La Plagne pistes to avoid
Why some runs are a pain (even in a great resort)
Every ski resort has runs you end up wishing you never took, and the same applies in La Plagne. The point of downhill skiing and snowboarding is in the name: it’s downhill so you use gravity as propulsion. Unfortunately, La Plagne has flat spots on a surprising number of runs — sections where skiers end up poling and skate-skiing, while snowboarders often have to unclip or penguin walk if they haven’t carried enough speed.
Some of the pistes below are actually fun when taken as a whole. The issue is that, if you don’t “gun” the steeper sections, you’ll end up walking. With others, it won’t matter how much speed you build — a walk is basically guaranteed in places. And at the other end of the spectrum, some runs simply aren’t graded right and are much steeper than you bought into. We detail all below.
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La Plagne problem pistes
We’ve intentionally not included green pistes, as they’re designed to be flatter for beginners. Instead, we’ve grouped the runs below into three useful categories:
Avoid: runs where you’ll likely end up walking no matter what you do. They may be graded blue but, in places, they’re effectively uphill or totally flat.
Speed: runs with steep sections before the flats — meaning you can sometimes carry enough momentum. If you’re not happy straight-lining the steep bits, expect poling, unclipping or walking.
Steepness: runs that include sections that feel significantly steeper than their grading suggests (even if the run is “OK” overall).
Runs that can force a walk, no matter what
Avoid: Route des Bauches
Montchavin Routes des Bauches: The Route des Bauches looks like a pleasant meander down the valley below the Roche de Mio sector to the Vanoise Express and the Montchavin pistes. However, in truth, it’s actually little more than a cross-country track with frequent flats and uphill sections. This is in no way a blue piste and is an absolute pain for snowboarders, while skiers will get burned out poling around.
Rather than following this run, if you find yourself in the Bauches area, take the Bauches chair and Crozats chair instead and stick to the better, steeper pistes above. These lifts will link into the Bellecôte sector and, thereafter, over to Montchavin.
Avoid: Pravendue
Montalbert Pravendue: Much like Route des Bauches, the Pravendue blue piste (accessed off the lower section of Edmond Blanchoz (formerly Cornegidouille)) looks like a pleasant trip through the woods. In reality, it has repeated flats and, at one point, a sustained uphill stretch.
If you want to reach the Plagne Montalbert pistes, take the Adrets chair instead.
Avoid: Ravine
Champagny Ravine: Chances are you won’t have any choice but to take the Ravine piste to complete the last link of the runs from the Plagne Centre side over towards the runs nearer Champagny village. If you’re coming from Bellecôte on either Geisha or Levasset, just stay and left as you near the end of the run to take the pathway towards the chair. This save you dropping down towards Verdons Sud – and Ravine.
If you do have to take Ravine, on the positive side, the ‘run’ is very short – on the negative, there isn’t a sufficient run-in to build speed, so most people end up poling or unclipping.
Thankfully, the amount of terrain in Champagny makes the quick walk towards the Borseliers chair worthwhile.
Runs where you have to keep your speed
Speed: Arolles
Bellecôte Arolles: The top section of Arolles goes skier’s right off the Colosses chair before dropping into a steeper pitch. If you don’t build enough speed here, you’ll be faced with uphill walks as the piste nears Leitchoums.
The bottom section gets gradually steeper making it much easier to maintain speed.
Speed: Blanchets
Bellecôte Blanchets: The top section of Arolles goes skier’s right off the Colosses chair before dropping into a steeper pitch. If you don’t build enough speed here, you’ll be faced with uphill walks as the piste nears Leitchoums.
The bottom section gets gradually steeper making it much easier to maintain speed.
Speed: Tunnel
Bellecôte Tunnel: There’s an irresistible temptation to ride a piste called Tunnel, but the bottom section is pancake flat as it approaches the (very shallow) pathway through the mountain. If you absolutely tank the steeper section above, you can make it through without walking — but loads of riders get stuck midway.
It doesn’t help that there’s often a crowd at the tunnel entrance, which forces you to scrub speed at exactly the wrong moment.
Speed: Sources
Bellecôte Sources: Despite being rated red, Sources can catch people out because the top section is much flatter than you’d expect. If you don’t hold speed as you cross round into Bellecôte bowl (before the first steeper pitch), you could find yourself walking the long, shallow top traverse.
Speed: Replat
Bellecôte > Montchavin Replat: The Replat is an essential link across to the Replat rope tow and the Montchavin sector / Les Arcs. You’ll almost definitely end up on it at some point.
If you want to avoid walking, you’ll need to carry speed from about midway down the pitch off the Arpette chair so you can get over the long flat before the link tow.
