Les Deux Alpes

Les Deux Alpes is a busy lively town that has grown along the valley floor during the last twenty years. It is a long way from one end to the other and it is served by the village chair at the beginning of the resort, the Jandri Express in the centre, and the Diable Telecabines at the Venosc end of the resort. The ski area is big with 205 kms of pisted runs on the map and a huge off piste terrain. A previous complaint was of the of lack of variety of runs coming back into the resort which led to bottlencks at busy times. Where once there was just a black run down and a flat meandering green, now they have constructed a series of blue runs so all abilities are catered for. Beginners will love the nursery slopes along the valley floor close to many of the accommodations. There are also a lot of great beginners blue and green runs at the top of the resort on the glacier. Now the addition of blues has massively improved the situation for beginners. Intermediates will love some of the fast cruising runs especially the runs down from the Glacier du Mont de Lans to Toura and then on to Cretes. Experts are well catered for in Les Deux Alpes and the Chalance black itinerary is a great run and not as daunting as it looks from the bottom. Off piste in the area when acccompanied by a local guide can be really fulfilling, the famous La Grave network is easily accessed from Les Deux Alpes and this is one of the world's most renowned off piste meccas. For Snowboarders Les Deux Alpes is a must go to place with one of the largest and most interesting terrain parks in the Alps. The resort is ideally suited with very few flats and even fewer drag lifts. The lift pass in Les Deux Alpes offers 2 days skiing in the nearby resorts of Serre Chevalier and Alpe d'Huez with buses running twice a week. However a better option would be to splash out €85 and take the helicopter. Apres ski in Les Deux Alpes has a reputation for being lively and fun and last time we were there Smithy's Tavern and Cafe Bressilien were rocking.