 Poster: A snowHead
|
Resort: Oz-En-Oisans / Alpe D'Huez / Domaine des Grandes Rousses
Country: France
Domain: Domaine des Grandes Rousses
Author: Elvo
Date: 19-26 january, 2013
Our holiday: I drove there with the wife and baby, knowing a couple of friends were booked at Vaujany for the same week. We tried to meet up on the Alpette ("Tapette") every morning.
Basics : It's basically right next to Les2Alpes. Driving there was a doddle once again. The roads were perfect, didn't even have to mount chains.
Lift system : On the map, it looks awesome: mostly aerial trams and gondolas for the main connections which get you to the high places. The reality was less than great. The high trams were often closed in the morning, even the 'delayed' opening times were often not respected. Especially on the days following any snowfall. Lifts didn't open at 09:00 as they should, either. Instead of getting about early, lift operators took their sweet time checking and cleaning their equipment and phoning back and forth and consequently opened late. Not nice when you've got to rendez-vous with your friends on the plateau. Oh, and Clos Giraud is slooooooow. And cold.
Is it me, or is 16:10 a little early to be closing major lifts?
The terrain : I like the pistes between the Dome and the Lac area the most, with the far side of Auris a close second. Too bad the Olympique was reserved for competition the entire time. Grand combe was closed as well, those are the 2 most awesome reds. I liked the blue Col near Auris as well. And of course Bartavelles, Chamois, Les Rousses,... Alpette is always icy, Poutran is always challenging.
Also, it took a while (days!) for the Sarenne to open, and many of the reds and blacks near Clocher de Macle and Marmottes 2 remained closed the entire week.
The snow : Dumps the first few days, hero snow the last few days. Pow turning into heaps of crud in the middle. Icy and lumpy near Fontfroide, as always. Skiing Fontfoide is a good way to remove even blue wax within minutes, by the way.
Visibility was a bit of a problem. Because of the snow and fog early in the week, and because of a strange kind of mist from the valley later in the week. Starting around 14:00, a layer of dense fog would creep up from the valley, just engorging Oz, Auris and Vaujany and making the last descent a Marco Polo kind of affair.
Off-piste : Didn't even need to go off-piste for thrills: the blacks that were open, were often un-groomed. The black to Villard Reculas, next to Petit Prince was a very challenging, long, steep crud heap. We did the top part of the Sarenne during a misty storm, the boundary between on and off piste was hard to find let's say.
The resort : Oz is a small village and calls itself family friendly. The truth is, my wife got very bored. No real shops and really not that much to do. The walking trails are inaccessible with a sledding baby and the grand tour of the village is really just one short street. The village is ski-able though, which is nice. Parking is free.
The slopes were moderately busy and the lifts do carry a lot of people, so queues were short. The only area that was a bit busy at times was the Fun Park. One other thing that was apparant: there were a lot of jokers on the pistes near Alpe D'Huez. People in costumes are amusing, but it puts me off when they're in the way in large groups, or loud and annoying. Same thing for people on snowblades or on short skis without poles: good for you, but would you mind giving others some room on the black runs, and not banging up my skis while queuing?
Food : The wife cooked most of our meals using supplies from the small Sherpa shop. When we did go out to eat, the one restaurant in town wouldn't serve us before 20:00 so the only alternative was the pizzeria place. Some of their pizzas are nice, some are a little monotonous. Service is not refined, but prices are reasonable.
Accommodation : Couleurs Soleil. Affordable, but very, very basic, and very small. Helpful and kind staff though.
Costs: 430€ for studio + 1 ski pass. 2 x 40€ péage. Didn't keep track of fuel and food.
Conclusion: Not what it's cracked up to be. The area could be one of the best if it were managed properly.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
elvo, I was also in Oz last week and would challenge a few of your points. The upper lifts and slopes in the ADH area are often wind affected and therefore can open late or not at all, this was compounded by the heavy snow of last weekend, you may have heard the blasting around the domain, not much SATA can do about that although its frustrating I agree but safety is paramount (particularly considering the history of the Dome lift whose lower tram fell off the cable killing everyone on board a few years back). Agree Clos Giraud is slow and often cold and should be the next capital project in the region although it does give a good chance to scope the lines off 2800 on the way up.
