 Poster: A snowHead
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Hello all,
Have spotted a really good deal that both Les Deux Alpes and Alpe D'huez run which for us planning a 7 day trip gives us:
• 2 days skiing in Alpes D’Huez
• 2 days skiing in Les Deux Alpes
• 1 days free skiing in each of the following areas: Serre Chevalier, Puy St Vincent & the Italian Milky Way
This all sounds pretty good since we will have a car and can experience multiple resorts over a week
BUT
The question is where to stay. We like to stay in catered chalets (independent or small TOs if poss) because we are too lazy to cook but don't know whether Les Deux Alpes or Alpe D'huez is a better bet. We don't do really do late nights outside the chalet anymore, although like a few pints after a days skiing.
Things that would sway me one way or other:
Good ski hire shop
Choice of chalets (Alpe D'huez seems a bit more limited here?)
Any thoughts?
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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might be worth looking at satellite resorts of ADH - Villard Reculas, Oz and Vaujany all have nice chalets and have a bit more charm than either of LDA or ADH
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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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If you're insistent on using all the extra days at other areas I'd say Deux Alpes is a better place to stay, mainly as you can drive to Auris to access AdH which is a fairly short journey. You'll also be marginally closer to Serre Che and the other places which are just further down the road from there. Ski Extreme are a good hire shop in L2A although you'll probably find not much difference in resorts.
Be aware that even Serre Che isn't that close and in bad weather you may not be able to drive over if the Col de Lauteret is closed. Montgenevre and PSV are further still, having been to all these over a season I don't think I'd bother with the latter two as day trips on a week visit unless conditions really demanded it. On the L2A pass you'll also get midweek access to La Grave if you fancy it.
Both resorts have good and bad points, having spent a season in L2A I'd find it hard to call between them if forced to choose.
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Thanks for the advice.
Having looked into accommodation in both, Alpe d'huez does seem much more limited in availability and the two resorts seem pretty evenly matched in terms of area.
Does the Col de Lauteret hey closed often? Seems like a pretty main road on the map. Would be really keen to go and explore those other resorts further afield.
La Grave sounds good, although its all off piste isn't it? I guess slightly susceptible to poor conditions?
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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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Does the Col de Lauteret hey closed often?
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Not that often but if there's a spell of really bad weather it will close. As you say it's a major road so everything is done to keep it open and reopen it ASAP after closure.
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La Grave sounds good, although its all off piste isn't it? I guess slightly susceptible to poor conditions?
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Yes, it can be variable but when it's good it's the best place on the planet.
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i agree with everything swirly says; except that i did a season at ADH and prefer it for skiing to LDA, unless you count La Grave as part of the LDA area. not much in it though. LDA is a better base if you think you will use your days in Serre Che etc. If you stay around ADH, access LDA via Venosc (less driving); if you stay in LDA access ADH by Auris or one of the other satellite resorts. on a good day you could spend all day poking around above Auris without ever crossing into ADH proper. the least interesting skiing is in the bowl surrounding ADH itself - much better around the satellite resorts and up on the glacier
depending on how you are getting there, consider a day at Les 7 Laux or Chamrousse on the way there/back. Les 7 Laux is great!
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I've done 2 weeks in ADH and about 8 in LDA. As Arno, and Swirly, have both said there are pros and cons for each. I think LDA is less expensive overall than ADH and as stated other places are more easily accessible by car. If you do have a day at La Grave you'll need a guide really. TBH I think your plans are a little ambitious both ADH and LDA are worth far more than 2 days.
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prefer it for skiing to LDA, unless you count La Grave as part of the LDA area. not much in it though.
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I'd agree with this, I only really prefer L2A because of the La Grave access. I think the piste skiing in AdH particularly some on the outlying areas is better than much of the piste skiing in L2A.
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TBH I think your plans are a little ambitious both ADH and LDA are worth far more than 2 days.
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This too.
IMO AdH tracks out a fair bit slower than a lot of L2A, the trick to good off piste at L2A is to head away from the lift system.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Colin B, Swirly,
I agree that our plans might be ambitious, but we don't really do off piste skiing - my knees are a bit too knackered to take it - so we just tend to aim to tackle all the pistes we can, which means we cover a lot of distance each day. (we pretty much did every piste in Espace Killy in 3 days)
Additionally I think while the option of the more far flung resorts is appealing it is more likely that we will not get to all of them. I'd like to get to Serre Chevalier, but the other two are less likely I reckon.