Speed: Levasset Haut
Bellecôte Levasset: Levasset is one of the most fun and wide blue pistes in La Plagne, but you’ll always see skiers and snowboarders walking the flatter sections. After the steeper start, the rule is simple: keep it as straight as you safely can to have any chance of getting through the long flats near the bottom by the Plateau de Carella rope tow.
Speed: Levasset Mid
Bellecôte > Champagny Levasset Mid: The Levasset mid section crosses from the Bellecôte / Roche de Mio sector into Champagny. The pitch would normally be enough to get you through, but this area is a convergence zone (Tome, Quillis and Levasset), so lift staff normally install barriers to slow people down.
That speed check means you’ll often end up walking near the restaurant and the Carella chair. Still a brilliant area, and it links directly into the Levasset Bas.
Speed: Geisha
Champagny Geisha: The Geisha is one of the best blue runs in La Plagne, but it has a flatter section that turns left then right. If you don’t carry speed into the first bend, be prepared to walk. This run is now even more accessible due to the new Roche de Mio gondola.
Alternative: at that bend, you can drop off the main run and ride the short off-piste line to join the bottom of Bozelet.
Speed: Mont de la Guerre (top)
Champagny Mont de la Guerre top section: While it probably seems odd including a red here, to reach the main Mont de la Guerre piste involves a long snaking traverse along the ridge above Champagny-en-Vanoise. If you don’t build sufficient speed, you’ll be poling or unclipping.
MdlG is one of La Plagne’s best red runs, but you need to carry speed off Bozelet to make the traverse cleanly.
Speed: Gavotte
Biolley / Aime 2000 Gavotte: Another advanced red piste that somehow makes the list, Gavotte starts with a traverse followed by a short pitch. After that, you’ll need to keep speed to get over the flat that follows.
Speed: Halles
Aime 2000 / Biolley Halles: The Halles piste is intentionally flatter to avoid the steeper middle of Edmond Blanchoz (formerly Cornegidouille). But if you don’t build speed on the way out, you’ll end up walking when the piste turns back towards the base of the Envers and Adrets chairs.
Flats are bad enough without bad kit
Quick tip: On these “speed or walk” pistes, the wrong boots, detuned edges or a sketchy setup makes everything harder. Sort hire in advance so you get better availability, better sizing and less messing around on arrival.
Use the link below or go straight to Skiset: book here.
Short sections that feel way steeper than the overall grade
Steep: Mira
Plagne Centre / Grande Rochette Mira: The intermediate blue piste Mira is a great run, but the top section is most definitely not blue. When you consider it has a longer and steeper pitch than Carina (over on the right of the piste map), it’s no surprise you’ll see so many beginners struggling here.
Taken as a whole, Mira is blue — but the top part isn’t. The good news is the steep mid-part is relatively short. If you find this section difficult, head to the sides where it’s flatter and almost always has fresher snow.
Alternative: take the Petite Rochette down in the direction of the Bellecôte bowl / Champagny / Roche de Mio gondola. Before the steep section, go right onto the motorway piste which goes around the back of the mountain.
Steep: Trieuse
Plagne Bellecôte Trieuse: The top section of Trieuse is very easy — so easy you might even need to straight-line it in places. But once you pass under the Colosses chair, it changes completely and the gradient ramps up. Beginners often struggle here.
Alternative: If you’re finding it tough on this steeper section, head right at Le Chalet des Dolines onto Rhodos instead — it’s much, much easier. This run starts just after the pass-under of Colosses.
A small surprise can turn into a big bill
Quick tip: The steeper “gotcha” sections are where tired legs, poor visibility and overconfidence collide. Proper cover means you’re not making stressful decisions if something goes wrong.
Tricky pistes: the takeout
No matter which resort you look at, you’ll always find flatter pistes dotted around the map — runs that make you question their grading. From a lift company’s perspective, it’s almost inevitable: very few pistes stay at a consistent gradient from top to bottom, so grading ends up being an average. The exact same applies to runs that have unexpected steep sections.
That said, La Plagne’s piste gradings are generally pretty accurate. This guide is just to give you a heads-up on some of the more unexpected flats and the steeper “gotcha” sections, so you can avoid those unexpected surprises.
See the best of La Plagne on (mostly) blue pistes
Once you’re riding confidently, this route is a great way to see the majority of La Plagne in a single day using mostly blue pistes. You’ll need to be comfortable linking turns in both directions, managing your speed on longer runs and stopping quickly if needed.
If those skills are in place, this is an enjoyable, low-stress way to tour the resort and get a real feel for how the different sectors connect — without getting dragged onto terrain that’s beyond your comfort zone.
Want more real-world La Plagne info?
If this guide saved you a walk, you’ll probably like our updates. We post practical La Plagne info that helps you make better calls in resort:
- Snow and visibility updates when conditions change
- Busy-week tips (queues, timing, route choices)
- New piste guides and video drops as they go live
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