Regarding lift opening times, my understanding is Alpette opens at 9.15 but to be honest I'm rarely about that early unless its snowed overnight! Afternoon lift closures are generally staged to ensure people aren't stranded on the wrong side of the hill but I've regularly ridden up to 2800m at 4.30. The cloud level does occasionally make vis difficult below 1500m but really only an issue on the home run on Thursday and Friday as I recall. Oz is rightly proud of its excellent reputation as a family friendly resort, not really sure what your wife could do with a non-skiing child while you were out enjoying yourself on the slopes wherever you were staying although I guess she could have ridden the lifts to ADH or Vaujany for a change of scenery as looking in ski shops and drinking coffee while surfing the net would get rather dull. Once your child is old enough the excellent Garderie, Piou Piou snow garden and ESF lessons will enable you to ski together if you wish until your little one is old enough to ski with (and probably past) you.
I'm afraid you clearly weren't paying much attention during your 'grand tour' as there are 6 restaurants in the village including the loathesome Ello Pizza while the Sherpa, Poutran and Bakery all do takeaway pizzas. Regards 'jokers' on the piste, I find boorish Brits more regularly loud and annoying although I was sporting a rather fine cockroach outfit on Friday morning and had great fun skiing amongst a quite large and rather hung-over group including 3 zebras, a frog, gorilla, pink hippo, lion, tiger and a very large monkey, we were only met with happy faces and requests for photos.
Sorry the area didn't live up to your expectations, we had a great week as usual 
|
|
|
|
|
|
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?
|
on lift closing times, what time does it get dark at this time of year?
pretty sure i have ridden lifts at 4.45 later in the season (actually later when downloading to Vaujany). I don't think ADH is exceptional on this though
|
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
|
Arno, We were having sundowners at Passoud on the Alpette in the sunshine at 4.30, it didn't go dark until much before 5.00 but the guys at the resto had clearly had problems with the pisteurs as they were very keen to see the back of us at 4.30.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
doesn't seem unreasonable to build a bit of margin for error into the timings at this time of year - I am sure lesser skiers than yourself could get themselves benighted in such a situation!
at whistler you get the hurry up on some lifts at 2.45 in december!
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
|
Arno, I think you're confusing me with someone else! They're clearly having a bit of a purge this year, I know the restaurant owners now get fined for serving latecomers.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Nick D,
I once saw a pantomine horse on the slopes in Alpe d'Huez. That wasn't you was it ? Not a very pleasant experience for the "back half person". I would have thought.
It didn't get in my way but ended up as a terrible pile of 2 bodies 4 skis and a horses head at the bottom of the slope.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
skitow, Not me although I'm pretty sure I saw it too! The large monkey in our party had to leave his poles at a pisteurs hut as his head threatened to come off at speed, looked like a very worried monkey flying about with his head in his hands
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
elvo, there was a thread recently about peoples fav/disliked resorts. It was quite fascinating to hear completely opposite views about the same place. I don't know why but I get quite defensive about my favourite places to stay and ski. I do try and bite my lip or see it from the other persons perspective though. I've been to Oz three times so far (and ADH once). Once on an all adult trip and twice with young (skiing) children. Some of the things I like most about it (in random order) are:
It's very easy to get high up from Oz quickly. Two cable cars out of town spread the load and route you towards different parts of the ski area. With another cable car you aleady opened up to big vertical drops and long skiing. And this is nice at the end of the day also.
Oz has a nursery run with a moving carpet. This is ideal for teaching young children how to ski. Our youngest spent a lot of time on there the first time we went with the kids. The same slope acts as an excellent sledging slope. Once you get beyond that going up the Alpette bubble quickly gets you to a nice couple of beginner runs. Which again our kids spent a lot of time learning on.
The town itself is easy to get to, and nice and compact. It is as you say pretty much a one (pedestrianised) street town as far as shops and restaurants are concerned. For families that is usually a plus as they don't go out much. Tending to eat and socialise in their apartment. I wouldn't go to Oz if I was wanting to eat out a lot, though I am sure the small number of restaurants serve decent food. We tend to buy food at a supermarket before we head up there and then just get bits and pieces from the local supermarket.
