As the gondola leaves bucolic Champagny for the upper villages of La Plagne, skiers take one last whiff of the crisp, hay-scented alpine air and give a parting glance to the rustic barns of timber, stone and stucco.

Far away, on the other side of the massive mountain, skiers on their way to the lifts walk past cows and sheep in the farming community of Montchavin. A cock crows. Up mountain, more skiers still are stepping out of slopeside apartments and timeshares to become part of the big mix that keeps La Plagne’s 110 lifts humming.

A total of ten villages, six new (since 1961) and four old, make up this mammoth area that is best known for its endless intermediate terrain (70 blue runs!) and family appeal.

La Plagne is the single largest ski area in Savoie. From the top of the Bellecôte, at 10,660 feet, you can ski over glacier, across pasture land, past the tiny hamlet of Les Bauches and through pine forests before reaching the apple trees of Montchavin 6,500 vertical feet later. It is as scenic and serene as skiing can be. If you don’t have a guide or instructor to lead you off the centrally-located runs, try one of five different "Plagne Evasion" itineraries that wind through the Plagne Bellecôte, Belle Plagne, Les Coches and Montchavin sectors. Each itinerary, chosen for its scenery, snowcover and level of difficulty, is identified by the silhouette of an animal and marked with special signs.

For all its cruising runs and children’s terrain gardens, La Plagne is not without excitement. The blacks off Bellecôte are scenic but steep - their vertical drop tops 3,000. A smoother, but even faster, descent can be had on the kilometre lancé, the speed skiing run above Aime la Plagne. If, on the other hand, you want something to hold onto while careening down a mountainside, the Olympic bobsled run might be a better choice. You can take a ride in an authentic bobsled, piloted by a driver and a brakeman or go it alone in an inflatable bobraft.

Modern-day thrills aside, La Plagne still hews closely to its heritage. Many ski instructors shepherd livestock in theoff-season; ancient stone shepherd huts dot the slopes; and rustic mountain restaurants, like Arpette, La Bergerie and Le Loup Garou serve hearty traditional fare. True, there are enclosed shopping arcades, 370 lift operators, ski-in/ski-out apartment complexes connected by covered passageways, and the Télémetro cablecar that connects the main multi-storied area of Plagne Centre to Aime la Plagne, a small city within a building. But, there are also 60 miles of cross-country trails, walking tours to the
authentic mountain villages of "Le Versant du Soleil" across the valley from La Plagne, and guided visits to local baroque churches and cheese makers.

You might wonder what one ski area could possibly be doing with 72 snow cats, or 34 gondolas, or 1,230 snow guns for that matter. But ski just one day in Courchevel, Méribel or Val Thorens - three of the five resorts that make up Les 3 Vallées - and you’ll begin

to understand. Individually they are huge; collectively they invite disbelief. A total of 200 lifts unites 283 marked runs-a lift to run ratio that makes waiting in line refreshingly rare.

The real beauty of Les 3 Vallées, which also includes the resorts of Les Ménuires and La Tania, lies not so much in the area’s size, however, as in its topography. The three roughly parallel valleys have such a variety of terrain and are so seamlessly linked that even a beginner can experience the thrill of traveling from resort to resort on skis. From peaks like Caron, Saulire and Tougnete you can drop down to glaciers, rock-studded couloirs or
groomed blues. Steeps dive among the pines and cross-country trails loop through a national forest. Some ridgelines yield views of Mont-Blanc, others of Italy. A vast expanse of untracked powder might lead you to a baroque church, a stone shepherd’s hut or to one of 47 mountain restaurants. You can take lifts to a fourth
valley, the Maurienne, or explore thousands of acres of off-piste terrain. There is even a glacier for sale, literally.

To "do" Les 3 Vallées the right way, you should hook up with one of the area’s 1,100 guides or instructors, especially if you want to make it home before the lifts
stop running. On a classic round-trip itinerary from Courchevel 1300 (Le Praz) to Val Thorens via Méribel’s Mont de la Chambre, you will tally 13,800 feet of vertical. But there are at least as many ways of covering Les 3 Vallées as there are lifts.

