Other offerings include golf, zipline, frisbee golf, scenic lift rides, hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding, whitewater rafting, and tennis.

They eschew lift rides, and wear strange clothing, sometimes Lycra tights and thin shirts in the middle of winter.

This means that all skiing begins at the hill top, so your last lift ride for the day is up and off the hill.

Guests can walk to the Snow Shed (a base lodge with learning center), which is a short lift ride from the main lodge.

You can check your lift rides, skiing distance and vertical descended online.

Rhyssa tried to estimate how long the lift ride had been but couldn't.

"We need to do about 35 lift rides," Mr. Nafstad said.

The day was looking up, even though my bum leg was beginning to stiffen up from the ride up a longer lift ride.

A short lift ride away from Centre are the slightly higher units of Aime-la-Plagne, Plagne-Soleil and Plagne-Villages.

Visits conclude with a slow lift ride through the Aquadom, a 16m-tall cylindrical tropical fish tank.