 Poster: A snowHead
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I've been to LA/peisey many times and absolutely love it. I love the sheer variety of slopes (e.g. the glacier in 2000 down to the trees in Peisey with loads of fast reds and tricky blacks), the fact you can choose easier or harder ways to get about depending on how you're feeling, and the sensation of getting miles under your belt during a day's skiing. I also like the fact that if, say, Arc 2000 is closed because of the weather, access to one of the others via a free bus is nice and easy.
I've never been to ADH. I have some friends that went many years ago but there was no snow so they hated it. It's always eluded me for some reason but I'd like to go. What I want to know is how does it compare to LA in terms of the things I mentioned above?
Cheers!
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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 also forgot to mention queues: In LA it's relatively easy to avoid them because of alternative ways to get to each place. Is this the same as ADH or are there bottlenecks that make queuing unavoidable?
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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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Similar outlook to you about LA in thinking it packs a lot into relatively not that huge an area. With many way around and variety to ski at many levels. I'm always happy going there.
I feel AdH compares quite favourably, obviously different topography but very good variety of slope, aspect etc. Loosely, you could describe it as an enlarged Arc 2000 section, with something akin to the run down to villaroger out on a leg to Os en Oisans, plus whopping cable car lift back up from there.
Significantly larger village than any of the Arcs as its main centre, good variety of business there, really big outside pool in centre, nice place to stay the week. Well not actually staying in the pool  to clear that up.
Went with our group in early March a few years ago, snow good (but it is exposed to high sun levels in good weather) and bucketing down with snow when we left, only place I've visited that they needed chains on coaches to get down !
Good contrast to LA but with many aspects I feel you'd enjoy, definitely worthwhile, snow conditions permitting.
Thumbs-up from me.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@ski3, Thank you so much. That's exactly the reply I was looking for! Very much appreciated.
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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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I also like Les Arcs and in particular Peisey Vallandry. The reason I haven’t so far been to Alpe D’huez is that it appears to have little in the way of trees and most of it is south facing. I like resorts with slopes facing in a variety of aspects. Alpe d’huez also has a number of cable cars and I prefer chairlifts and gondolas.
Although obviously Alpe D’huez goes up high so maybe this mitigates the drawbacks of the large amount of south facing terrain. I like la rosiere which is also south facing but then la ros is linked to la thuile so when la rosiere is getting slushy late season one can ski more on the Italian side. I think the orientation of the slopes is less of an issue earlier in the season.
Will be interested to hear how you get on in Alpe D’huez if you give it a try.
We are going to Tignes next which also lacks trees but am looking forward to skiing there for the first time.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Les Arcs
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Alpe D’huez's good stuff tends to be quite high. Which sounds like a great idea until it's closed, and you're limited to strips of white across mellow terrain. I could not face a return trip, so I'm probably not the best person to ask. I'm a big Les Arcs fan.
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I think the piste maps show you all you need to know.
Alpe d'huez is a small resort. It has an excellent beginners area just above the village, but only 1 real black piste. The village is large and sprawling, but has some nice village based activities. It has single road leading up to it with a lot of hairpins making it a nicer drive than that to les arcs. (I know there are actually at least 2 roads)
Personally I think it is really worth a visit.
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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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These are fascinating answers. Thank you all. @johnE, Is it small? I read that it has 250km of pistes, which makes it bigger than Les Arcs. Is that not true?
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| greengriff wrote: |
| These are fascinating answers. Thank you all. @johnE, Is it small? I read that it has 250km of pistes, which makes it bigger than Les Arcs. Is that not true? |
It is more than Les Arcs on its own, which is 210km....but substantially less than the whole Paradiski area @ 425km.
I really like LA, due to the variety of skiing available. I have never been to Alpes D'Huez, so can't help there.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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My feeling was that alpe d'huez was about 1/2 the size of les arcs, but that was possibly due parts of the resort being closed. Probably a lot.
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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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@johnE, Well it's not unknown for resorts to, ahem, overestimate their size. They must be run by men 
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Alpe d'Huez was measured a few years back at about 175km.
Les Arcs was measured as marginally bigger, or about 400km combined with La Plagne.
Having been to both multiple times, in a variety of conditions, I'd much rather book a week in Paradiski. In my opinion Alpe d'Huez is inferior in terms of orientation, exposure to westerlies, lack of trees, queues and extent of intermediate pistes.
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You know it makes sense.
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@denfinella, Thank you.
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