The Grande Rochette piste Écartee blue run is traditionally one of the most popular in the whole of La Plagne and is served by the equally busy Bergerie chair.

Ski schools tend to gather on this run from 10am onwards but it’s almost always busy anyway as it’s very popular with beginner / intermediate riders. Consequently, if you want to avoid queues and a cramped run, you’re often best to time doing this trail over the quieter lunchtime period.

Were it not for how busy this run gets, it would easily feature in La Plagne’s best intermediate pistes – but the Bergerie lift queues and amount of piste traffic make it hard to recommend.

The gradient of the Écartée piste is mostly very forgiving. There are two steeper pitches near the top (it’s possible to air off the start of both) before the run becomes very flat as it passes Plagne Villages and Plagne Soleil. There are another two slightly steeper pitches just before and after the road bridge. If the second of these is slightly intimidating, you can always branch right and take a little-known (and even less-used) pathway through the trees.

Both these Écartée tracks meet in the same place at the bottom of the Bergerie chair which you can ride back up. Alternatively, you could also head towards Plagne 1800 on Loup Garou or take the Boulevard chair up to Plagne Centre.

Écartee blue piste: The positives and negatives from our original piste guide.

Connecting pistes and lifts: Where you can go next once you finish Écartee.

Écartee piste stats: Length, altitude and gradient at a glance.