The resort is quiet, holiday sales are down and the tour operators are starting to close-up for the summer. Which is great if you’ve already booked as there’s still plenty of skiing in Les 2 Alpes so whatever you do… pack your ski stuff and don’t cancel your holiday!

There’s a lot of chat around town that the snow is finished and the season is over. It’s not true! The chat is coming from seasonnaires who aren’t too impressed with current conditions and that’s partly because it’s warm in resort so everyone is more interested in BBQs and sunbathing than riding. Only the seriously keen – and the tourists – were on the mountain yesterday.

I went straight up to 3200m, the base of the glacier, and found myself transported back into winter. Quite a shock when the birds are singing and wild daffodils are flowering in resort! As is common in early winter, the pistes were hard… rock solid in fact. Everything above 2700m is hard work and requires super-sharp edges. The pistes, however, are really smooth. The groomers have been working hard and there’s not a bump in sight… seriously, no moguls anywhere!

Despite a pretty low snowfall this winter, snow coverage is complete on the highest pistes, and with the winds howling it felt like January. The t-bars on the glacier were closed and there was no way I was leaving the relative warm of the sunshine just take the funicular and be blown back up the pistes of the glacier. So I chucked a left down the Signal 2.

I have to admit that it was really hard work at the top of this piste as the snow was rock solid (have I said that already?). Once out of the wind the pistes were still hard but slightly more forgiving, slightly more able to take the edge, slightly more bounce making the skis slightly more responsive. I did Signal 2 and 3 a few more times; these pistes are favourites because they’re long, generally quiet and have enough of a gradient to get up a good speed and throw some nice wide turns.

Another favourite is the Fée 1 piste. It starts with a steep descent that evens out and winds through a couple of turns, a second descent and then two flat sections that take you into the heart of a valley lined by amazing off-piste routes. The off-piste here is not recommended at the moment, there’s been a lot of blasting and quite frankly the avalanche risk is too high to bother trying to get a fresh line across thin, hard snow. The risk by far outweighs the potential for pleasure!

Here the snow on the pistes was amazing: softer, slightly wet, but running fast. I could have stayed here and played all day but my curiosity got the better of me so I stayed left at the top of the chairlift and took the Red and Black pistes of Fée 3 and 4.

From the Fée chairlift the snow looked amazing, glistening in the sun and promising a soft ride. But at the top of the steepest section of the Black I realised that the gleam was more like the reflection of the sun on a glass than water… whoops! Again I shuddered and scratched my way down in a very inelegant fashion, desperately hoping that nobody I knew was riding the chairlift above, witness to my shocking technique. Time for lunch…

The best value and most friendly restaurant on the mountain is by far Chalet La Fée. I had a large plate of omelet, chips and salad for 8€. The only downside is that they don’t do tap water as it’s not potable, so you need to buy bottles of Evian (2,50€ for a small). I sat in the sun, took stock of the morning’s skiing and prepared myself for the descent to resort… because one of the other reasons Chalet La Fée makes the perfect venue for a long lunch is that the route home is easy and relatively quick. Actually, I need to qualify that: the route to Les Cretes is quick and easy. From there you only have two options at the moment: take the White Eggs (Oeufs Blancs) down to resort or tackle the Valentin.

I say ‘tackle the Valentin’ because it has quite a reputation. The Black piste is super-steep at the top, with near over-hang that gets you off the path. Two-thirds of the way down the gradient softens but to get there you usually need to negotiate lumps, bumps and a selection of stranded beginners and children, wondering why they ignored the signs that quite clearly state: piste difficile!

But yesterday, at 3.30pm the piste was empty, the snow was groomed and soft and a pleasure to ride. In fact, I felt much happier on the Valentin than the higher, harder pistes. Of course this isn’t much use if you’re anything other than an accomplished skier as all the other pistes into resort are closed. Despite the good condition, if you’re not sure about your standard, take the White Eggs and save yourself the trauma.

So, I mentioned that most seasonnaires have given-up on the mountain. This certainly doesn’t meant that holidaymakers should and my skiing yesterday confirmed that hunch. The vast majority of the pistes are open and in good condition, with just the Pied Moutet and Front Face (the slopes that boarder the resort) closed. The pistes of these areas aren’t the best on offer anyway, so you’re really not missing much. Don’t even think of cancelling your holiday… just make sure to pack warm clothing as it’s still bitterly cold on the glacier.

I found the seasonnaires in shorts and t-shirts at Smithy’s Tavern, for the launch of Stupid, an aptly named clothing brand born in Les 2 Alpes and created by proud father and local designerHarvey Coxell. Burgers, beers and bare legs are far more interesting than snow – soft or solid – and the end of the season is nigh… but it’s not here yet!

Yesterday’s route: Up the Jandri Express 1, followed by the Glacier Express chairlift (commonly known around resort as the ‘8-Man’). Down Signal 2, up the Signal chairlift and down Signal 3… I must say here that the renaming of lifts and pistes this season by new L2A owners Compagnie des Alpes has made the routes much easier to describe but less poetic (as the following sentence shows)…

Eventually leaving the Signal area, down Glacier 3 and Glacier 1 to Jandri 4, up Toura and down Toura 1, followed by Fée 1, Fée chairlift and a few loops of Fée 3 and Fée 4. Lunch.

Thuit 1, Thuit chairlift to Les Cretes, then a little Petites Cretes to the Valentin and home. Thanks to Heather, Smokey Joe’s, Alex at Snow Angel Nannies and Eric at Precision for their time, equipment, accommodation and yummy food!