Having looked at the Piste map, ADH looks like the more appealing of the two for the type of skiing, not least because of the black runs off of Pic Blanc, the only problem I am having is finding many options for catered chalets - we are far too lazy to cook - anyone got any recommendations?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Arno, Thanks, only problem with Vaujany is that its on the wrong side of ADH for access to LDA, etc - Auris or ADH itself would be more convenient
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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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kosciosco, it's about 15 mins difference vs ADH
the roads down from ADH and Auris are slower. auris is a bit of a hole TBH so wouldn't want to stay there
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kosciosco, I doubt you find a chalet in Auris, it's 90% carpark, 9% apartment block and 1% supermarket/bar. It also has a squat and drop. Good for access but you wouldn't stay there. Vaujany has a better road than the others although it is further I doubt it's that much slower, the road would be quieter too. Moreover, the local skiing is better there than in the main AdH bowl.
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You know it makes sense.
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You could probably save a fair bit and stay down in Bourg D'Oisans, doubt there are chalets there but there are hotels which would cost less than in resort.
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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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ADH, LDA feels narrow and compact (the ski area) though the run to valley good when open. ADH feels like a bigger ski area and resort itself compact + good lifts.
La Grave has a fearsome reputation but with a guide, OK for competent skier.
Don't know if they still do it but the helicoptertransfer between the two was surprisingly reasonable.
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Poster: A snowHead
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kosciosco, both Alpe d'Huez and 2Alpes passes give you those benefits. Only difference is that if you buy it in 2Alpes a) it's 20€ cheaper and b) it includes La Grave, should you be that way inclined.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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In Jan/Feb I did this area by staying 5 nights in Briancon and 3 nights L2A. The mountain pass between L2A/LDH and Briancon is not a fast road and it is better to stay in L2A or LDH while doing both of these resorts.
Briancon is of course an ideal location for the entire Milky Way (Sauze D'Oulx, Sestriere, Cesana, Claviere and Montenevre), Serre Chevalier and Put St Vincent. We had a look at Puy St Vincent and didn't like it as it is small and charges for parking. We ended up driving to Risoul/Vars which is a lot bigger and a better place to ski. Serre Chevalier is very big and with 250km piste deserving at least 2 to 3 days. Once away from the Briancon town centre parking is free for other lift stations of Serre Che. We parked at underground car park next to the Chantemerle lift station.
L2A and LDH have 20 and 30 hairpin bends respectively. Thus if you stay in one place and ski the other you drive through 100 hair pin bends on that day. It is an experience but not something you want to do everyday. I had stayed at Bourg D'Oisans, which is on the main road at the bottom of LDH, before once and that is a good place to be if you can find accommodation. L2A and LDH of course have more choices.
This year the snow was alright for Briancon but the condition in LDH and L2A was rather poor. In L2A the runs going back to the base station were very limited and that was in the beginning of Feb. In my previous visits to L2A/LDH the snow were also poor when good snow could be had in the Milky Way.
Lastly you could get a 6 day ski pass say in Serre Che. that entitling you to ski a day each in the Italian side of the Milky Way(Claviere, Cesana, Sauze D'Oulx and Sestriere), Montenevre(counted as an idividual French resort if you do not cross over to Claviere except the interfacing run along the border), L2A, LDH and Puy St Vincent. The French ski pass cannot be used on the Italian side. What you need is to do is to give the receipt to the Italian lift station and they cut off a part of it to exchange a day pass.
Last edited by Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person on Sat 28-05-11 14:07; edited 1 time in total
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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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In my previous visits to L2A/LDH the snow were also poor when good snow could be had in the Milky Way.
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you must have been very unfortunate then, in my visits (about 10 in total) the only times snow has been a problem was Jan 2007 when everywhere in the alps was thin but L2A still had good skiing above 2100m and last month when skiing was still good above 2500m in L2A despite most of the alps being dire. I've also had some momentous snow most notably Easter 2010 when there was far too much.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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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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Colin B,
I like you qualifying your comment with "above 2100m".
