Les 2 Alpes v Tignes v AdH v Meribel

A snowHead

Hi all,

Apologies if some of this has been asked before (have looked in respective threads but doesn't quite answer what I'm wanting to know).

We are a group of 5 skiers and boarders going for our annual trip together starting 5/6th March. Skill levels vary but we can all do reds comfortably and some of us like to do blacks that look like they would be enjoyable rather than just for the sake of doing blacks.

We normally go to Meribel in a catered chalet and absolutely love the expanse of the 3 Valleys.

I am once again organising our trip this year and looked a few other options as catered chalets aren't much of an option for a group of 5 this year and booking stuff seems to be a little more complicated. I've found options in all of the above four resorts.

My questions are:

What sets apart L2A, Tignes and AdH from each other and 3V? Long lift queues +/- slow lifts, nice restaurants/bars (not bothered about late night partying), skiable terrain are the important things for us.

I was looking at L2A which seems like quite a cool resort, but I was wondering whether there is enough skiable terrain? The piste map looks quite small, although I'm aware this can be deceptive. We are first to last lift skiers every single day and like to cover a lot of terrain (some of the group would avoid doing the same run multiple times if possible/unless it is required due to getting to other runs etc). Have they completed the lift over to AdH yet and is it running? Is there a larger ski area (eg. 3V, Espace Killy etc) or just L2A? What are lift lines like in the morning? We would rather avoid resorts known to have big queues or very slow lifts that take a long time to get to the top. The idea of riding from 3600 down to 1300 continuously without lifts/stopping sounds super attractive, but is it going to take hours to get all the way to the top?

Are there any things out of the above considerations that favour a particular resort, or make one perhaps less attractive?

Many thanks for any advice/help Smile

A snowHead

If you haven't been to Tignes, that would be my recommendation - due to the wide variety and challenging nature of the skiing....and the excellent snow record/2 Glaciers.

My very close personal preference is Les Arcs/La Plagne.

Third would be AdH.

I personally didn't really like L2A and have no wish to go back....and it didn't help that I had skis stolen there.

I agree that Meribel is great (we stayed many times at Motteret).

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

I have only transited L2A returning to La Grave after skiing down to St Christoph, off the back of La Mieje. We used the lifts to get back up and over.

https://www.guidelagrave.com/en/products/ski-to-saint-christophe-en-oisans-from-la-grave

L2A looks big enough to me, but I only skied connecting pistes to lifts.

It's a nice option if you want to give yourself a challenge of skiing a very long off piste descent down to La Grave from the top of the L2A Glacier, there is just a short hike across. Might be best to take a guide or at least have some local knowledge.

I don't like mega resorts, but if you want tons of pistes Tignes/Val D would be hard to beat for you guys.

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Out of the shortlist, Tignes holds prominence in pure scope and range of travel to 3V, making it first choice to match experience so far. Lac or Val Claret more or less equal access but my preference is Val Claret to stay the week.

AdH & L2A very different in character, would say that AdH has more of that you are looking for in comparison to 3V, or L2A certainly hides it's subtle attributes well Very Happy

. I feel you'll either love or be lukewarm about L2A or need some guidance to help make the most of it.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

I also have always found L2A claims of 220km over 95(?) pistes a bit dubious, although I have never been there so am probably wrong.

May be L2A regulars can help us out here Smile

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After all it is free

Also, regarding Val Claret - is there enough to do there from an apres perspective? Or would be want to explore Tignes 2100 too? I'm envisaging what Meribel Mottaret is to Meribel, but that may be wrong. I assume there is a shuttle bus type thing?

@Mountain Surfer,
Free 24 hour bus service around Val Claret, le Lac & Lavachet.

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Here are the real piste length figures for comparison (measured by Christophe Schrahe):

3 Valleys - 600km claimed - real length 543km
Tignes/Val d'Isere - 300km claimed - real length 241km
Alpe d'Huez - 250km claimed - real length 180km
Les 2 Alpes - 220km claimed - 156km

I would say Tignes/Val d'Isere would be perfect for you.

