 Poster: A snowHead
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As confirmed fans of 3V, we are wondering how Les Deux Alps would compare? We are looking at a late booking, and LDA has cropped up with a nice sounding package.
We've skied VdI/Tignes, and it was OK - but we still prefer the 3V area.
Any guidance from more travelled and seasoned plank-people most gratefully received 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I've a place in L2A but have never skied 3V
Obviously nowhere near as big but 225 or so km,
+ very snowsure with large glacier, good selection of g/b/r/b runs, good off piste with access too La Grave over the top, relatively cheap for large French resorts, good nightlife, easy and cheap transfers from Grenoble, very unpretentious, reasonable selection of Brit instructors
- Marmite resort, some comment that they doubt 225 km but it is, very up and down mountain with out travelling to villages etc
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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What was about EK that you weren't keen on, @t40ora? That might help people with the comparison.
I've skied both a few times but don't know either well.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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A difficult one as people obviously have different preferences. I have skied 3V 7 or 8 weeks, Espace Killy 4 or 5 weeks and Les Deux Alpes twice. I guess that shows my preferences. I am about to head for La Plagne for the 5th time, but would swap happily for 3V if forced to, less happily for EK, and with a gloomy heart for Les Deux Alpes.
I am an ageing (old really) and clumsy skier who likes to stay on piste and rarely ventures on the blacks. What I like about La Plagne and 3V is the massive range of choices they offer. Want high and steeper? Easy. Need to be in the trees? Easy too. I am not saying this is impossible in Deux Alpes, but it all seems a long way and there is not the range of choices, but there again, I have only been twice (might be 3, on reflection) so don't get as much out of the place as people who know it well would.
What Deux Alpes does offer is some stunning black runs, but that is not my thing, really and some extensive off-piste (ditto). It is also very good value compared to Courchevel, but then, where isn't?
The big problem with LDA (sorry about resorting to abbreviations, but I am finding more to say than I expected) is the ski down to the town. There is a new blue created for this year, which may solve it, but prior to that the only routes home were a black or a green road, which was famously icy, crowded and unpleasant. It also seems to take an age to get up the hill. The glacier is lovely.
The problem you have, I think, is that you have got used to the best in 3V (best as defined by what I like, of course) and for lift-served efficient piste skiing only La Plagne/Les Arcs can compete.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Les Deux Alps has enough to make for an enjoyable holiday for most people. Perhaps only the timid intermediate (no blacks) may be a little disappointed. If you have the option of going somewhere you've been before or Les Deux Alpes then I'd go for the later but then I like to explore. As mentioned above you have some nice blacks in resort and it is a rather stretched out ski area and you don't have the satellite villages. I think the glacier is actually the least interesting part of the ski area. The runs facing North are perhaps most interesting. The lifts are ok but not to Austrian/Sud Tirol standards which are maybe the best. You have some wooded and lower pistes should the weather require it but not as much as Courchevel. You also have the option to go to Alpe d'Huez for a day which would be well worth the trip for all but beginners. BUT it probably will also depend on the snow/weather you get when you're there I'd probably pick any reasonable size resort over any other IF it had the best snow/weather. This is what makes a great ski holiday rather than the resort, lifts, or runs, at least for me.
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I don't really get why people diss LDA because of the resort runs. I have no problem downloading (and have skied LDA in summer when there's no choice). Almost everyone downloads almost always in Mayrhofen and Courmayeur, to name just two; doesn't stop them being good resorts.
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@t40ora, as @pam w, says, knowing more about your skiing likes/dislikes would help snowHeads advise.
I've skied 4 weeks + 2 days at L2A and many more times at 3V and EK. I like a) good range of pistes; b) probability of good snow; c) very short or no lift queues; d) plenty of challenging red & black runs; e) a very low proportion of selfish idiots on piste. I'm not so bothered about pretty villages, mountain restaurants, raucous nightlife and costs (within reason).
Given my preferences, I don't think L2A is anywhere near the same league as EK and 3V. Nor vaguely comparable with St Anton or Paradiski, or Portes du Soleil or Verbier...I could go on.
Having stated that, I will always have a soft spot for L2A, as the European resort I skied latest in (11 May) and for my one and only ever parapente jump.
The Good Ski Guide used to call it Une Alp et Demi (1.5 mountains) and are not far wrong, but if looking for a cheap and cheerful week it's fine.
Hope I don't enrage too many L2A fans but I've given my honest views!
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"Given my preferences, I don't think L2A is anywhere near the same league as EK and 3V. Nor vaguely comparable with St Anton or Paradiski, or Portes du Soleil or Verbier...I could go on."
I can't agree with that statement. If you like serious off-piste Les Deux Alpes/La Grave would be comparable to those listed above. If you want extensive piste skiing or convenience then Verbier/St Anton (exc. Lech) wouldn't be ideal. If you were a beginner you wouldn't necessarily choose any of the above! It all depends on what you require, hence the question from Pam_w. If you're fussy about where you go or are concerned by the resort as much as the skiing you may not like Les Deux Alpes but that wouldn't make it a bad resort/ski area.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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And even in 3V it depends. I liked Courchevel 1650 but dislike Meribel, for example.
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OK guys, thanks. I think it will come down to quality of the accommodation. We like to have a big area too, as my wife especially likes different pistes each day. We aren't powder-hounds and only run blacks if they are nice. We have nothing to prove, as we know we are rubbish
Not really sure why we didn't gel with EK; the conditions were not very good either time, so we could be tainted, but we just didn't really love enough of the pistes.
