Olympic luge in La Plagne

It’s the last day of the Winter Olympics in Sochi. I’m at the Olympic sliding centre, part of an Irish team preparing to hurtle down the ice at around 100km an hour. The ice is glistening, my helmet is well secured in anticipation of the G forces ahead and I’m nervously gripping the edge of a bobsleigh.

No this isn't some Irish version of Cool Runnings, the feelgood John Candy comedy about the Jamaican bobsleigh team. All of the above is true, but while the Winter Olympics were coming to a close in Russia I was in France, at La Plagne's sledging track which hosted events as part of the 1992 Winter Olympics in neighbouring Albertville.

The French family ski holiday is such a well-established concept by now that even resorts like La Plagne, whose roots go back to the dawn of Alpine snow tourism in the 1960s, need to offer something more than hundreds of kilometres of piste in the competitive market for families and groups. As these things go, a trip down a former Olympic luge and bobsleigh track for €40 a head isn’t too shabby.

Despite ticking the boxes for piste and off-piste attractions, La Plagne is probably one of the lesser-known French resorts amongst the Irish skiing fraternity and could be considered a gem for families and groups of mixed abilities. Along with the much better-known Les Arcs and thanks to the gigantic Vanoise Express cable car, it forms the Paradiski area. About 70 per cent of winter holidaymakers to La Plagne are French with Dutch, Belgians and Germans making up the remainder of regular visitors.

Paradiski claims to be the second-largest linked ski area in the world with 425km of pistes spread over 14,390 hectares. La Plagne, with its unique topography of a gently sloping plain below a steep mountain, has a nice mix of gentle green and blue slopes with a few more challenging reds and blacks. As such it’s probably best for those who consider themselves intermediate or below – meaning there’s something for everyone for most families or groups of friends.

At 2,000 metres La Plagne was enjoying quality snow when we visited towards the tail end of last season for a recce with ski operator Crystal Holidays. The first impression was of a modern resort with wide, sun-drenched family-friendly slopes with plenty of fresh snow. This meant even though it was French mid-term there was plenty of room to avoid daredevil kids and sullen teenagers, although later afternoon lift queues were an issue – it is France after all. While La Plagne, Les Arcs and Peisey-Vallandry make up the single Paradiski area it can be tricky navigating your way back up to La Plagne if you find yourself in Les Arcs in mid-afternoon, which is when those queues can become a real pain.

Despite the cautionary note, it would be a shame to visit La Plagne and not take a trip across the valley in the 1,800m long Vanoise Express lift. The four-minute journey is at about 400 metres above the valley and the double-decker cabins have a capacity of just over 200 – the trip is worth doing for the views alone.

Like most purpose-built resorts in the French Alps, some will say Les Arcs isn’t sympathetic to the mountain environment, but there’s some thought gone into construction here. The buildings are designed so as not to be seen from the valley and also the apartment complexes don’t overlook each other, so you are guaranteed either views of the slopes or the valley. During the spring sunshine, knowing you can sit out on your balcony and take in the views is a nice plus.

For the more adventurous, any trip to Paradiski will involve a trip to the top of the 3,226m Aiguille Rouge in Les Arcs. Our guide was fairly insistent that we’d need to be on the lifts early if we were to beat the crowds. Cue a litany of mini-disasters which ensured the Irish contingent reinforced national stereotypes by turning up late.

By mid -morning we were facing squeezing into a busy gondola, but the hubbub of anticipation from the other skiers, boarders and sightseers helped to raise the excitement levels. There’s options of both red and black pistes for the descent from the Aiguille Rouge back to Les Arcs. It can be a little intimidating – particularly if there are crowds around (which seems to be pretty much all of the time) but confident intermediate skiers shouldn’t be too challenged on the red Arandelieres run. The reward – besides the bragging rights – are stunning views of the entire Paradiski area.

If skiing between Les Arcs and La Plagne, it’s easy to overlook Peisey-Vallandry as a series of runs that have to be negotiated when travelling between its neighbouring resorts. But it’s home to some lovely winding runs down through the forest which you are almost guaranteed to have to yourself at all but the busiest times.

We stayed in the four-star Terra Nova hotel on a half-board package. From the outside the Terra Nova is never going to win any charm awards and the rooms, while large, are more functional than you might expect for a hotel with this rating. On the positive side are the high quality of the buffet breakfast and dinner, its location on the edge of a green piste, and the large locker room and ski hire in the basement – all features which contribute to stress-free family skiing.

There are about 50,000 beds available in the 10 villages dotted around the valleys that make up the greater La Plagne area. The Terra Nova is in Plagne Centre, which as the name suggests is at the centre of the valley, with the best facilities. The centre of centre, if you follow, is based around a couple of indoor shopping arcades, but is much more pleasant than, say, the same arrangement done in concrete at Les Menuires, in the nearby Les 3 Vallées area.

If you tire of dinner at the Terra Nova there are plenty of mid-range restaurants to choose from in the arcades. For après-ski head to Scottys at the end of the Stade Olympic run if you fancy pumping euro tunes and drinking with ski bums and chalet staff. The all-white Igloo Igloo is as tacky as the name suggests but has free wi-fi and live music.

Actually, the most fun we had had was in Bar La Cheminee which looks like a simple snack bar in a shopping centre – but appearances are deceptive. The locals – from teenage snowboarders to grizzled lift operators – pile in here from 5pm every day creating a lively but friendly atmosphere. One evening one of our fellow drinkers who had been enthusiastically lowering Jagermeister and Red Bull cocktails turned up as our waitress in the pizza joint a couple of hours later.

It was skipping the après-ski drinks another evening that saw us at the bobsleigh centre. The heavily adapted bobsleighs with padded interior are pushed slowly down the ice but they don’t take long to build up speed and for the G-forces to kick in. The on-board video camera (what attraction doesn’t have them these days?) also suggested our merry band was screaming with glee just a little too much.

I think Ireland will have to look elsewhere if we want to enter a bobsleigh team in the 2018 Winter Olympics.

HOW TO GET THERE... LA PLANGE

STAY Hotel Terra Nova (Plagne Centre, 73210 Mâcot-la-Plagne)

A week half-board at this four-star family friendly hotel, departing Dublin on January 17th next, with return flights to Chambery, starts from €849 per person.To book or for more information, call Crystal Ski on 01-4331055 or visit crystalski.ie

EAT Le Chalet des Verdons Sud (73350 Champagny-en-Vanoise)

Over the ridge above La Plagne, below Les Verdons, this looks like most chalet restaurants round these parts, but the food is in a different league. After well-executed mountain fare, enjoy the €10 Cafe Gourmand featuring excellent coffee and samples of creme brûlée, tiramisu and chocolate mousse to die for. On a sunny day the views towards Courcheval and the Alps are stunning.

Chalet de l'Arcelle (Le Charvet, Centre Commercial Le Charvet, 73700 Les Arcs) A cosy chalet with a large terrace outside, beside the commercial centre of Les Arcs 1600 and producing traditional Savoyard dishes. That means lots of meat – we asked for the vegetarian option and got fish!