© Alex Chapman
© Alex Chapman
© Alex Chapman
© Alex Chapman
© Alex Chapman
© Alex Chapman
From sunshine to fresh snow in Les 2 Alpes
Conditions have changed this week in Les 2 Alpes
Well, what a week we had last week! Fresh snow to begin the week and perfect blue skies and sunshine to end the week. Conditions were just perfect.
This week has started slightly differently with it trying to snow and be stormy for the last few days but not succeeding till yesterday afternoon, when it snowed a reasonable amount, and this morning when the storm started. We now have fine wind-affected snowflakes and lots of wind. This morning Les 2 Alpes has been able to open just the button lifts in resort and the Valley Blanche area. Even the Telecabine to Venosc has been shut first thing.
The pistes
It's easy to focus on today and the high winds but, actually, the resort is in great shape. The pistes are all very snowy and beautifully groomed, allowing for great piste skiing, and have been relatively empty as well. As you can see from the following pics, we have not only had beautiful corduroy pistes but also sunny days. The temperatures have remained cold during last week so the conditions have been just perfect.
Les Deux Alpes is fantastic for cruising the perfect blue pistes. You can ski from 3600m right to 1650m, at village level, on our Jandri piste which is blue and green and in fabulous conditions top to bottom. The Jandri 1 back to the village is better skied in the morning, as it is the main route home in the evening so it can get busy. One of my favourite pistes this week has actually been the Valentine back to resort. This isn’t for everyone as is a fairly steep black run but the snow has been just amazing on it and carving short turns on it was such a pleasure.
The off-piste
The off-piste conditions have been a little more mixed! At the start of the week, we saw fresh snowfall and great conditions off the piste. We had some wind at altitude, so the best off-piste skiing has actually been lower down. We are not used to this due the past few seasons of little snow but actually, here in Les Deux Alpes, we are lucky enough to have “Le Pont” or “The Front Face” which has fantastic off-piste skiing that is very accessible. With my group, we enjoyed the Vallons de Diable and the off-piste near the Valentine - both were in excellent condition.
As the sun came out and the wind blew higher up, the off-piste above 2400m became a little crusty although still skiable, but the Valley Blanche stayed soft and fluffy. There was a layer of about 10cm of very cold, soft fluffy powder covering the Valley Blanche all through the week. The Front Face became quickly skied and chopped up but still soft and fun. Even yesterday we had some fresh tracks although temperatures rose and the snow became a little more humid and heavy.
The forecast
The forecast is for quite a bit more snow over the weekend and into next week. This will be excellent to refresh the already perfect pistes and renew the off-piste. However, the avalanche risk will remain high whilst we have high winds and the snow will need to settle once the wind has died down before the off-piste is safe again. There will be a number of slabs forming as we speak!
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