The ski area in general has a great mixture of piste skiing and some very good off piste skiing. The upper lifts in any ski resort are vulnerable to closure because of weather conditions and avalanche danger. Having said that I have been up on the Dome and Pic Blanc in some pretty brutal conditions. I have never noticed them being particular slack opening. When I was in Les Arcs the Aig Rouge or whatever it was called was shut for the whole week once when I was there.
As you mentioned queues are not often a problem.
Agree on Clos Giraud (although the views are quite nice 
Lift opening times as far as I know are pretty standard and for me never been an issue. All resorts have earlier finish times in Dec/Jan for obvious reasons. As mentioned you can do a long old ski to finish the day if you head for the top as the lifts are closing. The pisteurs do clear the hill though so no dawdling!
Marmottes is fairly new iirc and I think was closed quite a bit when I was there.
From the sounds of it you were a bit unfortunate with the weather and expected a bit more from the town, though I am not sure what. I think the former would warrant another try but the latter not because the town is what it is.
For the record we are planning to go there again next christmas.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Thanks for the replies guys, I do appreciate the comments.
It is a very bipolar thing though. I had been in Oz before as well, in 2009, and as everyone agrees, the ability to get high up really fast and to ski through the village are huge bonuses. But not being able to take the Dôme tram in the morning for most of the week puts that in a different perspective.
The carpet is a big bonus as well, until a local - or some woman pretending to be one - tells you off for using it with a sled.
I'm not saying there aren't enough shops and restaurants in the village, just that on the two evenings we ate out, we were having a hard time finding supper before 20:00. (Eating out on arrival and departure day is convenient, less tidying up to do) Finding fruit to feed our baby was also challenging. (No delivery on Sunday, no fruit on monday,..) Also disappointing: not being able to find a bar of blue wax in the village.
As for the lift opening/closing times: I'm just really sensitive to that. Unless limbs freeze off, I like to ski from 9 to 5, eating a packed lunch in a gondola or cable car if possible. I do understand that people need to be in their own valley around 16:30, but 16:10 is just very early to start closing down lifts. Well, to announce closing because as mentioned, lift operators will let you on 15 minutes after closing, possibly even 30 minutes. But I seem to remember being able to ski past 17:00 in ValTho, wasting very little daylight.
Oh, and a lift being slow in order to give you a nice view doesn't count If you want a view, go stand on a peak or dome somewhere. Lifts are there to get you up the hill ASAP.
Not arguing that Oz/ADH has all the ingredients to be a great resort. It can be. One of my friends had it rated at #1 on his list, but he's also reconsidering that now.
|
|
|
|
|
|
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
|
|
elvo, according to the internet, Val T lifts shut at 4.20ish now; and stay open for an extra 30mins from Feb. Which is pretty much in line with my experience in ADH
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
This seems a very odd report from Elvo. The weather last week was fantastic, I've never had a problem with early closing times, and fog rising up from the valley can be a problem in any mountain zone, at any time. Clos Giraud is a slow chair, yes, so don't use it, plenty of alternatives. Oz doesn't sell itself as a big resort, so don't expect a big resort. La Foret never gets groomed, that's the point. And for the record, I saw one group of superheros (Superman / Spiderman / Capt America etc) on the pistes above ADH and they made me laugh every time. Sounds like a case of gripe for the sake of gripe to me .....
Mind you, I'm really bitter about never having seen that pantomime horse. 
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
elvo,
| Quote: |
| But not being able to take the Dôme tram in the morning for most of the week puts that in a different perspective. |
If you mean the Alpette-Rousses cable car then yes I agree that is a big downer.
| Quote: |
| The carpet is a big bonus as well, until a local - or some woman pretending to be one - tells you off for using it with a sled. |
Give the bint the gaelic shrug. It was invented for such circs. 
| Quote: |
| I'm not saying there aren't enough shops and restaurants in the village, just that on the two evenings we ate out, we were having a hard time finding supper before 20:00. |
To be fair for they are catering for the majority of punters but I understand the frustration. Whether it's peculiar to Oz I wouldn't know.
| Quote: |
| Finding fruit to feed our baby was also challenging. (No delivery on Sunday, no fruit on monday,..) |
That is we always get the majority of our supplies from a supermarket on the way in. These places are just like your corner shop. Limited selection and a bit pricey compared to a supermarket.