Alpe d'Huez would be OK, but I think you'd get more out of going there if you really enjoyed skiing blacks (there are lots of long ones). Also, while the lift system isn't exactly slow, there are lots of long lifts and/or lifts where you have to take your skis off, coupled with long runs. That makes it seem as if you spend longer on lifts (I thought that anyway).

Les Deux Alpes felt much smaller than all the other ski areas above, and I wouldn't recommend it for a week of piste skiing. There used to be a bus link from Alpe d'Huez twice a week, which we found worthwhile.

You could also consider Les Arcs (with link to La Plagne), but I think Tignes/Val d'Isere would be your best bet.

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Tignes.
Your borders will love you for it

I'd say Tignes too, judging by your loyalty to the sort of skiing in 3V.

Just remember that Tignes's situation is analogous to Val Thorens in the 3V: it is at one side of the skiing area. You need a few more lifts to get home in late afternoon than you would from the far side of Courcheval to Meribel. But there is a big variety of skiing to explore and enjoy, and quite a lot of ground to cover.

You know it makes sense.

Another vote for Tignes/Val d'Isere. A large ski area with a lot of variety and plenty of the sort of runs you say you like. Very good lift system with lots of chairs, so less faffing. I've stayed in Tigns le Lac a few times but not Val Claret. Have you considered accomodation in Val d' as IMHO it has more ambience & is great to walk around in the evenings.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

By the way, I was interested that you are restricting your choices to France. Some great options in Italy, Austria and Switzerland for your group.

A snowHead

Thanks for all the advice everyone.

I briefly looked at Val d'Isere but couldn't find anything for 5 of us with satisfactory bed/bathroom situation that was close to lifts or ski in/ski out like all of the other options in the other resorts I'd seen. But perhaps searching fatigue had set in by then, so maybe I should give it a go. Plus a great point by @j_b about Tignes being like VT in 3V, and Val d being slightly less out to the side meaning easier afternoons not being stressed about coming back.

@DCG - A lot of the options I've seen so far are very much DIY, and we've been through Grenoble/Geneva so many times we're very familiar with transfer companies and just French resorts in general. I'd love to try Austria or Italy (Sw too, but probably too expensive for some of the group, plus I'll have spent about 8k on snow holidays including this one), but given package holidays are much less common this year, I thought perhaps let's just stick to what we know for a DIY trip this year. Definitely do want to branch out into other countries soon though.

A snowHead

L2A is a marmite resort. I did a day trip (driving) when in ADH over to it and whilst it was OK I've never had the desire to do a full trip. Some people love it though. Connection to ADH has been talked about for many years, can't see it happening.

Stayed in Val Claret not so long back, was with family and we're cheap skates so didn't partake but I thought the bars, cafes and restaurants had a good feel about them. If I was that way inclined I would have been keen to explore. Skiing in Espace Killy is top notch as you'd expect. You'd clock up plenty of mileage exploring all ends.

I have a bit of a soft spot for ADH and been there numerous times (mostly staying in the satellite village Oz-en-Oisans). I think there is some great skiing there - especially early March which would be the sweet spot for somewhere like ADH. The skiing is set up differently to 3V, Killy, Paradiski with more bits and bobs than a distinct set of valleys.

Paradiski is the area I've been to most. And personally I think if you like the 3V's that is where I would head next.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

For what it's worth, I think you are going to find it very hard to match your experiences in Meribel; let alone exceed them.

As you are a bunch of keen skiers and boarders, who are first lift to last lift types, and many of you don't like doing the same run twice — nowhere is going to come close to The Three Valleys. Meribel is a totally magical resort, with all its wonderful runs, mountainscape, trees and snow; and of course the whole of The Tree Valleys are stunning in their number of pistes, lifts and differing terrain. Plus Meribel has those classic chalets and buildings.

I would imagine you can find somewhere in Meribel that works for you, including Meribel-Mottart. The danger of you selecting a different resort this year, is that it's not up-to-scratch, and all your mates will blame you!! Embarassed

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Would basically agree with what most have posted so far.