Welcome to daredevil central, a sleek purpose-built resort with a world-famous speed skiing course and a reputation for legendary off-piste skiing. This haven for
snowboarders and skiers alike was the first resort to embrace la glisse, sliding of all permutations. For a charming inn, book down below in Bourg Saint Maurice, a quaint old town with cobbled streets, and rocket to the slopes in five minutes flat via funicular. Contemporary condhotels and residences dominate Les Arcs proper. Its three levels are named after their altitude (in meters): Arc 1600, the most arklike of all; Arc 1800, the liveliest; Arc 2000, an Arctic space station.

The woodsy veneer of the villages contrasts sharply with the above-treeline skiing. Above Arc 1800 the slopes range from gentle to jarring on the Col des
Frettes and L’Arpette; on Les Deux Ttes and Signal des Ttes (above 1600), most of the terrain is moderate; teetering above Arc 2000 is a high
concentration of steep. You can ski from the 10,583-foot Aiguille Rouge all the way down to the hamlet of Villaroger. Les Arcs attracts a young crowd more interested in technomusic than fine dining, but you can eat surprisingly well here.

The village of les 2 Alpes nestles up to the ski slopes; the older more traditional part to the south, newer development to the north. The lion’s share of the skiing
stretches east of the base, including Glacier du Mont de Lans and Glacier de la Girose, which offer 400 acres of summer skiing (and 2,640 feet of vertical!). Below the glaciers hang the rugged off-piste runs of La Grave, known as the Alps’ most thrilling - if you are an accomplished back country skier, hire a guide to take you there. West of the village is another, smaller ski sector with interesting fare for less advanced skiers.

If you can tear yourself away from the skiing, two sights should not be missed: the ice grotto, a tunnel almost 400 feet long with fantastic ice statues carved out of the glacier; and the village of Venosc with its ancient chalets, churches, fountains, sun dials and local crafts, including wood carving and painting, pottery, and weaving. (Just an eight-minute gondola ride from the center of Les 2 Alpes.) All four of the resort’s night clubs offer free taxi service from restaurants and back home again. For a quieter evening, try one of the many piano bars or pubs.

Steam and gleeful childrens’ shouts rise from the two outdoor pools in the aprés-ski hours at Les Menuires -a decidedly family-friendly resort that offers some of the best buys in Les 3 Vallées. From the ultra-sleek Brelin complex to the more village-like sector of Reberty-Les Bruyéres, it’s all just a click of the bindings away from 200 lifts and 350 miles of marked runs.

Beginners who are ready to strike out a bit but not ready to tackle neighboring Val Thorens or Méribel can purchase a reduced-rate pass for 11 area lifts not
counting the six central ones that are free to all beginners. Intermediates can head up valley toward Val Thorens or go shepherd hut hopping on wide open blues that lead down the valley toward the quaint village of Saint Martin de Belleville. Better skiers take morning sun on the marked reds that drop down from the 9,400 foot Pointe de la Masse. Those who take their skiing off-piste follow guides 4,600 vertical feet down the Pointe’s back-side to Saint Martin. Although condos predominate, there is a handful of two- and three-star hotels from which to choose, and even a Club Med.

If you were going to make a James Bond movie that recaptured the glamour and jet set caché of the Sean Connery era, the location to film it would be Megève.

It’s not hard to imagine 007 pulling up to the casino in his Aston Martin after motoring past the illustrious storefronts of Hermès and Allard, or turning up among the well-heeled spectators at the international polo tournament on the Mont d’Arbois plateau. The only thing that might impede his progress is the fact that cars are banned from the center of Megève.

Here, pedestrians stroll the cobbled streets carrying beautifully wrapped parcels or a pair of skis, towing a small child on a wooden sled or walking a bichon frisé as they window shop. For those who choose not to travel on foot, the jingle of sleigh bells in the town’s main square
announces the arrival and departure of festively painted carriages heaped high with blankets. Day and night, the queue of horse-drawn sleighs stands at the ready in the shadow of the church’s stone bell tower and bronze bulb.

