5 days of skiing in the french alps | les arcs, la plagne, paradiski

12/16-12/20
finally skiing after 20+ hours of transit (planes and trains). the accommodation was so nice. very convenient ski-in-ski-out location. literally walk maybe 100 or 200 meters, put on your skis, and you're on the slopes. and it wasn't even that expensive! picked up our rental skis and our ski pass on the morning of our first day and just tried to get back in the groove of skiing and building a mental map of the resort. definitely adjusted surprisingly quickly. thought we would stick to blue pistes but somehow ended up on some reds except it was easier than I remembered. my 2nd time skiing the alps! last time was just about 10 months ago in late february/march at a different and smaller ski resort (les deux alpes).
everything was cheaper in general. ski rentals, lift passes, accommodation, on-mountain restaurants, etc. we did arrive very early in the season. surprisingly, the resort opened just 2 days before we got there (opened on 12/14). this trip was centered around cheap flights, which were usually departing the US for Europe on 12/11. this was almost an oversight in planning because I didn't know the ski season started so late and almost planned an arrival too early.
i remember checking the livecams every day since I was stressed about the snow cover. in October, the mountain was clear. there was still grass and rocks with no sign of snow. it wasn't until mid/late November until there was actually snow. thankfully, when we arrived, the conditions on the mountain were just fine. there were still plenty of trails open and off-piste coverage was decent, though maybe in the future, late January or early February is a better choice. anyways, early season, non-holidays, and the weekdays meant the mountain was quite empty. we skied from monday-friday, and only on Friday, did we experience slightly more people. there were essentially never any lift lines, and everything went smooth. the weather was quite cooperative too. on day 1, clear skies, warm temps while exploring les arcs. day 2, clear skies, warm temps while exploring la plagne. day 3, partly clouding, warm temps while exploring la plagne again, though 3 days of warm weather in a row caused a lot of melting. day 4, snow at higher elevations with rain at lower elevations during the day, and we were planning on taking a rest day anyways. day 5, partly cloudy with lots of fresh snow, and stayed at les arcs!
so far so good. a few more days left for the trip after skiing. as an east coast resident, skiing the alps might actually be more economical than skiing the rocky mountains in the us... it's just that it takes a lot more time investment to go to Europe.