Prior going to Briancon I had a week in Austria Stubai, Solden and Obergurgl and could ski to the bottom station everywhere in deep snow. It was nearly the same in resorts around Briancon. In L2A there were only one steep black and one rocky green back to the base station and the opposite side of the valley was slightly better with water and grass near the bottom. Away from the last links to the base station snow was satisfactory but not ideal everywhere in L2A and LDH. As an example the longest black Sarenne run in LDH was closed in my last trip and was rocky in the trip before.
I think Swirly is correct with the number of hair pin bends. I must have double counted them while my head was spinning.
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You could even ski back to L2A on Valentin last month, it wasn't particularly attractive though and I didn't bother. Last year at the same time of year there was a choice of 4 (or is it 5) blacks and 1 green and numerous off piste routes back to resort. In addition the whole of the Pied Moutet side was fully open too.
My experience of St Anton and Laax in February (2010 and 2011) hasn't been great but I've only been once to each. I was just unlucky, the snow gods weren't kind to me.
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Sounds like staying in Vaujany might be a good idea then.
Does anyone know how long it realistically would take to drive from Vaujany to Le Monetier Les Bains in Serre Chevalier?
Also does anyone know how the drive down from Villard Reculas is? Looks like lots of hairpins.
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kosciosco, I would say around 1 hour.
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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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kosciosco, it is pretty bendy IIRC
Vaujany and Oz have the easiest drive back down to the valley but they do still have a fair number of hairpins. they also, arguably, have the best access into the ADH lift system, although with Vaujany you do have to take a lift of some form to get back to the village at the end of the day (well, you can walk but you probably won't want to)
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kosciosco, If you seriously plan to ski several of the Galaxie resorts Vaujany is probably your worst option because it's right at one end of the system. If I were you I'd look at Serre Chevalier (more or less in the middle) or 2Alpes (cheapest lift pass).
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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The difficulty I have is that we have 7 1/2 days - Saturday morning to Saturday lunchtime.
The lift pass on either ADH or LDA gives us 2 1/2 days in whichever resort we stay in, 2 days in the other and then 1 day each in Serre Chevalier, Puy St Vincent & the Italian Milky Way. Just looking at the ADH and LDA piste maps, ADH looks more like the kind of resort we'd enjoy - lots of travelling and a mix of runs.
If we stay in Briancon their equivalent pass only gives me a day in one other resort which isn't what we are looking for.
So on that basis the obvious choice is ADH.
BTW I've looked to see if there are similar options elsewhere in the Alps (multiple resorts easily accessed from a single point - other than Paradiski, 3 Valleys and Espace Killy which we have done lots), but I struggle with finding any that seem to offer the kind of skiing that ADH does in many locations.
Does this make sense or am I talking B~ll#x?
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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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kosciosco, AFAIK the Serre Chevalier Galaxy pass is one free day pass per ski area. So one day in each.
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kosciosco, there is a deal in the maurienne valley where you get to ski multiple resorts. they are strung out along the whole valley but that probably isn't as far as going from Vaujany to Puy St Vincent
if you are really keen to ski all those places, you might be better seeing if you can split it so you do the first half of the week around ADH/LDA and the second half around Briancon
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You know it makes sense.
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Arno, Problem with splitting it is then you pay a lot more for your accommodation
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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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With that sort of schedule I would definitely be thinking about staying in Bourg D'Oisans rather than in any of the resorts.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Hmm, interesting quadrilemma 
It so happens that I did a lot of piste skiing in ADH and Serre Che (with my family), and a fair bit in Montgenevre. Only a little in LDA. I also drove a few times between them.
If it was me, I'd either stay in ADH and limit myself to skiing in ADH and LDA, or stay in one of the Serre Chevalier resorts and ski mainly Serre Che / Montgenevre / Via Lattea. It just seems that there's too much driving otherwise.
Or you could stay in Montgenevre, you get the Via Lattea pass, and you have 400 kms of runs with a lot of travelling (on skis) and variety involved (and no driving unless you want to). Subjectively it seemed to me larger than the Three Valleys. And you can still add a day in Serre Chevalier 20 minutes down the road, I think.
For piste skiing, I think LDA has the least variety. ADH has a lot but in terms of pure mileage Via Lattea plus a day in Serre Che beats it easily.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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If we stay in Briancon their equivalent pass only gives me a day in one other resort
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Full area pass for Serre Chevalier gives you a day each in Alpe d'Huez, 2Alpes, Montgenevre, Puy St Vincent, Sestrieres, Sauze d'Oulx. And Alpe de Grand Serre, should you feel that way inclined. All those resorts offer the same deal - it's a reciprocal arrangement.