If any place can be said to have star quality it is Megève.

You may have caught your first glimpse of it on the big screen in the original version of "Les Liaisons Dangereuses" starring Brigitte Bardot, or in "Charade", starring Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn. Of course, Megève has always attracted a moneyed and artistic crowd. Baron and Baroness de Rothschild fell under her spell early in the century and built their Chalet du Mont d’Arbois here. Little by little rustic inns joined the valley’s farms, and the Hotel du Mont Blanc opened its doors, drawing Rita Hayworth, Prince Aga Kahn and Jean Cocteau.

Certainly, a town this cinematic demands a perfect backdrop, and the surrounding mountains provide glorious scenery. The undulating peaks of Mont d’Arbois, Mont Joux, Mont Joly, Côte 2000, Rochebrune and the Massif du Jaillet are protected from the gale force of winter by the hulking Mont-Blanc and Grandes Jorasses which, off in the distance, bare their teeth. Gentle snows settle over the firs that carpet Megève’s knolls and valleys and border its 186 miles of runs, yet the sun always seems to shine on the meticulously groomed Princesse and Belle d’Arbois pistes.

The local talent makes an appearance on the bumps of Mont-Joux’s Piste des Valamonts, while more reclusive types duck into the trees and canyons off the north face of Rochebrune-Côte 2000 for powder.

With so much ski terrain, you might be tempted to skip lunch, which would be a tragedy. So numerous are the mountain restaurants of Megève, you could literally dine at a different one every day for a month sampling house-smoked trout at Côte 2000 and heavenly boudin made by Alpette’s own butcher cum snowcat driver and still not experience them all. But, no matter how delectable, lunch is merely the intermission in this stunning 125-piste amphitheater. And one week in Megève demands an encore.

Long before the name Méribel identified this stretch of les Allues Valley, the stone walls and low vaulted Ceilings of today’s Pas du Lac hotel sheltered livestock from harsh Savoyard winters. Indeed, one of the frescoes in this recently re-opened two-star inn depicts the peasant grandparents of owner Didier Chedal. Their daughter, Chedal’s mother, now does the cooking for the hotel’s restaurant, preparing homemade bread, diots and pormoniers (sausages) and terrines. It is just the type of chalet that the Scottsman Peter Lindsay had in mind when he engaged architect Christian Durupt to help him create the resort of Méribel.

Back then, in the forties, Lindsay could not have foreseen the boom of luxury chalet hotels the '92 Olympics would bring. Nor could he have imagined the conversion of the Olympic Ice Hockey Rink - "la patinoire" - into a happening place with swimming pool, climbing wall, bowling alley and bar with live music. But he recognized the timeless appeal of gabled slate roofs, pine and stone facades and hand-carved wooden balconies, and even the pleasures of dart throwing in a pub. You have to believe, too, that he understood the mind-numbing potential for linking this north/south valley to the valleys of St. Bon (Courchevel) to the east and Les Belleville (Val Thorens and Les Menuires) to the west, connections that were made in 1950 and 1971 respectively.

Today, 65 percent of Méribel’s skiers - many of whom hail from Great Britain - are repeat visitors. So, if when you step from the renovated, 8-seater Pas du Lac gondola everyone seems to know exactly where they are going, it should come as no surprise. But even those who have stood at the top of Saulire many times before can be smitten by 360 degree views stretching from the glaciers of the Vanoise National Park around to Mont-Blanc. From here, you can drop over the ridge into Courchevel or rack up non-stop vertical on Méribel’s 80 miles of runs that drop from ridgeline to valley floor.

For a 6,890-foot vertically-loaded lesson in mountain topography, follow a guide from wind-swept Saulire down through pine and deciduous forests to Brides-les-Bains. For more powder and fewer trees, try the steep, open reds of Mont Vallon. You’ll be skirting the edge of the Vanoise National Parc as you head back toward Mottaret, the more modern satellite village of Méribel. If you’re returning from further afield (read Courchevel or Val Thorens), you can cruise-control down one of the many blues that lead back to Méribel and Mottaret.

