Alpe d'Huez Snow Report: 11th January 2012
Blue skies and sunshine
It’s still glorious blue skies and sunshine here in Alpe d’Huez, and I couldn’t have picked a better week to be here. Although this is traditionally one of the quieter weeks of the winter season, with the perfect conditions we are having and the huge snowfall at the end of last week, it surprises me that the slopes have been so deserted.
Yesterday I headed up the mountain reasonably early with the girlfriend to take advantage of the quiet pistes. We decided to head high and see if the inter-season ski rust really has subsided and ambitiously attack the longest black run in Europe - La Sarenne. Officially it is over 16 kilometres long, however the only section of the run which really deserves the status of black piste is the first 2kms as you get off the lift at Pic Blanc at 3330m. A few seasons ago, a new lift station was opened as an extension for the Marmottes lift. This takes you to an altitude of 3060m, but more significantly it is a way of getting to La Sarenne but missing out the most difficult part, so my advice would be if you are not quite as confident on the black runs, take Marmottes 3 and you can still enjoy the majesty of the run and the superb conditions up on the glacier.
It was a little windy right at the top so we decided not to hang around to enjoy the view too much and hurriedly made our way down and out of the breeze. Once we had the protection of the mountain blocking out the wind we relaxed our pace and enjoyed the beautiful conditions. There is a chairlift up on the glacier called L’Herpie (stop sniggering) so if you do want to experience glacier skiing without committing to the full 16km there is still a way of getting down. Your 3rd and final option of getting off the glacier is called Le Tunnel, so named because you access it via a tunnel through the mountain. Le Tunnel is also reported as being the second hardest run in France (after The Wall in Avoriaz) and as you can imagine is a frightening cocktail of ice, moguls and it is very, very, steep.
The bottom 4km of La Sarenne is almost flat as you make your way down the Gorge de Sarenne. This is a lovely time for taking in the view as you go through the trees, but for a snowboarder like me it creates a problem as maintaining your speed can be difficult and often I resort to taking one foot out and skating along the track. Fortunately. as my girlfriend is a competent enough skier, she kindly donated her poles to me.
The run was so delightful that after going back up the scare chair (so named for obvious reasons) back up to Les Bergers, we met some friends and did it again! The afternoon was spent enjoying the slopes around the satellite village of Auris en Oisens. These again are some lovely slopes to enjoy, and a great place to have a picnic if you plan ahead, but if not there are a few nice (but expensive) mountain restaurants.
Today, I was suffering from enjoying the Alpe d’Huez excesses last night (which you can read about in my apres report which will be posted at the end of the week) and so decided on a relaxing solo ski as I took in the much needed mountain air. I didn’t venture anywhere to exciting, but did a nice few runs down from the Marmottes 2 station and the second station of the Troncon gondela. As the headache subsided and I began to feel like myself again, I retired to the snow park to remind myself why Shaun White has nothing to fear in this years winter X-Games. There is more sun on the forecast for the rest of the week, and tomorrow promises to be another big day on the piste.
See you on the slopes!
