Les Arcs or Serre Chevalier: doorstep skiing, or sun and old villages
The Ski Snug teamUpdated 12 October 20265 min read
Les Arcs and Serre Chevalier are both French, both run December to April, and both are snow sure on our measure. They even have almost the same share of their piste above 1,800 metres, 73 and 72 percent. Our matching puts Serre Chevalier closer to Les Arcs than any other French resort we cover.
They are not the same holiday, though. Les Arcs is modern and easy: purpose built villages where the skis go on at the door, and half of Paradiski beyond. Serre Chevalier is relaxed and sunny: trees, sunshine and a string of old villages, flown to from Turin or Grenoble rather than Geneva. So the question is what you want around the skiing, and how much skiing you want. The numbers first.
The numbers, side by side
| Figure | Les Arcs | Serre Chevalier |
|---|---|---|
| Village altitude | 1,600 m | 1,350 m |
| Top of the skiing, measured | 3,208 m | 2,751 m |
| Linked ski area | Paradiski, 425 km, shared with La Plagne | Quoted at 250 km, not measured by us |
| Piste we measure around the villages | 200 km | 153 km |
| Green and blue | 117 km, 58% of the piste | 91 km, 60% of the piste |
| Of which green | 4.8 km | 40.8 km |
| Black | 24 km | 17 km |
| Marked off piste itinerary | 1.7 km | 1.7 km |
| Piste steeper than one in four | 26% | 27% |
| Piste gentler than 15% | 48% | 38% |
| Piste at or above 1,800 m | 73% | 72% |
| Season | December to April | December to April |
| Nearest airport | Geneva or Chambéry | Turin or Grenoble |
Several rows are level: the steep share, the itinerary, the high piste, the season. The rows that separate them are size, the top, and an odd pair, the green row and the gentle row, which point in opposite directions.
Altitude: Les Arcs is higher at the top, not in the middle
Les Arcs's skiing reaches 3,208 metres on our measure, 457 metres above Serre Chevalier's 2,751, and its village figure is 250 metres higher. On those two rows alone you would call Les Arcs the higher resort by a distance.
The middle of the mountain says otherwise. Half of Les Arcs's piste is above 2,045 metres, and half of Serre Chevalier's above 2,020, only 25 metres apart. At Les Arcs, 73 percent of the piste we measure is above 1,800 metres, up to 3,208 metres. At Serre Chevalier it is 72 percent, up to 2,751. A slightly bigger share of Serre Chevalier's piste is at or above 2,200 metres, 31 percent against 30.
So for most of the week, the skiing sits at much the same height at both. Nobody can promise snow, and on our measure both clear the bar comfortably. What Les Arcs adds is the very top: the Aiguille Rouge, whose long, high descent is the run strong skiers come for.
Size: Les Arcs is bigger, and its figure is firmer
Paradiski is 425 kilometres, shared with La Plagne across the valley by the Vanoise Express. We have checked that figure against our own measurement and it holds. Serre Chevalier's area is quoted at 250 kilometres, a figure we have not measured.
Our own measurement of the piste around each resort agrees on the order: 200 kilometres at Les Arcs, the sixth most of the 55 resorts we cover, against 153 at Serre Chevalier. That is 48 more at Les Arcs before you cross to La Plagne.
The skiing: level on steep, Les Arcs ahead on black
On the measure we trust most across resorts, the two are level: 26 percent of Les Arcs's piste is steeper than one in four, and 27 percent of Serre Chevalier's, against 26 at a typical resort we cover. Both have 1.7 kilometres of marked off piste itinerary.
117 km green and blue 58%59 km red 30%24 km black 12%
91 km green and blue 60%45 km red 29%17 km black 11%
Marked off piste itinerary, kept out of the piste totals: Les Arcs 1.7 km, Serre Chevalier 1.7 km.
Les Arcs has more at the strong end: 24 kilometres of black, the joint seventh most of the 55 resorts we cover, against 17 at Serre Chevalier. 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 rather than a verdict on any one run. Les Arcs's blacks average 30.3 percent, Serre Chevalier's 27.8, against a French average for a black of 29.6. Serre Chevalier's reds are the steeper ones, 24.9 against 24.3, the tenth steepest of the 55 we cover. Its longest piste we measure is a 3.3 kilometre black with 632 metres of vertical.
Both grade the French way, so their colours compare fairly here, and both are weighted to the easy end: 58 percent green and blue at Les Arcs, 60 at Serre Chevalier. Les Arcs has more of it in kilometres, 117 against 91.
Who each one actually suits
Les Arcs suits families, mixed groups and anyone who hates a ski bus. The skis go on at the door, and the villages differ enough to pick by character. Arc 1600 is the quiet original, at the top of a funicular from Bourg Saint Maurice, handy for anyone arriving by train. Arc 1800 is the largest and liveliest, with most of the après. Arc 1950 is the newest, car free and polished. Arc 2000 sits at the foot of the Aiguille Rouge for the keen. Couples who want something softer go down to Vallandry and Peisey, where the tree lined runs start close to the door. The après is fun rather than famous.
Serre Chevalier suits people who want the place to feel old and the days to feel sunny. By our own description it is relaxed, sunny and quiet, and its strong suits are tree skiing, sunshine and value. It suits a group that would rather stay in a village with some age to it than a purpose built one, and anyone for whom Turin or Grenoble is the easier flight.
The bit nobody tells you
Serre Chevalier has more than eight times Les Arcs's green: 40.8 kilometres against 4.8. On the piste map, that makes it look like the gentler resort, and for a first timer it is a lot of green to work through.
Measured, though, Les Arcs is the gentler mountain. Forty eight percent of its piste is gentler than 15 percent, the joint biggest share of the 55 resorts we cover, against 38 at Serre Chevalier. The reason is its blues. They average 12.6 percent, the gentlest of the 17 French resorts we cover, while Serre Chevalier's average 16.8, a shade above the French 16.2. A Les Arcs blue is a soft blue. If your group has improvers in it, people who have outgrown green but are nervous on anything steep, that matters more than the green row.
So, which one
you want the most skiing from the door, ski in ski out, the high top of the Aiguille Rouge and more black for the strong skiers, the gentlest blues we measure in France for the improvers, and a day over at La Plagne.
you want old villages over purpose built ones, sunshine and trees, a quieter week with value in mind, and Turin or Grenoble suits your flights better than Geneva.
It is bigger by any count, kinder to improvers, stronger for experts, and most of its piste sits as high as Serre Chevalier's, with the Aiguille Rouge above it. Serre Chevalier is the right answer when the village and the sun matter as much as the kilometres.