Access to 400 miles of runs served by 228 lifts could spoil a place less grounded in its roots than Morzine, one of eight French resorts and seven Swiss that make up the Portes du Soleil ski circus. Gabled roofs are clad in locally-mined slate, facades adorned with hand-carved wooden balconies. Recipes for dishes like shepherd’s soup and farcement have been handed down for generations. Perhaps the greatest tradition though is the family-run hotel where owners are known to take guests skiing by day and sledding by night. There are no four-star properties here, but half of Morzine’s 70 hotels have heated swimming pools. And then there’s the skiing.

From the 4,000-vertical-foot drop of the World Cup Vuarnet black and the above-tree line cruisers off Les Hauts-Forts to the fir-lined runs of Pleney and the powdery bowl of Chamossière, the combined areas of Morzine and neighboring Avoriaz virtually define variety. Cross-country trails overlook the Morzine Valley, follow the Dranse and Manche Rivers, and circle the pristine Lac de Montriond for a total of 60 miles. Lift rides culminate in breathtaking views of Mont-Blanc, the Dents du Midi and even Lake Geneva.

Looking at the shimmering reflection of snow-capped peaks in the tranquil waters of Chevril Lake, it’s hard to imagine that the original village of Tignes lies submerged there.

Just above the dam that formed Chevril, a new, muscular resort on the threshold of one of the world’s greatest ski domains, L’Espace Killy, stands above treeline. Its villages of Le Lac, Le Lavachet and Val Claret are miniature alpine cities with only the towering peaks of Tovière, La Grande Motte and La Grande Casse to give them scale. Les Boisses, just above the dam, and Les Brevieres, just below, are quaint Savoyard outposts linked to the resort by ski lift, and the only remnants of days gone by. At the pinnacle of Tignes, La Grande Motte accesses enough skiing to occupy you for a week. But, that is merely the tip of the glacier when you can sample the vast recesses of La Tovière, Lavachet, Palet, Aiguille Percée, Palafour and the rest of L’Espace Killy (Tignes and Val d’Isère). Off the beaten piste and off the backside of Tignes rambles Aiguille Percée (pierced needle), marked by its namesake rocky pinnacle with a needle’s eye hole. Tignes attracts a crowd that likes to burn the p-tex at both ends. After the lifts stop, live jazz and rock beckon until all hours.

Morning in Val Thorens begins early, with the unmistakable sequence of boom and rumble that means an avalanche has been triggered.

You imagine yesterday’s sweet off-piste run down Boismint, from the Cime de Caron, under the foot or so of snow that fell during the night. You wish you could be the first to put down a line on it. You remind yourself, though, of all the other off-piste itineraries that your guide pointed out; and you remember wanting to do Cascade, the monstrous mogul field where you saw former world champion bump runner Eric Berthon giving lessons; and what about Maurienne Valley; and wait a minute - who can possibly have time for Les 3 Vallées?

Even equipped with a seamless gameplan and a guide, you will have to face facts: The Vallée de Belleville that stretches north from Val Thorens and includes the resorts of Les Menuires and Saint-Martin as well as countless scenic hamlets is much, much bigger than you (190 miles of marked runs and 23,250 acres of off-piste).

So what are you doing semi-horizontal with your eyes closed in a yellow lounge chair on the terrace of Le Scapin? Your legs need a break. And, the effort of choosing from 15 different types of pizza has taken its toll. You’re pleasantly worn out and mesmerized: in the foreground a vast expanse of young, tanned skiers, guides and instructors speak in a tangle of languages; in the background the shiny new cars of the Cime de Caron téléphérique go up and down against the treeless north face of the giant bowl that is Val Thorens. In every direction there are people skiing; tiny, happy specks weaving back and forth. The peaks of Péclet, La Masse and Caron pierce the sky. If only you could open your eyes and take it all in.