| Quote: |
| I do understand that people need to be in their own valley around 16:30, but 16:10 is just very early to start closing down lifts. |
I just checked Les Contamines were we skied at christmas. Earliest lift closed at 15.45, most closed at 16.00 or 16.15. From 1st Feb everything shuts 30 minutes later. So a similar story. Not sure where lifts are open much later in Jan.
| Quote: |
Well, to announce closing because as mentioned, lift operators will let you on 15 minutes after closing, possibly even 30 minutes. |
Well that is a shock to me. They have always been very strict on closing time in my experience.
| Quote: |
| Not arguing that Oz/ADH has all the ingredients to be a great resort. It can be. One of my friends had it rated at #1 on his list, but he's also reconsidering that now. |
I remember going to La Plagne 4 or 5 years back. It had hardly snowed for a couple of weeks and it didn't snow the whole time we were there. It was very cold, cloudy quite a lot. It was just a bad (all relative of course) week. But I don't hold it against the resort. It was just one of those things. Some places though have irretrievable bad points for me, which are harder to overcome.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You know it makes sense.
|
|
... I've always wondered at people saying a resort is boring for not having shops. Why on earth would anyone go to a ski resort to go shopping? Surely it's ski till you're exhausted, have a couple of drinks and dinner, then sleep?
|
|
|
|
|
|
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
|
|
OliviaDB, without wishing to speak for him, elvo had a non-skiing wife and a baby with him and seems to have misjudged the size of Oz and what it had to offer in that respect. We went there at Christmas with some non-skiing grandparents and they were pretty bored too. I guess the only difference being a) we told them in the advance and b) they enjoyed the apres time with the grandkids and c) they didn't have a baby so could at least ride the cable car one time and do a bit of walking.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Poster: A snowHead
|
| Layne wrote: |
| OliviaDB, without wishing to speak for him, elvo had a non-skiing wife and a baby with him and seems to have misjudged the size of Oz and what it had to offer in that respect. We went there at Christmas with some non-skiing grandparents and they were pretty bored too. I guess the only difference being a) we told them in the advance and b) they enjoyed the apres time with the grandkids and c) they didn't have a baby so could at least ride the cable car one time and do a bit of walking. |
Ohhh... I speed read. Didn't see she was non-skiing. Have so many friends talking about breeding have also developed mental filter that blocks out the word baby.
So my apologies. Misplaced ski grump!
Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Fri 1-02-13 0:57; edited 1 time in total
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
OliviaDB, Facebook needs one of those filters as well, if you ask me. 
|
|
|
|
|
|
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?
|
Having offspring is a joy and wonder, but it does complicate ski tripery a little bit. The wife and I have agreed that from now on, only skiing family members go on ski trips. So I'll probably be going with friends for the coming 5 seasons.
I may have been comparing january lift times in Oz with february lift times in ValTho....
|
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
|
Great editing, nice job.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
|
and that my friends is the way to edit a ski holiday video.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Exactly, ansta1. Our editor, Mr. YellowPants in the video, did an amazing job. Making a good ski clip in 3 easy steps:
1: max length = 1 song
2: no repetitive or long-winded bits, ever. Only super short segments.
3: shoot in 60fps, use slomo extensively
For contrast, this is from the same trip, different cinematographer: https://vimeo.com/59063539
Last edited by Then you can post your own questions or snow reports... on Fri 8-02-13 16:03; edited 1 time in total
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Nice vid! Got me even more in the mood for my trip there next week.
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
|
|
|
|
I`m a great fan of Oz - not sure I agree with many of Elvo`s points (though I can see where he`s coming from) - but how refreshing to read a civilized exchange on the subject - without a descent to acrimony.
Cracking vid. What`s the backing track ?
|
|
|
|
|
|
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
|
| Layne wrote: |
elvo, second vid says you need a password  |
Sorry. Fixed the link for you.
Backing track should be in the description on Youtube. Skrillex I think.
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
Elvo is getting too old The week was great, they announced snow and clouds all week, and we ended up having 4 days with perfect visibility, and fresh snow almost every day!
I do agree that the lift crew starts working too late. Apparantly in most other big resorts they start working 1 or 2h earlier than the crew in adh area. According to a ski instructor, it has to do with the company running it all, trying to save money.
And I want a frog suite.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FAQ
