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.
Here in the Oisans we’ve spent the past week watching the forecast, hoping for a bluebird on the first day of the season in Les 2 Alpes. Instead it was cold and windy, with only a couple of runs open but we still found groomed pistes and plenty of pow…
Visit the video page for more films from the Oisans region.
It’s dumping again. As I write from Alpe d’Huez it’s -7ºC and falling, with a heavy snowstorm predicted for tonight.
I wasn’t expecting to be in Alpe d’Huez this afternoon, especially as it’s the first day of the season in Les 2 Alpes. But when the weather’s closing in and you have two steep, bendy roads to navigate it’s always worth getting home as soon as you can.
I’m attending a film premiere on Thursday night. And not just any film premiere. My film premiere. I’m a little nervous…
ways2winter is a feature-length documentary following two British seasonnaires in the French resort of Les 2 Alpes through the winter season 09/10. It’s not your average snowsports film. Sure, there’s plenty of riding but there’s also hard work and strong personalities, showing the reality of seasonnaire life.
Sitting writing yesterday afternoon I had a the curious experience of watching the freeze level drop; literally sliding slowly down the mountain. Yesterday afternoon their was no snow in Les 2 Alpes, last week’s dump having melted over the warm weekend. A slight hint of white was visible on the edge of Les Cretes (2100m). But as the rain storm continued and the temperatures fell I watched the rain turn to snow and settle, at first on the edge of the Demoiselles piste, then down towards Village until the drops turned to splodges of sleet and finally feather-shaped snowflakes were pouring from the sky. This morning, Les 2 Alpes looked like this…
According to French weather forecasters, today is the last day of autumn. They’re predicting an extreme change of weather tomorrow that will see us wading through snowdrifts early next week…
Okay, so it’s unlikely to be that dramatic but we have been blessed with a long and relatively warm autumn here in the Oisans region. At the start of half term we received an unexpected dump of early snow, but that’s mainly retreated to above 2600m now, leaving the resorts and the valley warm, sunny and dry.
It’s so great to be back in France and I spent this morning on Les 2 Alpes’ glacier. There was plenty of snow, beautiful sunshine and the lift queues were much shorter than in the Summer. So if you’re a keen skier or snowboarder, make sure you remember to book your holiday here for half-term week 2011 and check out today’s video:
The tourist season may officially be over but for hikers, this is when the real fun begins. It’s simply too hot to do much hiking here in the summer months, especially in July and early August when temperatures regularly top 30ºC. But as September approaches the cooler weather makes hiking far more pleasant. An added bonus is the quieter paths and roads as the majority of holidaymakers return home.
Yesterday we set-off for the Plateau d’Emparis, which is sometimes referred to as the Plateau de Paris on maps and signposts. It’s huge, shallow basin at around 2300m brings you face to face with La Meije and the Girose Glacier of La Grave, and gives stunning views of the local peaks of the Muzelle and Venosc, which tower above Les 2 Alpes, and Pic Blanc, the highest peak of Alpe d’Huez.
Life in a small mountain town can be simple and streamlined. Outside our work, sports, friends and family, there aren’t many intrusions on our lives. However, sometimes you just need to get down to the city! Yesterday was that day for me and – in the summer – days when I’m called down the mountain despite the stifling temperatures of the city streets are few and far between.
The usual reason for a trip into Grenoble is shopping. I’m not a shopper. I don’t hate it, but I find it very unpleasant. I’m hopeless with too much choice, I’m not a fan of looking in mirrors and I’d much rather be out on the mountainside than trawling the shops. Anyway, we’d delayed long enough and were in desperate need of new spectacles for me and a wedding outfit for The Boyfriend before we go travelling next month.
I found out today that the investment promised by the new owners of Les 2 Alpes, Companie des Alpes, has already started.
Most exciting for this season is the construction of a new, high-speed four-man chairlift that will link La Fée to Toura. This is great news for skiers because the runs in La Fée are great but many people don’t bother as the previous exit routes have deposited you below the all-important Toura station at 2600m. Until this winter, skiers in the area had to get back up the mountain via the super-slow chair at Thuit, or the busy six-man lift, Bellecombe.