Tignes is probably my favourite resort. There's great variety and range of runs, and if you enjoy 3V you'll also like Tignes. Val Claret is a great base too in my experience for exploring the domain. Easy access to Val d'Isere side from there. No real idea on night-life, but plenty of good restaurant and bar options in VC, and there's a free shuttle bus to nearby Le Lac too. So based on your description, that would be my choice.

ADH is also a great resort, but I agree with the poster above who said it's best enjoyed if you're reasonably happy to ski blacks. In particular I think blacks are the only option from the very top of Pic Blanc, and those are not the easiest (Tunnel is notoriously... difficult). Still plenty to enjoy for largely red run skiers of course, but would have it below Tignes for your group.

L2A I've never been to. Based on opinions on here it seems to be a bit of a "marmite" resort, with an inflated number of kms of pistes shown. I've looked into it a couple of times as an option, but as a piste skier it never looks as appealing to me as ADH, 3V, Espace Killy, or Paradiski.

Speaking of Paradiski, that could be another very good option for your group (either Les Arcs or La Plagne would fit IMO), if you find suitable accommodation.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

@Mountain Surfer, if the expanse of the 3V's is what you like, and a sense of travelling, then Les Deux Alpes isn't the choice for you.

A good resort no doubt, but quite a linear skiing area. I've been 3 times now, and don't particularly have any intentions on going back.

I'd pick Tignes if I were in your shoes and wanted something different to the 3V's.

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I've skied Espace Killy, LDA and ADH, and given your criteria, I'd rank them Espace Killy first, ADH second and LDA third. Lots of sense of travel with both Espace Killy and ADH. Not so with LDA.

After all it is free

The USP for LDA is that it used to offer tons of fairly uncrowded (or let's say "very", compared to other places mentioned above), top notch beautiful off piste options without the need to run crazy risks (as opposed to ADH). Got a lot worse though with the construction of the lamentable Pierre Grosse cable car.

Another Marmite thread.

All are great ski areas in my book other than LDA, which seemed considerably smaller, and is upside down.

You could pick any one of the others and have a fabulous time but personal preference will be different in many cases.

I would rate the 3V at the top of the list but base in another valley, closely followed by ADH second as it's a lovely place, with a lovely atmosphere and a great ski region (you need to ski it all and out to all the other villages), I would add Les Arcs (with La Plagne)as third (under-rated skiing, just tons of good fun), Tignes (but only because of VDI) fourth and bump off LDA as it's no comparison to the first four.

But as I said it's Marmite

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As a former French afficionado , for the best part of 20 years we went to all the French mega resorts and for the most part loved most of them , However about 5 years ago we tested out Austria and have never been back to France for skiing despite owning a chalet there . In general they are much more accepting of Brits , they are more polite than the French ,the ski uplift is amazing outperforming speed/modernity and generally the crowds are not so big .
What sent us over the edge with France is their apparent willingness to throw as much alcohol down our necks as we wanted whilst charging us exorbitant amounts of money for said alcohol and then turn their noses up at us “ Brits “ when we appeared a little bit tipsy , whereas in Austria , the whole town is “ tipsy” and the Brits antics are generally less outrageous than those of the Dutch , Skandi or Germanic tourists .

Austria all the way although the Italians especially seem genuinely grateful that you are spending money in their resort .

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@gwatts10, agree with the sentiment, and not skied in France for over 10 years. Swiss, Italian and Austrian resorts giving me more. Having said all that were off to LDA in January if the French let us in having picked up a cheap 4 night deal from Inghams. If I landed in Geneva I’d stay in Switzerland.

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Thanks all for very useful advice!

We've got a place booked in Tignes Val Claret and are all now very much looking forward to it (I've also go 4 weeks in Canada in January to look forward to before then!)

Austria is also something I'd like to try. Wasn't sure where to start this year, but I think we'd all like some variety in the coming years so undoubtedly I think that is the next country we will go to.

Very interesting. Can you recommend a few Austrian resorts? I have been to StAnton, which is very nice but not quite as good as I expected compared to the mega French resorts.

Help!!

Les 2 Alpes v Tignes v AdH v Meribel

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