CHAMPAGNY VILLAGE

Champagny is an authentic mountain village with a character that still reflects its early farming origins. A beautiful picturesque resort with lively après ski, where traditional Savoie life and modern tourism mesh seamlessly together. Champagny is a refreshingly non-commercialized part of the aptly named Paradiski area, a huge interlinked ski area of 420km of pistes, that includes Champagny, La Plagne & Les Arcs. Having been championing Champagny ourselves for the past 20 odd years it was great to see that The Daily Mail Ski Magazine voted Champagny ‘The Best Unspoiled Alpine Ski Village in France’ a few years ago.

SKIING AND BOARDING IN CHAMPAGNY

Champagny is a very attractive resort with a combination of pretty tree lined trails and more open, exposed runs, excellent mountain restaurants and a very friendly local ski school. The real beauty of it is that having been left alone by all the big tour operators, Champagny is less well known than many of the other resorts in this area making the Champagny side of La Plagne noticeably less busy, so it is quieter and much more pleasant, especially during peak weeks.

Champagny is an excellent ski area in its own right, as well as being part of the huge ski area now known as Paradiski – the combined area of La Plagne and Les Arcs. It has a modern cable car that whisks skiers to nearly 2000m in just 8 minutes. Here, there are several nursery slopes and a restaurant so you can watch your kids in ski school whilst you grab a coffee or a bite to eat.

From the top of the nursery slopes, there is a modern 6 man chair lift, La Borseliers, which takes you to three brilliant blue runs in the middle of the resort: La Rossa, Le Sérac and Les Crépines. These are perfect for beginners to progress onto as they are long and wide, so you get a nice long ski before you have to get on the lift again. Alongside these runs there is a board cross park and plenty of easy off piste, as well as the now famous (locally at least!) ‘Dentiste’ off piste run which is fantastic in fresh powder and worth the small walk up to get to. *

Champagny is very conveniently located to take advantage of the huge interlinked Paradiski area, just 3 lifts or approximately 20 minutes from La Plagne Centre, the heart of La Plagne. The lift companies are fantastic at maintaining the linking pistes to La Plagne and with the help of several strategicly placed snow canons, the crucial linking pistes of La Rossa and Bozelet are kept open right through the season

Skiers and boarders wishing to put in a bit of mileage can jump on the new high speed ‘Carella’ chair lift that goes up from the heart of Champagny to the top of the ‘Roche de Mio’ which at 2700m is one of the highest points in the resort. From here you drop down to the La Plagne side of the ski area and this is also the fastest route to the ‘Vanoise Express’ which links you into Les Arcs.

On the far left hand side of the resort, Champagny offers some more difficult red slopes, in particular the infamous ‘Kamikaze’ and the ‘Hari Kiri’ that come off the top of the steep ‘Verdons’ lift. Beside these runs there is also a load of dips and bowls giving more great off piste. From Les Verdons you can take either of the red runs that return you to the village, Mont de La Guerre with yet more brilliant off piste or Les Bois, with its snow canons assuring a good early snow base and helping to keep the piste in good condition late into the season.

* N.B. IMPORTANT – Please remember that all off piste skiing or boarding is undertaken at your own risk, please get local advice on snow and weather conditions. We always recommend that you hire a local guide to ensure your safety.

HANDY LINKS

SKI and BOARD HIRE

We have been working with Patrick at Skimium Centre Sport for several years now. The shop is conveniently located right in the village centre and just 50m from the cable car. The staff provide a friendly, knowledgeable service and more importantly the quality and choice of equipment is excellent too! All our guests receive a huge discount and no need to pre-order on line, they prefer to fit you once you arrive in the shop. – the rates offered are better than the on line ones too. Prices also include a helmet at no extra charge and our guests also get free overnight equipment storage, which saves you clomping to and from our chalets in your big plastic ski boots!

CLICK BELOW for Skimium Centre Sports Eqt Rental Price List

SKI LESSONS AND GUIDING

The excellent and very well run local ESF Ski School is situated at the foot of the main Champagny gondola and provides excellent instruction, with plenty of patient, English speaking instructors. We highly recommend them – they are not like many other ESF ski schools! You can book the Piou Piou snow garden for the little ones and also group and private lessons for the older ones. You can also book guides for skiers and boarders wanting to explore the fantastic off piste or simply be guided around the massive Paradiski Area

CLICK BELOW for Champagny ESF Ski School Lessons and Guiding

SKI PASSES

You can pre-order your ski passes through us and we can have them waiting for you in your chalet for when you arrive – no queuing and you can pay from the comfort of your own chalet. We match all discounts offered in resort and will advise you at the time of purchase. Champagny is directly linked into the huge La Plagne and Paradiski areas. The La Plagne area pass, with 225km of pistes, is perfectly adequate for most skiers but for some you might want to take on the whole Paradiski Area, which offers a whopping 425km of pistes. This also includes the unforgettable Vanoise Express Cable Car, the biggest in Europe and carrying you at over 1000 feet above gorge below – which you can now see through a glass bottom in the cable car.

