Les Deux Alpes

A snowHead

Hiya all,
righto, thinking of booking my 09 ski hols, any1 got some info on Les2aples??
never been, nut i have heard favourable things, but nothing cast iron that it is worth the visit, im looking for apres-ski aswell, no wife this trip, so looking to get very drunk!!! lol

Any help, greatfully received Smile

A snowHead

Try this, I think it might be what you are after!

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

alexsam97, Apart from the night life, what are you after skiing-wise? We don't suit everyone, but if you give me a bit more info I can help. Very Happy

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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

alexsam97, I am rather fond of LDA - it has some good skiing, friendly locals, and is good value for money - and in easiski, has one of the best instructors around. As an old fogey, I can't comment all that authoritatively on the night life, I think it's pleasant and reasonably varied - but if you are looking for a French Ishgl, you may be disappointed. Beginners are well catered for in nursery slopes, but early intermediates may find the choice of home run restricted and so the pistes available to them crowded. That said, use of the first-class lift system can get round that.

You'll need to Register first of course.

alexsam97, What you'll find (in addition to achilles, remarks) is that many of our black areas/runs are not pisted. Many of the reds are really black (there aren't that many reds) and this is because some of the blues are really red!!! We have shedloads of skiing, the pistes are well kept and wide on the whole, but be careful about where you go with your intermediates - check first. Even if you don't want lessons I'm always happy to help. Very Happy

I hear, (also being an old fogey) that the night life is manic. Discos, drunkeness and so on, however I never see any of that. Little Angel

achilles, Thanks. Very Happy

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

Thx easiski, Ive been checking your page out, might try and organise it myself... again!! although its such a pain! emailed to see about vacancies so il wait for them to reply and go from there.

Ive been looking at the piste map, and looks like theres some nice big runs from high up, but whats the trick with lift passes, i dont think i need the ' lagrave' pass, can i get to the glacier with the super ski pass?? not very good with the lift pass stuff!!

Im ttryin to learn french so im not a dumb english tourist this time, but is hard!! Smile

After all it is free

alexsam97, La Grave is free with a 6 day LDA pass, so no problem there. Just get the regular super ski pass and that takes you everywhere with a day in ADH and a day in Serre Che etc. as well. I don't think you'd be experienced enough to do LG yet. You need to be comfortable off piste and in various types of snow for that. We do have the second biggest vertical drop in the world lift served and pisted, but it's not always possible to ski down to Mont de Lans in spite of the cannons. It would take most peeps a long time to ski the whole thing though. Very Happy

Don't believe the blues on the Pied Moutet side - there aren't any. It's all red and black over there, but always quiet except in very bad weather. Jandri side blues to be careful of are Bellecombe (might go back to red next winter I hear), and Gours (2 walls the rest flat). Prepare your beginners/novices to ride back down the last bit of the mountain in the lifts, but you can avoid queues if you know the way. There are often biggish Qs for the white eggs (Jandri 1) and the red eggs (Diable), but if you go across behind the restaurant La Patache you'll find the telesiege de la Belle Etoile which never has a Q at all because it's a bit hidden. From the bottom of that you can either take a poma up and ski across to the centre or walk over to the road and get a bus. It's very handy. Don't go down by the Village chair which is the obvious one next to the resto as you have to walk back up hill again to ski across.

Hope this helps. BTW it's easy to arrange on your own here. Flight to Grenoble or Chambery or Lyon; rent a car and drive up. If Lyon or Grenoble you can get to resort by bus which is cheap but slow. Plenty of advice on snowheads about where to stay, and a large number of snowheads with apartments here you could rent. Very Happy

Thanks for info easiski, so am i to understand you can ski all the way to the centre, but for beginners its better to get a lift?
As if that is the case, i would leave them on the lifts and ski myself!!! Laughing

Do you know of any nicely situated apartments? We are looking for close to bars, with either a bus stop close by or a ski lift close by?
I looked on your website and was wondering about la waala, I have emailed the link but no reply yet, looking for around the 10th jan, but mid week travel is best as you say, its cheaper Smile

also checked out you reccomendations 'Strong Apartment services', the appartments look good, but they have not updated there prices or booking avaliability for the 09 ski season?

Sorry to keep bugging you, but once i get something in my mind, i cant rest til its arranged!! Smile

And I have my mind set on LDA now, looks great!! and reviews sound great too Smile

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Also where can I buy a lift pass for the 09 season? can only seem to find summer ski passes??
And a cheap transfer? Smile

I used the bus to get back to the airport from chamrousse, but constant panic about gettin the right 1, as i dont speak french!! (tryin to learn but may not be up to much by january)

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

alexsam97, How many of you are there? Paul McK's apartment in Le Waala is nice and should be back in action by the winter (major building works going on there at the moment). There's a new, very big, apartment coming up belonging to Pollyperks but it's not yet on the websites as it needs some decorative improvements. (unreal 70's style) Shocked

Pollyperks also has a smaller apartment in the Plein Sud. Tory (Strong) is around, but she's not officially an agency. She basically looks after peoples' apartments and is a good link. She has to wait though until the owners have updates the prices before she can do it. It's a bit early yet, but I'm sure an email will produce results.

The whole of the 'face' above the village is black with the exception of a green path (road in summer) which zig zags down the end of it. This gets horribly crowded at the end of the day and is very narrow. Much best avoided - 5Kms of straight snowploughing is the reality. Lots of other ways down though, both pisted and unpisted. Best to avoid the Combe Valentin at the end of the day on pain of pain rolling eyes

however. I never ski it after 15.30 if I can help it. There are just too many people who should never be anywhere near a black run on it. The alternatives are much preferable. Therefore, park your novices at the lift and meet them at the bottom. Very Happy

From this point of view Le Waala is a good bet as the bottom of the Belle Etoile chairlift is just opposite. Very Happy

There are weekend transfers with a company called Bens Bus, but I don't think they operate mid-week. Local buses go from the airport (or you can train from Lyon) to Grenoble. You can then get a bus up to resort. They don't always tie in all that well, as the Gren/LDA buses are principally for locals so the timetable is for them. You're too early though to book any of these options I'm afraid. The French don't like to start with winter bookings until about Sept. You won't have any bother in Jan though what ever you choose. Very Happy

snow reports

Thanks again easiski,

The more I think about it, the more I think maybe I should ski france the following season, when I can speak the langauge a bit more, nothing worse than not understanding a thing!! (plus fed up of being ignorant english tourist!!)

Plus if the runs are a little more difficult, im a bit worried as 1 of the ppl coming broke there collar bone last year thru doing a run that was a little to hard for them (all be it they were snowboarding for the first time, and they have skiied before), So overall, Im thinking maybe go to english speaking andorra, which has lots of easy slopes as ive been there before.

Really want to make france my no1 ski country, but all in all, maybe a bit too soon for the group as a whole....

Thanks again for all your help, and will definetely look for you next time for everything, some of those apartments looked ideal Smile

alexsam97, I see what you're saying. Our problem is that we're great for beginners, and great for experienced skiers (your level+) but the guy in the middle might be challenged. We are a skiers resort rather than a tourist trundling resort! Very Happy

You shouldn't worry too much about speaking French though (although I applaud your efforts). So long as you preface what you say with either 'do you speak English?' or 'I'm sorry I don't speak French' then you'll get a warm welcome round here. You attitude makes a refreshing change from the standard 'the bl**dy bus driver didn't speak English' or 'my ski instructor didn't understand English idiom' ....

I'll look forward to meeting you in the future. Very Happy

You know it makes sense.

alexsam97, there are still plenty of resorts in France that would suit your party though.

Help!!

Les Deux Alpes

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