Alpe d'Huez Snow Report: 28th January 2013

One of the selling points of the 2Alpes lift pass is the access it 
gives to nearby (and indeed not so nearby) resorts. Which is
particularly handy on a day when it blows a howling gale all over the 
mountain and we have to close everything above Toura.


Any pass for six days or more includes days out in Alpe d’Huez (and
 incidentally Alpe du Grand Serre, run by the same lift company); Serre
Chevalier; Montgenevre and the Milky Way; and Puy St Vincent on the
other side of Briançon.


For those of you who rolled up in resort via public transport or with
a tour operator transfer, the only practical option here is Alpe
d’Huez, unless your operator is running a coach trip to one of the
other resorts. While it’s theoretically possible to get to Serre
Chevalier on the bus, in practice you’d just about have time to put
your boots on before you had to turn round and come home again.


Alpe d’Huez, on the other hand, is served by a shuttle bus every
 Wednesday and Thursday at the more than reasonable price of 11€
 return, or – more excitingly – by helicopter transfer every Wednesday,
Thursday and Friday. It’s a tad more expensive than the bus at 70€
 return, but it takes about 10 minutes rather than an hour and drops 
you at the altiport in Alpe d’Huez, a mere stone’s throw from the 
pistes. Helicopter bookings at the main lift office in the middle of
 town and bus tickets from the VFD office on the Avenue de la Muzelle.


If you have a car in resort you can obviously do your own thing, in
 which case my recommendation would be to drive up to Auris en Oisans 
on the hill opposite 2Alpes and make your way into the Alpe d’Huez 
system from there – shorter trip, lots of parking and some nice skiing
 to be had at Auris before you head over the Alpe d’Huez itself. Auris 
is also sheltered from a north wind, which was an important point to 
note yesterday. Unless you happen to enjoy being blown backwards on a
 sheet of ice, obviously.


Once you get to resort, DO NOT waste your time pestering the ticket 
office to validate your pass, whatever your rep in 2Alpes might have 
told you – your two-day entitlement to ski in Alpe d’Huez is already 
loaded onto your 2Alpes pass and the card will work over there exactly
 as it does here.


Alpe d’Huez isn’t a lot bigger than 2Alpes, but it feels as though it
 is, largely because it consists of several linked village resorts, so
it’s more spread out and you feel as though you’re covering a lot more 
mileage. While it boasts a fair range of challenging pistes, it also 
has plenty of easy blue and green runs, so if you’re considering it as
a day out you needn’t worry about beginners or weaker skiers, because 
there’s plenty to keep them occupied without scaring the pants off
them.


Road tripping over there yesterday was definitely wheeze of the week, 
as the lack of wind meant that everything south facing (ie most of the 
resort) had managed to hang onto the previous night’s new snow and 
there was acres of powder, with fresh tracks to be made even well into 
the afternoon. Almost nothing had been pisted, which meant that every
 run was covered in moguls by late morning, but this merely gave me 
plenty of opportunity to get to grips with boarding bumps. I won’t say
 anything about what it may or may not have done to my knees.


The resort’s predominantly south facing aspect makes it a lot warmer 
than 2Alpes, so you can consider shedding a layer if you’re going over 
there for the day. (I always forget about this and end up roasting.) 
On the other hand it also means that the snow suffers badly in late 
season sun, so if you’re going over in March or April you should
 be prepared for icy mornings and slushy afternoons. Head for Vaujany 
or the runs at the top of Marmotte3 first thing until the pistes lower 
down have had time to soften up a bit.


If you fancy lunch on the piste, you’ve probably got a better choice 
of eating spots over there than you have here, though I’d avoid the
 Chantebise at midstation – tempting though its terrace looks – unless
 you want to take out a mortgage. Try the Plage des Neiges slightly 
further down, the Alpette over at Oz or one of the restaurants down 
towards Vaujany. There’s even a Thai place on the piste at Auris, or 
was last time I was there a couple of seasons ago.


Back in 2Alpes today, we appear to be open everywhere (w00t!), though
I have yet to see what the wind has done to the snow cover at the top. Not quite stripped it bare, we hope.