OPENING OF THE WINTER SEASON IN CDA'S MOUNTAIN AREAS

THIS WINTER, GET OUT
AND STOCK UP ON #PUREXPERIENCES

After two seasons spoiled by the health crisis, which sparked the forced closure of a large proportion of mountain activities, the 2021-2022 winter season promises a wealth of experiences in Compagnie des Alpes’s (CDA) 10 mountain areas. The crisis has failed to dent the commitment of CDA’s teams, which have spared no effort. Investment in the French Alps has totalled nearly €170 million over the past two financial years, for equipment facilitating access to exceptional areas and views, together with upgraded, extended and improved offers providing everyone, whatever their tastes or group, with intense and very special experiences.

CDA is keen to satisfy the need for the open air, sharing and life experiences – an aspiration magnified immensely by Covid.

A full stock of experiences for everyone: new features in the Alps this winter

LA PLAGNE > To the La Plagne website

To mark the resort’s 60th anniversary, the La Plagne Centre snow front has been transformed and is now open to beginners and children alike, with a new area dedicated to learning to ski and fun themed runs around the Indians’ covered ski lift. For lovers of skiing and spectacular views, the new Lovatière chairlift will take you to the emblematic summit of Les Verdons at 2,500m during winter and summer, while the Funiplagne departure station has been redesigned for greater comfort and better management of visitor flows to La Grande Rochette.
A truly connected resort, with the Yuge app that now helps more than 600,000 users prepare for their stay and get ready to ski down the slopes, La Plagne will also offer performance fans a timed and filmed slalom, with the results available for free on the app so that experiences can be relived and shared.


LES ARCS    > To the Les Arcs website
Ranked as one of the world’s 5 most popular resorts*, Les Arcs offers visitors a chance to discover the wonders of its exceptional natural site with a game dubbed La Bonne Piste. This is a “natural treasure” hunt that will more than likely take competitors to the area’s highest point, with its awe-inspiring bearded vulture: after the installation of the Footbridge (2019) and the renovation of the departure station (2020), the Aiguille Rouge has rounded out its transformation with a panoramic terrace, an eco-responsible café and a zipline swooping over the legendary old Flying Kilometre ski run, either solo or in tandem, at 130 km/hr. The resort is also developing two multi- activity passes, “Essential” and “Premium”, offering quick and special access to ski lifts, plus a brand new Pedestrian+ Pass: everything you need to easily enjoy all the summits and their many activities, especially the Carreley panorama with its giant letters spelling out “Les Arcs” and its swing.
* Laurent Vanat report 2019

PEISEY VALLANDRY    > To the Peisey-Vallandry website
The goal of this season’s latest developments is to make Vallandry a must-go area for everyone. The list of new features includes a brand new eponymous gondola lift that will take skiers and pedestrians to the snow front at 2,138m in just 6 minutes.
Once at the summit, beginners will be able to sample the joys of skiing in complete safety thanks to the three new graded areas, before enjoying the panoramic terrace and discovering the area’s history and heritage in the new relaxation area, plus more than 30 species of local fauna and flora in the Museum of Mountain Animals developed in partnership with the Vanoise National Park. It’s a great way to learn while having fun, before returning to the area’s numerous ski, cross-country ski and hiking trails.

TIGNES    > To the Tignes website
In Tignes, visitors will at last be able to take full advantage of the developments completed before the health crisis, particularly in the heart of the Tignes-Les Brévières resort, which has been home to a brand new multi- service building since winter 2019-2020. More accessible and better connected to the high-altitude area, this area has been brought closer to Tignes 1800 by the new Brévières chairlift. Streamlining the runs from and back to the resort is also key, with a new cord drag lift to Tignes Le Lac and an experimental electric bus operated jointly with Val d’Isère.
Launched in winter 2018-2019, the world’s highest gondola lift terrace will welcome new visitors hungry for a unique experience, with an exceptional panoramic view and a discovery trail around the area’s natural heritage, conducted with the Vanoise National Park as part of the Altitude Expériences project.

VAL D’ISERE    > To the Val d’Isère website
Val d’Isère is the perfect spot for visitors to unwind and recharge their batteries: at the Village Perdu, a new forest playground and relaxation area featuring suspended walkways and Alpine larch huts; a hike on the new Trifollet trail; on the panoramic Bellevarde terrace with its orientation tables and binoculars; or in the new La Daille relaxation area.
The Funival has taken advantage of its new lease of life to equip itself with a new express purchase area, while the sale of ski passes has been digitalised throughout the resort – it now takes less than three minutes to buy a pass. Thanks to the new version of the Val d’Isère Ski app, real-time and geolocalised information on shuttles, waiting times at lifts, suggested routes and itinerary calculations will also allow you to optimise your time and activities, and to stop off at the new photo points.

