Alpe d'Huez Activity Review: 14th August 2009
As August progresses the hot, sultry weather in the southern alps persists. We’re now finding that the mornings and evenings are cooler than earlier in the summer, but by midday temperatures are soaring into the low-30s and the afternoons are long and warm. To keep active, I’m finding it’s better to get up and out early, aiming to be home by 11am, when the sun really starts to intensify.
So I dragged myself out of bed early one morning to blow away the cobwebs on a run to Villard Reculas. As you may have noticed, I usually use the term ‘run’ lightly, preferring to clamber up the mountain paths and wander down the other side. However, the path to Villard from Alpe d’Huez is relatively flat and it’s possible to get a good pace for most of the route.
The starting point for the path is to the west of town, in the car park just past the Shangri-La apartment block. It’s popular with locals and tourists alike, as it’s a quick route out of town and into the wilderness, without having to climb too high. The path provides great views of Alpe d’Huez and the first quarter is shaded by the Foret d’Huez.
Amongst seasonnaires, this part of the path is known as the A-frame walk, due to the shape of the mountain side. As you reach the first corner you’ll find the ‘money bench’, decorated by previous visitors who have slipped coins into the metalwork. From here the path gets a little sketchy, as it crosses an open face of flint and shale. It’s pretty narrow and exposed, so best not to run on this stretch.
Across the face and you’re back onto solid ground. This is where the gradient falls away gently and the deserted path gives a great terrain for running. The views here are spectacular as you’re high above Villard Reculas and crossing what – in the winter – are the pistes of the back face of Signal.
On your left you pass a small fishing lake and cross under the Villard chairlift. Soon you meet a gravel road, which curves steeply up to the top of the hill and is too unstable to run. Follow this for a while and you’ll find your heart once again beating hard as you move ever higher.
Another option, if you don’t want to go all the way to the top, is to follow the paths that continue across the hill and link to either the top or the bottom of the DMC lift, depending on how energetic you feel. You could also follow the routes down into the village of Villard Reculas and continue from there to neighbouring Sardonne or back via road to Huez.
I chose to head home via Villard Reculas, as I’ve only ever driven through the village. It’s a fairly typical French mountain village, centred around an old church and Mairie with the newer buildings spreading out onto the surrounding mountainside. The older houses and barns were built close together and now seem to lean on one another for support. There’s a tiny pathway that takes you down through the old town, which is signposted for the Mairie. It’s much prettier than taking the road and probably safer too as there are no pavements here.
Across the mountain paths, it took about an hour to reach Villard Reculas and it’s only 20 minutes or so back in the car. Hitch-hiking in these areas is used as a substitute for public transport and locals will happily give you a lift back into Alpe d’Huez or somewhere along the way. That said, it’s obviously safer to do this when you’re not alone and I’d also avoid it if you’re a nervous passenger, as the locals tend to view the speed limit as a guide rather than law.
