Skiing & Snowboarding in Alpe d’Huez
Alpe d’Huez and its various satellite villages including Oz-en Oisans and Vaujany provide a large skiable area with a real mixture of terrains. The 250km of pistes accessible from the resort are actually France’s 5th largest ski area. 86 lifts are dotted around to provide easy access to the slopes from almost all points in the resort in addition to the large number of ski-in / ski-out accommodation which exists here.
Alpe d’Huez’s pistes provide great skiing and snowboarding for all ability levels – however, beginners and confident intermediates are best catered for. The resort nursery slopes encompass a huge area where those learning to ski can move, and fall, without fear of bumping into others.
The slopes stretching off in almost every direction from the centre of Alpe d’Huez provide a great number of long red and blue runs through trees which intermediate skiers will love. The resort also has a claim to fame in the Sarenne piste which is the longest black run in the world. Winding down from the top of the Pic Blanc at 3,330m the Sarenne is certainly not the most difficult run, but will definitely stretch most people’s endurance over its 16km.
Alpe d’Huez is known as a sunshine resort but the downside to this is that its South-facing slopes can turn slushy in the late afternoon heat. There are extensive snowmaking facilities to combat this however. A local guide will be able to show you some fantastic off-piste areas in the right conditions, with the added bonus that these backcountry areas remain untracked for longer than in other more well-known resorts.
