Take a Sleeper Train to This Sustainable French Ski Resort

A Paris railway station on a miserable, rainy January night feels worlds away from sunny alpine slopes and high-altitude soft powder. But vintage train carriages emblazoned with ‘Les Arcs’, ‘La Plagne’, ‘Tignes’, ‘Meribel’ and ‘Val d’Isere’ get my adrenaline flowing.

At the belle époque-style Gare de Lyon, Guillaume de Marcillac, co-founder and CEO of Pegasus Trains, is greeting passengers about to board the sleeper train. He explains that by repurposing “elderly” train stock, his company offers travellers “a credible, low-impact alternative to flying or driving to their winter sport destination”. The train, chartered by UK tour operator Travelski for the 2025-26 winter season, is the first sleeper service to the Alps in nine years — and there are plans for it to run for winters to come.

In our no-frills, six-person couchette for the nine-hour journey, I’ll admit I struggled to get comfortable on my hard lower berth. I’m awoken by occasional loud rattling and crunching brakes in the dead of night, but it feels a small price to pay for a more responsible way to travel. And on arrival, we’re greeted by the joys of Aime-La Plagne station: a Christmas card come to life; a silvery moon still hangs overhead as we crunch through thick snow past frosted windows hung with icicles. Revived by the crisp, early-morning air, I wander over to meet my transfer for the 20km journey to the snow-sure, high-altitude resort of La Plagne.

Once there, I make straight for Ski Hut, which, unlike state-of-the-art rental outlets, repurposes and hires out secondhand ski and snowboard equipment at much lower prices. Adult skis, poles, boots and helmet cost €10 (£8.50) a day, while children’s are €5 (£4) – much less than La Plagne’s average prices of €35 (£30) per adult and €15 (£13) per child.

Ski Hut is just one of the eco-conscious initiatives to be found in La Plagne, which has received a prestigious Flocon Vert (Green Snowflake) from Mountain Riders, a non-profit organisation committed to protecting the alpine environment. The designation is awarded to destinations with a proven commitment to sustainability and the reduction of their carbon footprint. La Plagne’s efforts in this area have included creating greater accessibility and inclusion for people with disabilities, via adaptive ski lessons and providing adaptive equipment.

“Our main problem is the huge carbon footprint left by so many cars and coaches, especially at weekends,” says Estelle Chatellier, who oversees the Flocon Vert label in the area on behalf of Mountain Riders. She tells me this is an issue across the seven resorts and four traditional villages that make up La Plagne.

A valley lift from Aime-La-Plagne station to Plagne Centre (2,000 metres) is currently under discussion, Estelle tells me, and would do much to relieve congestion, as would increased use of existing free seasonal shuttle buses between villages and bottom stations.

Of La Plagne’s 225km of pistes, 80% are blue and red, making it one of the best ski resorts in the world for families, beginners and intermediates, like me. The town centre is surrounded by wide bowls of blue runs and almost every hotel and apartment block is close to the slopes, including the ski in, ski out PopAlp hotel, where I’m staying and which has a vintage gondola hanging in the hall. In a previous life, the pop art-inspired property was Chalet Hotel Christina, La Plagne’s first hotel, which opened its doors in 1961.

Kitted out with second-life skis and boots, I take in the spectacular views of peaks and valleys from the summit of 2,508-metre-high Grande Rochette. From here, skiers and snowboarders of all abilities are catered for, with a choice of an easier blue or more challenging red run down the mountain. 

My ski legs are on the rusty side, so I join the busy Mira route, a long, wide, family-friendly run that winds its way back towards Plagne Centre. I glide down, stopping now and then to gulp in the crisp air and marvel at the scenery. I resolve to return next morning once the weekend day skiers are gone and piste bashers have created silky smooth slopes.

White Knuckles and Nutcrackers

La Plagne is part of Paradiski — 425km of interconnected skiing across seven peaks, with more than 180km of cross-country tracks and 40km of ski touring trails — and it has a direct link to Les Arcs. There’s superb off piste and backcountry skiing, especially deep in wild Vanoise National Park, while marked black pistes off the glaciers are a welcome challenge for advanced skiers.

Opened last season, the Roche de Mio Gondola forms the centrepiece of a completely refurbished lift link that offers faster connections from Plagne Centre and Plagne Bellecôte to the Live 3,000 summit. Aérolive, a unique open-air cabin experience, offers 360-degree views all the way up to the Live 3,000 panoramic viewpoint, but it’s temporarily closed during my visit for safety reasons. A Category 4 avalanche alert has gone out and skiers and snowboarders are warned not to venture off-piste.

I don’t need telling twice. Instead, I seek my thrills on a bobsleigh run that was built for the Winter Olympics in 1992 and will be put back in service when the Games return to France in 2030. I’ve chosen an amateur’s alternative to the 75mph bob racing capsule, or the half-sitting, half-lying solo luge. The Bob Raft is a four-person sled that travels at a mere 50mph down 1.5km of steeply banked ice walls, including 19 bends.

“You’ll get the thrill of the run with less of the terror,” promises British-born Charlotte Crawcour, logistics manager at La Plagne Olympic Bobsleigh Track, who books me in. “Bob racing is seriously mad; we had an 85-year-old man from England recently, he was a former fighter pilot and loved it.” The experience is the longest 90 seconds of my life. A blur of near-vertical ice walls flash by while I scream like a banshee, cowering as low as possible inside the sled. Coming to a surprisingly gentle standstill, I step out unsteadily but within minutes I’ve recovered enough to pose for a boastful selfie.

Swapping high-octane experiences for something a little calmer, I set off with local mountaineer-environmentalist Raphael Chenal on a strenuous morning trek through thick virgin snow. We explore La Cembraie, a nature reserve set at an altitude of 2,000 metres, only accessible on snowshoes.

Hidden away from nearby ski slopes, the reserve’s grove of Swiss stone pines grows on gypsum-rich limestone rock, creating a remarkable habitat for speckled nutcrackers. These absentminded little birds are helping to regenerate the forest by hiding away pine seeds to feed on in the winter and proceeding to forget where they’ve put at least 20% of them. The forgotten seeds are sufficient to repopulate the forest with new shoots, Raphael explains. “Nature is truly remarkable,” he adds.

Eventually, we turn back, lest we disturb the reserve’s other inhabitants: black grouse, which build themselves a kind of igloo in which to keep warm and stay safe from predators. Following Raphael along a short cut back down to La Plagne Centre, I edge my way slowly across the steep piste as skiers flash by on either side. It’s an experience only slightly less terrifying than white-knuckle bob rafting, but worth it to see La Plagne’s wild side.