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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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Lizzard,
When I skied it in Jan 2011 the deal seems to be Via Lattea counted as one resort (Claviere, Cesana, Sauze d'Olux & Sestriere) with Montgenevre (being French) counted as a separate resort.
The Via Lattea day pass was obtained by cutting part of the receipt off and my enquiry showed it was only for a day. May things have changed.
It seems the Galaxy ski pass entitles the holder to ski multi day on the resort he/she bought the pass and one day elsewhere in each other resort list in the Glalaxy Pass.
kosciosco,
If you are looking for one pass for multiple resorts the best has to be Dolomites Super ski pass. It is one pass for all the 12 areas in the entire Dolomites. The second that crosses my mind is the Salzburg Ski pass presumably for the whole of Salzburg. I didn't tried that one but I was quite impressed by Ski Amade which has more skiing possibilities for more than 2 weeks.
The distance between Briancon and Bourg d'Oisans is 40 miles. L2A and LDH is 20 miles apart and driving in between is an enjoyable experience. I would agree with Horizon to break the accommodation to two stays in the valley. The roads in this valley are not meant to drive fast and the link between Bourg d'Oisans and Briancon can get closed in a big dump.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Agree with horizon about the driving thing. In good weather the Col du Lauteret is OK, but in bad weather it can be a nightmare, and has closed for several days due to avalanche risk and high winds. The Off-piste bashers were lucky to get into Monetier from Grenoble before it closed overnight in March.
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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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In term of skiing possibilities Briancon has 250km from Ser Che, 75km from Put St Vincent and the 400km from Milky Way giving a total of 725km. The centre point of Milk Way is Cesana at about 13 miles from Briancon. Brian is the base of Srre Chevalier and Put St Vincent is about 7 miles from it.
L2A and LDH has 200 and 248km piste totally 448km and are 20miles apart. The statistics speaks for itself.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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saikee, Via Lattea is counted as one resort when I think about it. However, a Galaxy pass from any resort lets you ski in
- 2Alpes
- Alpe d'Huez
- Alpe de Grand Serre
- Serre Chevalier
- Montgenevre/Claviere
- Via Lattea
-Puy St Vincent
... enough for a seven-day holiday, as long as you stay somewhere in the middle of the system and don't lumber yourself with a two-hour drive to most of the resorts.
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I've never considered Via Lattea as an option but having looked at saikee's fine statistics I think it is worth a look.
Montgenevre looks like a good base considering its proximity to Serre Chevalier and Puy St Vincent and then maybe one day head over to ADH to have a play.
Anyone have any advice on accommodation etc in Montgenevre or elsewhere in Via Lattea?
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I recommend Briancon as the base as there are a lot of accommodations plus it has a lift station to the mightly Serre Chevalier. If you are not bother to find a half board hotel try the standard hotel like Ibis which is right next to the supermarket.
Montgenevre has some sunny spots and has been expanded steadily. It is known as an easy resort. Since Serre Chevalier has 250km piste and definitely needs several days to explore.
All the resorts in the Milky Way are linked but the areas are quite spread out so skiing from one end to another is not ideal. You can ski Montgenevre with Claviere and then drive to Cesana to ski Sauze d'Olux and Sestriere. The Montgenevre ski pass only permits the Galaxy ski pass holder to use the Claviere lifts immediately next to Montgenevre so watch out or ask the ski pass office for details. Claviere isn't large with only 30km piste.
Staying at the Italian side of Milky Way is also a good arrangement as Sansicario (or Cesana) has 40km piste but it also has an easy and very enjoyable black used in the Turin Olympic. If you hit Sansicario at the right time you could ski on freshly groomed Olympic run which is as smooth as silk and yet as easy a blue run. Sestriere is of course the main venue for the Turin Olympic and has more Olympic runs.
Depending on the time of visit L2A and LDH can have many accommodation choices as it seems to me they are not doing well. In Mar 2011 we paid £342 for accommodation-only for the 5 night in Briancon and £342 for the 3 night halfboard in L2A as a couple. For accommodation I just use Google Map to locate the area first and then type "hotels" or "Pension" and the choices will appear.
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