LINK BELOW for Champagny, La Plagne & Paradiski Pass prices & Information

SKIING AND BOARDING IN THE LA PLAGNE & PARADISKI AREA

LINK BELOW for Champagny, La Plagne and Paradiski Piste Maps

The Paradiski ski area covers 18 resorts with 425km of endless, finely groomed pistes catering for all abilities in one of the biggest interlinked ski areas in Europe. There are well over 100 blue pistes, which means that even novice skiers and boarders can travel vast distances around the whole area. For the majority of skiers staying in Champagny, you will find you have plenty of skiing in the La Plagne area and you will not find it necessary to ski for the 2 hours needed to ski in Les Arcs. However, for good skiers, Les Arcs is worth a visit, if nothing more than being able to experience the impressive Vanoise Express Cable Car that speeds you across a spectacular gorge linking La Plagne to Les Arcs. It has given the area a new dimension with the addition of many more red and black runs and the glacier on the Aiguille Rouge. Les Arcs also offers several very pretty tree lined slopes around the villages of Vallandry and Peisey Nancroix which are well worth a visit. Just make sure you give yourself enough time to get all the lifts back to Champagny at the end of the day or it will be a very expensive taxi ride!

One of the great things about this area is the ongoing commitment to investment in the piste and lift system which means they are constantly improving the already brilliant facilities. The high altitude of the resorts topped by three glaciers as well as the many snow canons guarantees superb skiing until late April.

PARADISKI RESORT STATS

425km pistes (225km in La Plagne and 200km in Les Arcs)
18 interlinked villages & resorts
12 Greens
135 Blues
77 Reds
36 Blacks
4 Snow Parks, 3 Boarder Cross, half pipe, waterslide and 2 Big Air Bags
417 snow canons
130 lifts
Longest slope 15kms
Classic Runs – North face of Bellecôte Glacier in La Plagne & Aiguille Rouge in Les Arcs
3 Glaciers – Bellecôte, Chiaupe and Varet
2 peaks at over 3000m Aiguille Rouge and Aiguille Bellecôte

NEARBY NON SKIING ACTIVITIES

20m Ice Climbing Tower at Champagny L’Haut, 5 mins drive from Champagny en Vanoise [link]
The Colarado ‘1 mile’ Luge run in La Plagne Centre [link]
Tandem Paragliding from the top slopes of Champagny en Vanoise [link]
Olympic Bobsleigh Run at La Plagne 1800, experience speeds of upto 120km/h [link]
Dog sledding in the valley of Champagny L’Haut [link]
The Vanoise Express ‘Vertigo’ experience, stand on a glass bottomed cable car 380m above the gorge [link]
Spa and Wellbeing – aromatherapy, herbal treatments, essential oils in the ‘Résidence d’Alpages de Champagny’ [link]
Outdoor swimming pool with Spas and saunas in La Plagne Bellecote [link]
Snow Park in La Belle Plagne also airbags for your big aerials [link]
Experience an icy evening in the Igloo Hotel and Restaurant in La Plagne Village [link]
Cross Country Skiing in the beautiful valley of Champagny L’Haut [link]
Bodyboarding on an airboard in the snow at Montalbert [link]
Ice Skating Rink in Pralagnon [link]

CHAMPAGNY – APRES SKI, SHOPPING AND AMENITIES

Champagny is a great mixture of quiet, traditional village and lively ski resort. There is a central village square lined with a variety of Cafes, Pizzerias and Crêperies where you can enjoy the sunshine on the centre terrace by the mountain stream, especially warm later in the season. There is also a very nice gift shop selling crafts, novelties and local souvenirs. Just opposite the centre square is ‘Le Petit Bouquetin’ a restaurant serving traditional French cuisine and ‘La Timbale’, a lively apres ski bar with a sunny terrace and a pool room upstairs. It also plays most of the big sporting events on its big screen and you’ll also find DJ’s, live bands or a singer on one night most weeks. It also has a quieter restaurant area which offer a selection of traditional Savoyard dishes as well as a varied à la carte menu, including excellent home made burgers and fries. The restaurant is child friendly and they cater for large or small groups and somewhere we happily recommend to our guests.

Right opposite La Timbale is a very cosy, compact and extremely welcoming bar where you will find mostly locals, a good place to mingle and practice your French over a glass of Genepi, the regional tipple.

For a bit of late night dancing there is a French discothèque called ‘Le Galaxy’, that is open from midnight till 5am, perfect if you just don’t want the night to end!

There are usually several concerts during the season, often reggae bands, at the ‘Salle des Fetes’ which is a short walk from the chalet. There is also a mini cinema which has English screenings throughout the season.

A short drive out of the village going further into the mountains brings you up to the small hamlet of Champagny L’Haut at the gateway to the Vanoise National Park. It is usually quite a bit colder here but very snowy and beautiful. There is a professionally run ice climbing tower, the only one of its kind in Europe, organised snow shoe walks and numerous ski de fond trails. It is also a fantastic place to take your kids sledging. If you fancy less strenuous activities then you must try the superb refuge and restaurant ‘Le Bois’ which serves fabulous hearty foods, hot chocolate and vin chaud.

PLEASE NOTE – These are our opinions and for guidance only. These are independent businesses subject to change. Please do your own research and use at your own discretion.