We loved Serre Chevalier on the other hand!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I have a new definition of myself, thanks to @Millom, "disappointed timid intermediate" - if the cap fits...
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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According to weathercam I'm an "elderly punter" @Chris Bish. Dead right. 
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@pam w, I am sure we would both rig up a sail rather than punt!
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You know it makes sense.
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Serre Chevalier has nicer tree runs, more feeling of travelling, and probably feels a little bigger (but not much difference). It also probably has more intermediate skiing. The VB side of Les Deux Alpes probably has some of the best intermediate terrain in the resort. If you find a deal for Alpe d'Huez then this has a little more variety and a few more pistes so sounds like a better fit perhaps.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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@t40ora, I have skied both. Both in good weather with good snow. 3vs is so far ahead of L2A in my opinion that if the only resort available to me was L2A or not skiing at all, I am not sure what decision I would take. I know lots of people do like L2A, but I am not one
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Poster: A snowHead
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@Chris Bish, maybe chrisb is also a "disappointed timid intermediate"
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@Millom, ha ha 
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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3V or LDA? hmmm It's a close one...
Like choosing between Anne Widdecombe and Holly Willoughby
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| chrisb wrote: |
| @t40ora, I have skied both. Both in good weather with good snow. 3vs is so far ahead of L2A in my opinion that if the only resort available to me was L2A or not skiing at all, I am not sure what decision I would take. I know lots of people do like L2A, but I am not one |
+1,000 
L2A is the only major ski resort I've been to anywhere in the world that I really couldn't care less if I never saw it again. I think I'd rather spend all season on NZ nutcracker rope tows than stand in L2A's lift queues.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Let's be honest - For the most part, the Fench have generally bastardised their mountains in the interests of making money by offering miles upon miles of high altitude pistes where you can cruise about forever, occasionally stopping to buy an overpriced mixture of soft cheese, ham and potatoes and half froth beer by somebody who makes it very clear they'd rather out on the powder and it's ruining their day having to serve you.
DLA offers all of the downsides of overdeveloped high altitude French skiing without the limitless miles of skiing and wonderful lift infrastructure.
The best thing about LDA is the option of leaving it and skiing La Grave.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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@Raceplate, +1000 too. I was trying to have a balanced comment, but you are right L2A is just rubbish - someone said to me it was Blackpool in the snow - Blackpool is far better (my folks live in the area). I am not sure why L2A gets it so wrong, but somehow it does
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Think LDA topped a snowhead poll of resorts you'd least like to return to. It got my vote. There must be other deals out there to far nicer resort towns with better skiing,
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@Millom,
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More proof that you can only guarantee a selection of bias reviews on these forums
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Please don't mistake people disagreeing with your opinion as 'biased'. I'm giving my honest unbiased view to the OP, without fear or favour. I sense that other snowHeads are doing likewise.
I think the acid test is supply and demand. Compare prices and availability of L2A packages with 3V and EK. I suggest the higher prices in 3V and EK are because, all round, the range and quality of skiing/riding is better.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Totally agree with Raceplate - and I have skied in 3V with him. I have skied 3V every season since 1990 at least once and in recent years about 3 visits a season. It is the only ski area in the world that I have skied and can always find something to amuse me, perhaps as I know it so well. LDA is just not in the same league and I have skied there several times in winter and also many times in summer. EK would be my second choice of a European resort or if you travel about the Mayrhofen valley as you can access several resorts, or St Anton area. I like to be in an area with the car where you can go to slightly different places each day unless you are somewhere like 3V or EK.
Across the pond I like Vail (and neighbouring resorts), Banff/Lake Louise or Whistler.
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You know it makes sense.
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As much as I have tried I still having found a better area than the 3V.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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I like to be in an area with the car where you can go to slightly different places each day unless you are somewhere like 3V or EK.
Across the pond I like Vail (and neighbouring resorts), Banff/Lake Louise or Whistler.[/quote]
Have you tried the Dollies? Huge interlinked area and countless areas a short drive away.?
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Poster: A snowHead
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I have a place in L2A so obviously a little conflicted but I think it's a bit of an unfair comparison - large linked ski areas servicing a number of villages vs a single unlinked village. If you throw in Serre Che, Alpe D'Huez and La Grave into the mix it's a bit more comparable but there are no links that are that easy.
The typical punter in 3V is a bit different that in L2A .. much Russian spoken and "Schuss Margaret!" will be heard in one - rather more Italian and Belgian in the other.
No much tree-level in L2A due to the height (think more Val Thorens than La Tania) and pretty much a single orientation of the runs - but that orientation means it keeps the snow better than most.
As for the Blackpool reference - it's the same as most places - hit the most popular Brit bars and clubs - yep it's going to be that - get some tips from locals... especially on snowheads... you can avoid most of the nonsense.
For me 3V is like a mate who's financially done a bit better than you - great to catch up with every now and again and you'll have a wild time but always feel like you're maybe a bit out of place. LDA is more like a best mate; a bit rough round the edges but always reliable, familiar and there when you need them. Anyway Ski Sunday on in 1/2 hour - kettle on!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@snowhouse, Very reasonable summary. You need to know a place to get the best out of it, and that is certainly true of Les Deux Alpes.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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FAQ
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