"L’addition, s’il vous plait," you finally say, and when you pull out your wallet to pay, your Carte Neige skiers’ insurance falls out. It gets you into the Centre Sportif for free. You think for a moment of taking the afternoon off to swim, or try the Turkish baths, maybe play a pick-up game of doubles or squash. But you know the courts will be empty. The snow is dry, the sun still high in the sky. Only a fool would stay indoors. Besides you planned to ski the Maurienne this afternoon.

Two clicks and you’re off. The wind picks up as you climb the north-facing slope on the Fond 2 chair. You have second thoughts as you fold and unfold the lift map. What are you doing going into the fourth valley of Les 3 Vallées when you haven’t even finished the first? You are momentarily overwhelmed and thinking maybe you should come back for summer skiing when the choice is not so great.

Just then the sun hits your face, you push off the chair, and you’re looking across at La Meije and Les Ecrins. With no guide to take you off-piste, you opt for the marked red.  You might as well be out-of-bounds. It’s heaven at just a few thousand feet above treeline. And it dawns on you: You can’t go wrong here.

It wasn’t a madman’s urge to give spectators a thrill that made Bernhard Russi route Val d’Isère’s Olympic downhill through the Ancolie Gully, a twisting plunge so radical it knocked out most of the competition.

In Val d’Isère, where skiing is, after all, the point, Olympic zeal actually took a backseat to nature. Russi detoured the decade’s most-talked-about downhill to save a flower - the tiny, mauve Ancolie that flourishes near the gully that shares its name. But this is probably not what you’ll have on your mind when you speed down Bellevarde’s 3,000 foot vertical. You’ll be concentrating more on keeping your wits about you and your skis under you. If you succeed, in the company of an instructor, you will be awarded a medal and a certificate.

People tend to wear themselves out on Bellevarde, Val d’Isère’s most popular run, but what a mistake when there are 123 others in L’Espace Killy - the combined areas of Val and neighboringTignes - not to mention a universe of off-piste possibilities. You can take a ride on the rollercoaster known as Solaise, which has the distinction of being able to entertain beginner and expert alike. And once you’re warmed up but not too tired, you can try your luck on O.K.’s Colombin bump.

This legendary run named for Val d’Isère’s greatest champions, Oreiller and Killy is not for feeble quads. You might book a guide and head off-piste to the remote and rugged Iseran pass, or follow the Isère river bed along the Col Pers, where the only other tracks you’ll see are those of chamois, ibex, hares and weasels.

If you’re not up to the big-time skiing on high, you can always ride the seven learning lifts at the base of the mountain at no charge. Just steps from these sunny, protected runs is your hard-earned reward for mastering the snowplow turn: half a dozen cafés and restaurants spilling onto the snow, tempting you with striped beach chairs and the aromas of café au lait, potée savoyarde (a stew with dozens of ingredients from veal knuckle and Beaufort cheese to cabbage and Apremont wine) and wild blueberry tart.

And just beyond lies the town, the sprawling, international resort that until 1930 was a primitive farming community of only 169 inhabitants. A narrow and precarious mule path through the mountains was its only link to civilization, in Bourg St. Maurice, where the Avalins, as Val natives are known, sold blue-veined cheese and lacework. Their limestone houses with quartzite slate roofs and windowless north-facing walls still hunker together in defense of winter in the hamlets of Le Fornet, Le Joseray, Le Manchet, Le Chatelard, La Daille and Le Laisanant. Bulging walls carry the weight of the roof of the 18th century Maison Morris in the center of town. A second front door, directly above the first, was insurance against Val d’Isère’s frequent, heavy snowfalls. Older still, the restaurants Lo Soli and Chalet du Cret occupy chalets that have been standing more than 350 years.

All of these beautiful, ancient buildings have one thing in common. They were spared the wrecking ball while the contemporary, sportive town of Val d’Isère grew up around them. As with the Ancolie, Val d’Isère took a small sidestep during its development to preserve what came before.