Great conditions after the recent snowfall in Alpe d'Huez

Great snow cover across resort both on and off-piste

featured in Snow report Author Rob Wood, Alpe d'Huez Reporter Updated 2 January 2018

As many of you will be aware we had fresh snow here pretty much all day Tuesday and Wednesday, which brought around 20/25cm to resort and a further 25/30cm up on the higher slopes around the PicBlanc at 3300 metres.

The snowfall was largely due to the low front that accompanied Storm Ewan across the Atlantic and brought with it stormy conditions to Northern England earlier this week. These moisture laden Atlantic formed clouds brought some welcome fresh snow to all elevations within the Grande Domaine ski area.

The new snow couldn’t have come at a better time, as the pistes have taken a real bashing over the past 3 weeks of the busy half-term school holiday period, so the fresh snow has really helped to improve the on-piste conditions. Snow fell down to an elevation of 1300 metres (bend 7 – Dutch corner, as you come up the hill) so all the pistes within the Grande Domaine ski area received fresh snow this week.

There’s more snow in the forecast for the next few days as well, with the potential for between 45cm and 70cm between Saturday and Monday. The heaviest of which is forecast for Sunday (up to 38cm).

The snowy weather has brought with it poor visibility and intermittent lift closures, particularly earlier in the week when the winds picked up as the weather front approached. Winds have dropped now to around 5kmph and look set to remain around this level for the next few days.

The cloud cover broke for the first time in a few days this afternoon (Thursday) and it turned out a really nice afternoon. Visibility may remain an issue over the next few days with the snowy conditions, so be careful in “flat” light conditions.

The tree lined runs from the DMC mid-station down to Oz-en-Oisans will provide some much needed definition, which will definitely help should visibility become a problem. Both the blue run, Village, and the red run, Huez, down to the pretty village of Huez offer better visibility and are in parts tree lined as well. The pistes over in Auris on the way through the Foret de Maronne are always a good bet in tricky visibility conditions.

After the weekend the weather looks likely to settle down a bit with temperatures rising to around +8degC in the afternoons in resort. Currently barometric pressure stands at around 1008mb and looks set to remain around this level through to the middle of next week when it looks set to rise and with it the temperatures as well.

After the fresh snowfall on-piste snow cover now stands at:

Alpe d’Huez resort – 1850 metres – 105cm
PicBlanc – 3300 metres – 190cm
Auris village – 1650 metres – 70cm
Auris Signal – 2176 metres – 100cm
Villard Reculas – 1500 metres – 70cm
Vaujany village – 1250 metres – 10cm
Oz village – 1350 metres – 50cm
Montfrais – 1650 metres – 40cm
Dome-des-Rousses – 2800 metres – 140cm

Off-piste depths are now:

2500 metres – North facing - 215cm
2500 metres – South facing – 115cm
1500 metres – North facing – 50cm
1500 metres – South facing – 30cm

Snow cover extends down to an elevation of around 1000 metres – well below the level of all the pistes in the Grande Domaine ski area.

After the recent snowfall and with more in the forecast take care up on the hill as avalanche risk is at 3 – CONSIDERABLE – if you have any doubts seek the advice of the nearest SATASKI “liftie”, ski instructor or mountain rescue guy (black and orange outfits).

As had been the case for the past couple of weeks all 69 of the lifts in the ski area are operational, which is always good news. These 69 lifts are serving 106 pistes (out of 116). These are as follows: 40 green (out of 40), 29 blue (29), 27 red (31) and 10 black (16).

Both the snowparks are open and after the fresh snowfall are in great condition.

The Sarenne remains in tip-top condition as it has done all season. Pretty much as always, the Tunnel run at the top of the Pic Blanc remains as marked for good skiers only and this really is the case on this scary steep, mogully black run.

It’s definitely getting a bit quieter now as the school holidays draw to a close.The final area (Zone A – Lyon, Grenoble) finish their holidays this weekend, so things will definitely be a bit quieter on the slopes next week and after the fresh snow things will be great.

If you are on your way out to resort take advantage of the fresh snow and have a great time.