© Rob Wood
© Rob Wood
© Rob Wood
© Rob Wood
Pistes now open all the way down to 1500 metres
Village piste to Huez is now open for the 1st time this season
A traditional marker for me that the season is in full swing and that the snow cover is good, is when the lovely blue run “Village” opens here in Alpe d’Huez. Of course am slightly biased as it goes past my back garden and means I can ski to-and-from home – but more importantly it means there is great snow cover over all the slopes of Alpe d’Huez - as this is the lowest slope in resort.
This hidden gem starts up at the top end of resort by the newly refurbished Signal lift and runs around the back of town before joining up with the main road up the hill at “city limits” and from there it makes its way down below the treeline into the wonderfully alpine village of Huez.
The piste opened for the first time this season on Saturday (21st January), although I have been skiing home on it since the last dump of snow on Saturday 14th January. Last year it opened on January 17th, so although the snow may have been a bit late in arriving this year it only opened 4 days later than it did last winter, so things are now pretty much where they should be, so all is good.
This run really is worth checking out as its always really quiet as everybody seems intent on heading “upwards” from resort and few seem to look to ski “downwards” from town. It’s fairly flattish to begin with around the back of resort before it opens out into a lovely wide sweeping piste that affords some of the best views around. The bubble ski lift brings you back up into the old town area.
Huez itself is a wonderful alpine village with narrow walled streets, too narrow for cars and has a couple of café/bars and restaurants and is well worth a little stroll round before you head back up into resort. The end of the piste pretty is pretty much in the centre of Huez village. Huez gives you a real feel and insight into how the area used to be – it’s like stepping back in time when you stroll around here.
