The 2alpesnet.Com Les Deux Alpes Après Ski Report

The Smithy"s Annual Rail Session

That's it from us for another season of apres ski.

You can check out the archive reports to see what we got up to over the winter, but we're off to dry out during the summer to make sure that we’re on top form to do it all again from December.

Thanks for reading and have a great summer! :O)

Thursday 22nd April

It's the final week of Winter 09/10 in Les Deux Alpes and true to form, most of the week has been spent in the Snow Park and the bars. In a genius idea to turn the resort's two most popular pastimes into an event, the first Smithy's Rail Session was held in the Snow Park on Wednesday.

The combined pulling power of seasonaires' two passions – riding and partying – turned into an epic day on, and off the piste. The event started early, with teams registering at 10.30am in the Park hut and we were blessed with clear skies and hot sunshine for most of the day.

Contestant formed teams of mixed threes, skiers and snowboarders, and we had riders from Deux Alpes and Alpe d'Huez, Britain, France, Australia and New Zealand. Rachel from Smithy's Tavern, Deux Alpes and Sarah from Sphere Bar, Alpe d'Huez represented the girls and hopefully some more will take part next year.

As the day unfolded it was clear that there were definitely two categories of teams: those who were there to enjoy themselves; and those who were there to win. In the first round the team sessioned a line of three boxes and rails, looping the course for ninety minutes. In the hot sun it was exhausting and it seemed that those teams who didn't go through to the final were actually quite relieved.

By lunchtime the barbeque was going strong and Alex's infamous vin chaud was nearly finished, so out came the beers and the rosé. Nobody had realised how hot it would be and those with the foresight to bring sunscreen and water were suddenly uber-popular. As the contestants took a break, the beats of DJ Chef got louder and the crowd swelled as almost every seasonaire left in resort joined us on the mountain for lunch.

In the afternoon, the final three teams battled it out for a further hour of riding before the klaxon signaled that it was time to head – not home – but to Pano Bar for some more beer and banging tunes before the ride back down into resort. And while everyone else finally made their way back for a snooze and a shower, video ace Chris took the day's precious footage home for a quick edit.

The event kicked-off again at 10.30pm with rosé and tapas at the Upstairs Bar, followed by an energetic performance by Alpe d'Huez's favourite band, Still Nameless. On harmonica for the night were Scot from Smithy's, Alpe d'Huez and Neilson's Dan Wilson. The band haven't played much in Deux Alpes so seasonaires on this side of the valley went mad for their classic set of rock covers.

Eventually it was time for prize-giving and the award went to Matt, Tom and Stephano for their consistently strong performance on the boxes and rails. The crowd was then treated to an early edit of the day's filming on the bar's big screen. The partied continued until closing at 2am and on into the night at Brazilien.

The whole event was a great success and it was cool to see the tongue-in-cheek rivalry between Les Deux Alpes and Alpe d'Huez put to one side for the day. Organiser Danos was smooth on the mic and his stage fright certainly didn't show. He'll be under plenty of pressure for a repeat performance next season. I can't wait!

As the season draws to a close – with the lifts shutting on Saturday 24th April – it's sad to say goodbye to another winter in Les Deux Alpes. However, the resort has a storming summer season and the lifts open once again for summer skiing and snowboarding on 16th June. The resort also hosts mountain bike trails, tennis, golf, hiking and many more activities through the ten week season.

Hopefully you've enjoyed the reports this winter and I'll be back in June to keep you up to speed as the summer season progresses.

Thanks for reading and see you again in June!


For a full list of this week's events, check out our What's On Calendar. You can also find full Bar and Restaurant listings in the Dining and Going Out section of the site.