Paradiski (La Plagne, Les Arcs)

La Plagne isn't one resort but a constellation — eleven villages scattered between orchard hamlets at 1,250 m and the stark, snow-sure balconies of Belle Plagne and Aime 2000 above 2,000 m. Built from the 1960s onward to revive a valley losing its mining and farming economy, it grew into one of the most-visited ski areas on the planet, and the reason is simple: nowhere serves intermediate skiers more generously.

The terrain rolls on and on — enormous, confidence-building reds and blues beneath the Bellecôte and up to glacier skiing at over 3,000 m, with proper adventure available off the back (the Bellecôte north face is a guided classic). Since 2003 the Vanoise Express, a giant double-decker cable car, has spanned the valley to Les Arcs, uniting the two giants into the Paradiski area with more than 400 km of pistes on one pass.

And La Plagne owns one attraction no other French resort can match: the 1992 Albertville Olympic bobsleigh track snakes down through the trees at La Roche, and in the evening you can ride it.