Green practice slopes above Chamonix, reached by gondola. Choose this learning area before stepping up to the longer Parsa blues.
Practice liftsFour green slopes, a funicular and a drag lift
Get there
Start at Planpraz gondola in Chamonix and ride to the 2,000 m station. Take Funi 2000 to the Plateau 2000 learning slopes. You do not need the extra cable car to the Brévent summit.
Finish your session
Return to Planpraz and ride the gondola down. Keep the descent to Chamonix out of your ski plan.
Good to know. The operator’s beginner fare requires proof of a lesson with an instructor. Ask your school which pass to buy before booking a full-area ticket.
A dedicated practice area opposite the gondola arrival at Mont d’Arbois. This is where to work on first turns before deciding on the longer runs down to Le Bettex.
Practice liftsCovered magic carpet and a drag lift
Get there
From Le Bettex, take the Bettex–Mont d’Arbois gondola to the learning area at the top. Arriving by train? Travel to Le Fayet, then use Le Valléen and L’Alpin to reach Le Bettex.
Finish your session
Use the gondola for the ride back to Le Bettex. If you want to ski down instead, ask your instructor about the green Chateluy route on the learning-area map.
Good to know. Le Bettex is above Saint-Gervais town. The boarding pin is at Le Bettex, and the practice slopes are at the gondola’s upper station.
Start here
Bettex–Mont d’Arbois gondola
4383 route du Bettex, Saint-Gervais-les-Bains, France
Practise on the Solaise learning slopes and enjoy a mountain setting without committing to a ski descent into the village.
Practice liftsMagic carpets in a dedicated learning area
Get there
Board Solaise gondola at Val d’Isère’s village snow front. At the top, head to the Pim Pam Poum carpet area. Olympique, the neighbouring village lift, goes to a different mountain.
Finish your session
Return to the Solaise gondola and ride down to the village. The red Plan descent is a different choice from staying in the learning area.
Good to know. Ask your ski school about the Pim Pam Poum beginner pass and your lesson meeting point. You do not need a full tour of Solaise for a first lesson.
Start here
Solaise gondola
Village snow front, Rue de la Face, Val d’Isère, France
Start with the whole outing: how you reach the run, what the descent looks like and how you get back. A village blue and a long mountain blue are different days out.
The beginner ski holiday guide compares the bases behind these learning areas. For children’s lessons, start with our family ski resort guide: the school meeting point may be somewhere different from the public practice slope.
Useful before you book
Easy skiing, explained.
Is a blue ski run suitable for a beginner?
It depends on what you mean by beginner. For your first day, choose a learning area with short slopes and practice lifts. Once you can stop and link turns, a blue may be a next step. The approach, steeper sections and route home matter as much as the colour.
What’s the difference between green and blue slopes?
On French ski maps, green is the easiest marked category and blue is the next step. Swiss resorts commonly use blue as their easiest main-piste colour and provide separate nursery areas. A green or blue label does not tell you that every part of the outing will feel easy.
Look for a learning area close to your accommodation or a direct shuttle, a ski school with an accessible meeting point and a return you can manage when tired. Check the final walk in ski boots. A short, repeatable practice slope can be more useful than a resort advertising hundreds of kilometres.
Do I need a full ski pass for a first lesson?
Often there is a beginner-area ticket or a lesson package, but the arrangements vary. Les Esserts has a free practice carpet; that does not make its longer lift free. Plateau 2000’s beginner fare requires lesson evidence. Tell your school which area you’ll use, and ask which ticket covers both the lift up and your return.
Which beginner slopes are near Geneva?
Plateau 2000 in Chamonix and Les Marmottons above Saint-Gervais are covered here with starting-lift maps. The Geneva guide also describes Prarion’s practice area. The five blue runs in that guide are for a later step once you can already link turns.
By BlueRuns · Area and access sources checked 25 October 2026. Use each area’s official links for opening dates, lesson arrangements and the last lift down.
