Les Deux Alpes - The Local Area

Les Deux Alpes & Its Surroundings

Les Deux Alpes in summer The resort of Les Deux Alpes is situated in the Isère department of the French Alps at the point where the Northern and Southern Alps meet. The resort is part of the Serre Chevalier mountain range and lies at the heart of the Oisans region, renowned for its amazing scenery and boundless opportunities for both winter and summer sports. With the Ecrins National Park on its doorstep the flora, fauna and scenery of the Alps are all close to hand. The ‘Two Alps’ of the name refer not to the mountains, as you may presume, but to the neighbouring villages of Venosc and Mont de Lan that sit at the northern and southern tips of the elongated resort of Les Deux Alpes. At an altitude of 1650m and surrounded by glaciers Les Deux Alpes offers year round snow, glacier skiing and out of season ski and snowboard camps. To see what the glacier is like take a look at our video report. It isn’t just the white stuff that attracts the hoards of visitors every year though – Les Deux Alpes is also a haven for mountain bikers, climbers and walkers. The scope for summer activities is just as broad as in the winter, making it a popular year-round destination. It is, undoubtedly, the skiing that gives Les Deux Alpes its international reputation though. It is the largest ski resort in the Dauphine region and is the second oldest ski resort in France, after Chamonix in the Haute-Savoie. Les Deux Alpes makes up part of the Grande Galaxie ski area along with Alpe d’Huez, La Grave, Puy St Vincent and Vaujany. Jandri Express Les Deux Alpes has retained its early promise as a forward thinking resort by having one of the most modern lift systems in Europe, regularly being the first to trial new technology in its quest to whisk more skiers up more mountains more efficiently. One such innovation is the Dôme Express Funicular; construction started on this project in 1987 and lasted 2 years, 150 ton rotary diggers were used to shift 25000m³ of rock and ice. The funicular has the capacity to carry 1500 people per hour and accesses not only the ski area but also the ice caves and Croisière Blanche. As well as being the world's highest funicular, it is also one of the very few underground funiculars in existence. An elevator links it to the Jandri Express Gondola. The Jandri Express holds the title of being the world’s fastest gondola and can get you from the bottom of resort to the summit of the glacier in just 24 minutes – not bad for a 7km journey that includes a cabin change at 2600m! The gondola climbs a total of 1500m and runs on two engines at either end of the cable – the top engine works at 1546 hp, while the bottom one works at 1366 hp. It can carry up to 1800 people per hour and each cabin holds up to 20 people standing up and carrying skis. With the TSD des Glaciers Les Deux Alpes can boast one of the modern lifts of its generation. Built in 2001 this high speed chair lift stretches across the foot of the glacier from 2600m to 3200m. It runs on two cables that can be operated separately, depending on weather conditions. It carries up to 3500 people per hour and is often open in summer if the snow conditions are good. There are a further 55 lifts servicing the 200km ski area, from the highest at 3600m to the lowest at 1300m. You can keep an eye on lift opening times and find out how they all link up on our Les Deux Alpes Lift System page. The majority of the pisted skiing takes place around Les Crêtes (2100m) and Toura (2600m). Novices needn’t fear taking the journey to the top of the lift system – Les Deux Alpes has a reputation for being ‘upside down’, meaning that the lower slopes tend to be the steepest whereas high up on the glacier there are plenty of pistes of the more sedate variety. This has the bonus of meaning that beginners needn’t miss out on the spectacular views and the experience of skiing high up amongst the peaks! Having said that there are a number of easy pistes near to the resort, where the glacier flattens out towards the bottom. Partying in 2 Alpes Like any good mountain resort worth its salt Les Deux Alpes isn’t all about the sporting activities – it also holds a fine reputation for its nightlife! A multitude of cafés, bars, clubs and restaurants will cater to all your eating, drinking and dancing-in-your-ski-boots needs and if that isn’t enough to keep you occupied there is always a plentiful supply of events and tours passing through such as the many mountain bike rallies in the summer and the legendary Mondial du Snowboard that kicks off the winter season. You can keep up to date with all the latest resort events, parties and festivals with our regularly updated What's On Calendar. Access to resort is via road from the North, the nearest major town being Bourg d’Oisans. The closest airports are Grenoble at 1 ½ hour’s drive and Lyon at 2. Once in resort you shouldn’t find that you are too reliant on your four wheels; you can walk from end to end in approximately 20 minutes and there is a free bus service that operates between 8am and 8pm. For those of you who have brought your car to resort there is plenty of parking along Avenue de la Muzelle as well as covered car parks throughout resort.

last updated 1-Jul-2008