 Poster: A snowHead
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I am off to Serre Chevalier next week and plan to take advantage of the pass sharing arrangements.
I am almost certainly off to L2A for a day and will probably go to Alpe d'H I have done this before but only early season.
In April I guess the conditions are likely to be very different. Any suggestions of where to find the best snow and where to park to go for it? WIll be with the family and mainly on piste.
Thanks for any suggestions.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Auris - much nearest driving from SC. Lots of the main ADH area is south facing so expect early to corn.
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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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Drive to L2A, instead.
ADH is rubbish.
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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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Whitegold,
Hope to do both and lift pass covers a day in each.
fatbob,
Cheers.
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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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T Bar, Whitegold talks tosh as ever, though you will indeed find rather better snow at 2Alpes at this time of year.
Auris is the closest part of Alpe d'Huez when you're coming from Serre Chevalier, but I predict that it will have poor snow conditions next week, so you would have to spend ages on chairlifts getting over to the main part of resort. I'd drive round to Alpe d'Huez itself, and then head for the glacier and Vaujany. If the sun is out the snow will be doing its usual solid ice to knee-deep slush transformation, and you will have a skiable window between about 10:00 and 14:00. Suggest ski followed by late lunch.
2Alpes will have better conditions, particularly high up. Park as close to the centre as you can (outside Marche U is usually a good bet) and go straight up via the Jandri Express.
Complementary days are already loaded onto your pass, so you don't need to go to the lift office for anything other than a piste map should you want one.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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T Bar, I'd say drive to Auris even if the snow there isn't great, we did this from L2A last season until Auris closed (1 week before AdH proper). It doesn't take that long to ski over and if starting from Auris at or around lift opening time you can still be on the first car to the top of Pic Blanc where the best snow will be. It's much less faff than driving to the main resort from where you are.
If it's warm and sunny you can follow the sun round to get the best conditions: start on East faces then South (most of AdH faces south) etc. and be ready for some slushtastic stuff late on.
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Lizzard, Swirly, Thanks for the info. Good news about just being able to use the lift pass the last tiem I dud this you had to hand over funny bits of paper to the ticket office.
Not been up to glacier at Ad'H as my last visit it was just too cold. Will the Sarenne be skiable or does it just get too soft low down? Is the tunnel run icy as hell first thing and best left till later?
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The problem up there might be wind rather than snow conditions. Quite often they shut everything above about 2000m when the breeze picks up a bit.
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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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T Bar, tunnel will quite probably be icy and very possibly shut first thing, if so they open it when it softens. Sarenne will be open unless it's shocking low down, not soft but melted out, could go either way but if it's shut you've not missed much: the best part is the bit above the high chair.
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As the others have said, get to Auris early for lift opening, take the Signal d'Homme and ski the col du Cluy (check it has snow cover), this east facing slope is great early on as it takes the first sun when the rest of AdH is too icy. I would then suggest taking the Chalvet lift (if open) then the Marmottes I to ski the Coal Gulch (combe de Charbonniere) - the coal mines beneath your feet date from the early middle ages finally closing in the 1950s. I would then head up to the glacier by Marmottes II etc and ski the glacier descending by the Sarenne, take lunch, maybe at the "Eco" refuge on the Sarenne (book if necessary) then ski the Foret run to Villard Reculas or the west facing slopes over to Vaujany which don't soften up until early afternoon. Head back to Auris for 3.30/4pm to make sure you don't get stuck.
It is a myth that l'alpe d'Huez is south facing, there are slopes of all aspects if you look.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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davidof,
Thanks will print.
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