Arc 1950

Arc 1950 is one of the villages that make up Les Arcs, sitting high above Bourg-Saint-Maurice in the Tarentaise. The whole village was built in stone and timber and is closed to cars. What brings photographers up here is the view. Mont Blanc and the peaks along its ridge fill the northern horizon, about 30 kilometres off across the valley, and on a clear day the white ridge line dominates the view. The village itself gives you tiered wooden balconies and a pedestrian square to work. You can also ride the lifts above the village to get clear the of the roof lines, which puts the valley in the middle and Mont Blanc across the back. Morning is the safer bet for a clean summit, before cloud builds over the high peaks. Late afternoon turns the snow warm and gold if the sky stays clear. A longer lens pulls Mont Blanc in tight and stacks it against the nearer ridges, or you can go with a wide lens and you the sweep of the whole range instead. Getting here means driving up from Bourg-Saint-Maurice or riding the funicular to Arc 1600 and connecting on. Lifts run in the summer season as well as winter, though you will want to check what is running before you plan your shooting adventue. It is a working resort, so expect company (tourists in the summer and skiers in the winter) on the slopes in any season. (Bourg-Saint-Maurice, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France)