Beginner
Although some may consider the slopeside convenience of purpose built altitude villages, where the nursery slopes are just a few steps from your accommodation, more convenient; others who are more concerned about staying in a traditional Alpine village with its food shops and little locally-owned and run cafes and restaurants more important. If you’re in the latter camp Champagny is a good choice for your first ski holiday with nursery slopes up at snowsure 2,000m reached by the cable car from the village. There’s a restaurant there too where you can relax after your exertions.
Intermediate
Intermediates can find few better ski areas in the world than the vast Paradiski ski domain with its 200 easy to intermediate graded runs up to 7km long including the wonderful long cruising trails down over a 1000m of vertical at the end of the day back to the village. There’s a great variety of terrain too, ranging from classic winding tree-lined runs on lower slopes to wide powder cruises above the treeline. Popular runs at the easier end of the scale include the blue La Rossa and Les Crépines pistes Head over the Roche de Mio (2700m) to make the La Plagne and Paradiski connections but remember to leave adequate time to get your lift connections back at the end of the day if you do head over to Les Arcs. For more challenging red graded runs on the local slopes try Kamikaze or Hari Kiri off the Verdons lift.
Advanced
Nearly two fifths of the terrain above Champagny is rated advanced, which is an unusually high percentage, with the 4km long Rochu run one of the most challenging. However the off-piste terrain is also extensive, with trails having delightful names like Dentiste. Beyond these local slopes the Paradiski region covers a vast 10,000 hectares containing nearly 40 black runs and a massive amount of off piste routes to tackle with a mountain guide.
Snowboard / Freestyle Skiing
Champagny is one of three of La Plagne’s 10 ski villages to maintain its own terrain park, which is located in the heart of its slopes accessed by the cable car from the village. Across la Plagne and Paradiski as a whole the vast network of high speed lifts, the hundreds of trails and off-piste routes with few flats and the 14 high speed quad or six-seater chairlifts make getting around the region quick and effortless. Besides Champagny'’s own park, freestylers will find two others above Belle Plagne and Montchavin and a half pipe above Bellecote and a new board cross course.
Cross-Country Skiing
Champagny is one of the leading cross country ski centres in France and The Alps. ‘Le site nordique de Champagny en Vanoise’ is a first class venue in one of the prettiest parts of the resort around the Champagny-Le-Haut plateau. There’s a choice of five cross country skiing trails, with a combined total length of 22km, which run across the plateau to the base of the valley. The trails are at a very snowsure height above 2000m. You will need to use the ski lifts to access some parts of the network for which you can purchase a pedestrian pass at about a fifth of the cost of the Alpine ski equivalent.
Although Champagny is one of the lower resort villages making up the giant las Plagne ski area, most of its skiing takes place above 2000m – a very snow sure altitude for the Alps – accessed direct by the cable car. The lifts continue up to over 3000m and the Bellecote glacier which was formerly open for summer skiing. In addition, snow cannons on the Les Borseliers and Le Bozelet pistes down to the village help to maintain the ski route back to Champagny all season long.