Activity Reviews in Alpe d'Huez

Tour de France time rolls around, and our roads are once again infested with loonies in lycra. Go Wiggo!

If you’re after a shorter less committing bike ride than the infamous 21 bends up to Alpe D’Huez, the Col D’Ornon is a great option from the same starting point. The ride is easily done in less than two hours and there are certainly no compromises on the scenery!

The winds have been whipping the southern alps mercilessly and erratically since last Thursday. Bad weather severely hampered last week’s mountain bike event in Les Deux Alpes, the Mountain of Hell, but this week we’ve certainly felt the worst of it.

The summer season in Alpe d'Huez is well under way and we've had plenty of sporting events already this summer, with more to come in August. For a run-down of the month's events, you can check out our latest video report. The most exciting event this month was the Megavalanche. So what do we do in Alpe d'Huez when we're not watching MTB riders hurtling through the trees or cyclists steadily making their way up the 21 bends? Here's just a few ideas...

After a long, hot summer season it’s tempting to take September as holiday, relaxing at home or heading off to the coast or the UK. But the early autumn is simply stunning here. Of course the days shorten, the temperatures cool and most of the amenities in Les Deux Alpes and Alpe d’Huez close, but it’s a small price to pay for the increasingly intense sunsets, the perfect weather and watching the leaves slowly change.

OOver the past two days, the weather here in the Southern Alps has taken a turn for the worse. While it remains warm, we’ve been victim to storms of rain and thunder, which have cleared the muggy air of last week and have lowered temperatures to the twenties. The freeze level on Deux Alpes’ glacier remains high – at between 3650m and 4350m – so the rain we’ve had in town is likely to have only fallen as sleet, at best.

Since last week’s prediction that the first snows of winter were not far away, the alpine weather has launched us back into summer. Over the past few days we’ve had temperatures in the mid- twenties and very little breeze. The early mornings have been a little foggy, but that’s been burning off by 9am. It’s perfect weather for all the DIY that needs to be done before the winter season starts again.

The summer season in Alpe d’Huez has started and this weekend has been a gentle beginning for what’s set to be a busy and exciting two months. Over the past couple of weeks, the weather has been warming-up and we started the season with clear skies on Saturday and Sunday. In resort, we’ve been sunbathing in temperatures of around 20°C, dropping to about 8°C at night. This is fairly average for the southern alps and it’s worth bringing a waterproof for the impromptu rain storms that sweep by every now and then.

Living in the mountains, it’s easy to become complacent about the beauty that surrounds you on a day to day basis. The Southern Alps is a region filled with glaciers and the retreat of these ancient masses has carved some incredible and rugged features into our landscape. Such features are best seen from on high and we’re lucky enough to have some of France’s highest roads on our doorstep. So today, The Boyfriend and I hit the road, taking a tour of the ‘local’ Cols which took us between 700m and 2645m above sea level and over around 300km of roads. It’s been quite a day!