© Rob Wood
Cold & quiet in Alpe d'Huez
Exceptional conditions for this time of year
The clocks “sprung” forward last night to mark the beginning of French Summer Time here in Alpe d’Huez. That marked the end of a rare week here this season – no snowfall! That said, nice cold temperatures and very quiet pistes mean that the conditions both on and off-piste remain remarkably good for the last week in March.
This week looks like it will bring some fresh snowfall ahead of Easter, with snow likely on Tuesday into Wednesday (10cm), Wednesday (14cm), Thursday (14cm) and Friday (22cm). So, although there won't be any massive dumps, these little top-ups will serve to keep the pistes in lovely condition for the upcoming Bank Holiday weekend.
It will also be a bit warmer than of late with a rising freezing level so, whilst the higher slopes will definitely get some snowfall, it may fall as rain on the lower slopes around resort – fingers crossed it doesn’t!
With the exception of the very highest slopes above 2800m on the Dome-des-Rousses and Pic Blanc where the avalanche risk remains at 3/5, it is now thankfully down to 2/5 across the rest of the Grand Domaine ski area. But, as is always the case, take care up on the hill.
After a week with no snowfall, on-piste snow cover still stands, impressively for the last week in March, at:
| Alpe d’Huez resort 1850m | 235cm |
| Pic Blanc 3300m | 440cm |
| Auris village 1650m | 115cm |
| Auris Signal 2176m | 150cm |
| Villard Reculas 1500m | 106cm |
| Vaujany 1250m | 110cm |
| Oz-en Oisans 1350m | 110cm |
| Montfrais 1650m | 150cm |
| Dome des Rousses 2800m | 250cm |
Off piste snow cover now stands at:
| Elevation | North | South |
| 2500m | 410cm | 360cm |
| 2000m | 280cm | 260cm |
| 1500m | 165cm | 70cm |
| 1000m | 0cm | 0cm |
Some fresh snow this week will no doubt improve off-piste conditions but on the whole of the off-piste remains very good for the last week in March. Although a bit tracked out there is still a bit of boot deep stuff to be found on the higher North facing areas.
Snow cover still extends down to an elevation of around 1300m, which is still lower than all of the piste areas here in resort. Very often towards the end of March some of the lower areas in Vaujany, Mont Frais and Maronne can start to shut down, but not so this year as the great snow cover continues, and the whole of the Grande Domaine ski area remains in tip-top shape as April fast approaches. It makes a nice change so late in the season to have all runs over in Auris open and with no doubt a busy Easter weekend approaching, these pistes always offer a bit of sanctuary away from the busy areas of Alpe d’Huez itself.
Today we had 64 lifts in operation (out of 69 = 93%) and these were serving some 100 pistes (out of 103 = 97%). As has been the case for the last couple of weeks, lift queues remain nice and short and the pistes are on the whole nice and quiet. Of these 100 open pistes - 26 are green, 31 are blue, 27 are red and 17 are black. So there continues to be something for everybody with plenty of choice at all elevations, as has been the case all season thanks to the great snow cover.
The Sarenne black run continues to be in great condition for its entire length, especially first thing in the morning, but for the last week in March it really is in great nick. The infamous Tunnel black run up at the top of the Pic Blanc remains super-mogully and is marked as “bons skieurs uniquement” – good skiers only, and this really is the case on this notoriously mogully and steep piste.
There continue to be 100% of the cross-country ski trails open, with 39km of lovely groomed trails open and they really are in great condition. In addition to these XC trails, there are still 36km of walking trails open.
There definitely seems to be a few more British families in resort this weekend as the schools back in the UK begin to break up for the Easter holidays – these numbers will no doubt grow as the long weekend approaches. Now that the clocks have gone forward and as Spring fast approaches the days continue to stretch here now, and with sunrise this morning at 07:28 and sunset at 19:54 – we had 12 hours and 26 minutes of daylight today.
