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| The "fake lake" is great for sunbathing and swimming... and it"s free! |
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In the ten-week summer season, Les Deux Alpes' main attraction is the skiing and snowboarding on the glacier. With 12 lifts, a world class snow park and pistes dedicated to ski racing, it's great for anyone who's serious about their snowsports. The gentler pistes are suitable for beginners and a couple of hours each morning concentrating on your technique with an instructor will provide a strong base for your winter holiday.
The pistes here also provide the perfect setting for a new course that's growing in popularity, the Alpine Ski Leader course. This is aimed at adults who accompany children on trips in the winter months, for example teachers who go on school trips with their pupils. The course teaches safety and leadership skills in a mountain environment and was designed by Snow Sports Scotland. For more on the course, visit Glacier Ski Coaching's website.
But there's more to Les Deux Alpes in the summer than snowsports. Once the lifts close at 12:30 there are loads of activities to fill your afternoons. My favourite summer activity is hiking, and Deux Alpes' location in a valley between two mountains makes it easy to get away from resort really quickly by foot. One of the best routes in high summer is round the back of Pied Moutet to Moliere. The path is mainly shaded by trees and has a gentle gradient. For something steeper you can walk down into Mont de Lans or Venosc and either hike or take the ski lift back up to resort. Another shady route is down to Cuculet but the trail is very steep and there's no lift to whisk you back up the hill!
A selection of ski lifts run throughout the day for use by hikers and mountain bikers, or those who simply want to take a look at the view and ride back down on the lift. You don't need to stray far to have fun. If you walk along the base of Deux Alpes' front face you'll find a climbing wall, beach volleyball courts, crazy golf, go-carts, luge, trampolining, a bike park, bouncy castles, golf and paragliding. Also in resort you'll find an outdoor pool, ice rink and tennis courts.
A little further afield, just outside resort, you can visit the Adventure Park and the picturesque village of Venosc, the via ferratas that run into resort or off towards St Christophe, white-water rafting in La Grave and the horse stables at Moliere. But if that all sounds a little too active for you, then why not head down to the fake lake...
Situated at the entrance to the resort, Lake Buissoniere is a man-made lake with a boules court, viewing point and amenities. Its sandy shores and grassy banks great for sunbathing and swimming and – best of all – it's totally free! And with temperatures regularly climbing to just below 30ºC it's perfect for chilling out and catching a tan.
In the evenings, temperatures generally fall to around 15ºC so it's warm enough to eat outside if you have a jumper or light jacket. Most of the restaurants have terraces and the selection of food available in resort is good. You can choose from traditional French cuisine at restaurants suitable for all price ranges, with plenty of good quality Italian restaurants as well. My personal favourites are TriBeCa for oven-baked pizzas, La Grange for huge salads and Home for a small but quirky French menu. If you want to splash out, Alisier offers good value for money especially on seafood, but you can't beat Le Petit Polyte, the restaurant at Les Deux Alpes's classiest hotel, Chalet Mounier.
So if you're looking for mornings filled with thrilling sports, afternoons relaxing in the sun and long, slow evenings in reasonably price restaurants, then Les Deux Alpes is the place for you!
Make sure to check our News Pages for regular updates this summer and the latest from this weekend's Mountain of Hell MTB race.
Check out what to do around town once the lifts have closed with our Apres Ski Report - a weekly round up of what's hot and where to party in Les Deux Alpes!
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