skiing above the line.
At La Plagne, which village you book changes the picture. It is ten linked villages. The purpose built centres are the high ones, while the traditional villages, Montchavin, Les Coches, Champagny en Vanoise and Montalbert, sit lower, in or near the trees.
Size: La Plagne is bigger, and its figure is firmer
Paradiski is 425 kilometres, shared with Les Arcs across the valley by the Vanoise Express cable car. We have checked that figure against our own measurement, and it holds.
The Via Lattea is quoted at 400 kilometres, but that is a long standing marketing figure, and it includes Montgenèvre in France, which needs the pricier International pass. On the standard pass, which covers the Italian lifts only, you get roughly 305 kilometres. No source publishes that figure: it is our own subtraction, so treat it as approximate.
Our own measurement of the piste around each village agrees with the quoted figures on which is bigger: 202.5 kilometres at La Plagne, the fifth most of the 55 resorts we cover, against 160 at Sestriere, the most of the 10 Italian resorts we cover. That is 43 more at La Plagne before you even cross to Les Arcs.
The skiing: La Plagne is built for the easy end
La Plagne has 128 kilometres of green and blue piste, the fifth most of the 55 resorts we cover and more than twice Sestriere's 50 kilometres of blue and easier. Thirty nine percent of La Plagne's piste is gentler than 15 percent, against 35 at Sestriere. For a family with beginners, that is the whole answer.
128 km blue and easier 63%47 km red 23%28 km black 14%
50 km blue and easier 31%92 km red 58%18 km black 11%
Marked off piste itinerary, kept out of the piste totals: La Plagne 3 km, Sestriere 11 km.
La Plagne also has more black: 28 kilometres, the fourth most of the 55, against 18 at Sestriere, which is still the most of the 10 Italian resorts we cover. The gradients are averages per run segment, and a run's grade is set by its steepest pitch, so read them as how the week feels. La Plagne's blacks average 25.5 percent, gentler than the French average for a black of 29.6, and Sestriere's 30.1, level with the Italian 30.2.
Where Sestriere pulls clearly ahead is off the piste. It has 10.8 kilometres of marked itinerary, the most of the 10 Italian resorts we cover and more than three times La Plagne's 3. The longest we measure is 2.2 kilometres with 589 metres of vertical.
Who each one actually suits
La Plagne suits families first, and beginners close behind. The high centres put you a short walk from the lifts, much of the easy terrain is up above them, and three generations can ski at three speeds and still find each other for lunch. Couples who want charm over convenience do better in the lower traditional villages. Off the slopes there is the Olympic bobsleigh run. The après is relaxed, with the busiest bars in Plagne Centre and Belle Plagne.
Sestriere suits confident intermediates who are happy on red all day, and anyone who wants a high base and the itinerary. By our own description it is high and practical, and its strong suits are snow sure skiing, a big area and value. It also suits anyone for whom Turin is the easier flight. If the less confident members of your group need kilometres of blue, it is the wrong pick.
The bit nobody tells you
On the piste map, Sestriere looks like the harder mountain. Fifty eight percent of its piste is red, against 23 percent at La Plagne. Grades are not comparable across countries, though, and measured the two are close: 30 percent of Sestriere's piste is steeper than one in four, against 27 at La Plagne and 26 at a typical resort we cover.
Sestriere's reds average 21.1 percent. La Plagne's average 23.6. So if your group already skis La Plagne's reds happily, Sestriere's will hold no fears. And its blues, though there are fewer of them, average 12.0 percent, the second gentlest of the 55 resorts we cover. A red heavy mountain, in other words, but not a steep one.
So, which one
you have children, beginners or nervous returners in the group, you want the most skiing from the door, more black for the strong ones, and a day over at Les Arcs.
everyone skis red with confidence, you want to sleep high with 91 percent of the piste above 1,800 metres, the off piste itinerary appeals, or Turin is your airport.