LES MENUIRES    > To the Menuires website
Destination La Masse at an altitude of 2,804m, in one of France’s two fastest gondola lifts, taking just 8 minutes to reach the summit – rather than 25 minutes previously – in a panoramic cabin. Open to skiers and walkers alike, it offers access to stunning views and wilderness areas to spot the local wildlife. It is also the starting point of many ski slopes accessible not only to the more athletic, with nearly 5km of downhill runs covering a vertical drop of more than 1,000m, but also to beginners.
In this area, 85% of which is at an altitude of more than 1,800 metres, all visitors will find something to suit them, with 5 fun zones, the Friendly Natural Park designed with the Vanoise National Park and dedicated to local fauna, as well as 28 km of marked and prepared cross-country ski trails.

MERIBEL    > To the Méribel website
The emblematic Olympe gondola lift linking Brides-les-Bains and Méribel, commissioned for the 1992 Olympic Games, has undergone a thorough technical and aesthetic renovation.
Nearly a quarter of the cabins have been restored as veritable works of art, highlighting local values.
In addition, to increase fluidity, ski traffic and accessibility, the flows of visitors and residents is also facilitated by the developments made for the 2023 Alpine World Ski Championships, with a footbridge in the hamlet of Raffort and a new Tunnel Roc de Fer, to move easily even during the competition period. Finally, the little explorers will find their happiness with the animal trail while the more adventurous will try the Vertical Xperience on a steep ungroomed slope: sensations to be shared, on the spot and via photo frames on the summits.

SERRE CHEVALIER    > To the Serre Chevalier website
This season, Serre Chevalier, “the pioneer”, is celebrating the 80th anniversary of the inauguration of its gondola lift, which marked the birth of an internationally renowned ski area: that heritage has been skilfully maintained and enhanced, with the renovation this winter of its historic station, in its original spirit.
Thanks to the giant zipline inaugurated last summer between the Grand Serre (2,491m) and Grand Alpe (2,193m), everyone will also be able to (re)discover the ski area, alone or in groups, and fly over the slopes at more than 100km/hr before setting off just as quickly on skis with &Joy, which facilitates access to nearly 20 ski lifts in the area. Something to share with friends: Serre Chevalier is renewing its Ou!k special offer, launched in 2019- 2020 (“the more you are, the less you pay to ski”), as well as its Skipass le deal promotion on 11 and 12 December, with prices inversely proportional to the number of people registering.

GRAND MASSIF (Flaine, Samoëns, Morillon, Sixt-Fer-à-Cheval) > To the Grand Massif website
Linked to the whole valley by the free ski-bus, the new Vercland gondola lift will offer a second access point to Samoëns 1600, complementary to the Grand Massif Express. The high-altitude area now boasts entertainment and original activities including night skiing, but also the aperitif dinner on Friday evenings, from the end of January to mid-March, suspended high above the Giffre valley...
The other Grand Massif resorts are not to be outdone, and the 62 ski lifts connecting them will allow you to take advantage of the 139 marked runs of the fifth-largest ski area without taking off your skis, not to mention quirky activities such as snooc – half way between sledging and ski touring – in Morillon, or the Gravity Zero bungee jump in Flaine, inaugurated last summer.


 

The simple way to… french summits

TRAVELSKI EXPRESS
First departure on 26 December 2021! CDA is reopening the rail service from London-Saint Pancras to the Alps, with the Travelski Express. Offered as a dynamic “door-to-door” package including transport to Bourg-Saint-Maurice and Moûtiers, transfers to its mountain resorts, accommodation and ski passes, it will run every weekend during the season. The new offer, now available exclusively from its distributor Travelski, allows CDA to continue strengthening its international distribution and to organise a seamless journey for customers choosing to stay in the French Alps.


SKI À LA CARTE
Ski in the most beautiful resorts in the Alps with a single lift pass, simply and quickly: it’s possible thanks to Ski à la Carte. Joining Ski à la Carte means free access to the ski lifts of more than 18 resorts, alone or in groups, and without having to stop at the ticket office, as well as discounts of 10% to 40% on ski passes. Available in all CDA ski areas but also in the 3 Vallées resorts, Ski à la Carte will be a must-have for winter 2021-2022 to enjoy the best of skiing without any worries! - www.skialacarte.fr


As a driving force in the “Made in France” and “Made in the Alps” movements, CDA’s plans and activities contribute directly and indirectly to the dynamism and economy of the ecosystem of the areas in which it operates, helping co-construct the future of the mountains today and in the long term.
 

2021-2022 season, dates by area

 

La Plagne	From 11 December 2021 to 30 April 2022
Les Arcs	From 11 December 2021 to 30 April 2022
Peisey-Vallandry	From 11 December 2021 to 30 April 2022
Tignes	From 27 November 2021 to 8 May 2022 (Glacier open from 16 October)
Val d’Isère	From 27 November 2021 to 1 May 2022
Les Menuires	From 4 December 2021 to 22 April 2022
Méribel	From 4 December 2021 to 22 April 2022
Serre Chevalier	From 11 December 2021 to 24 April 2022 (Pre-opening of the core of the area on 4/5 December)
Grand Massif	From 11 December 2021 to 18 April 2022