© R. Wood
Some of the best conditions of the season in Alpe d’Huez
Irish eyes are smiling on St Patrick's Day
Many of you will be aware from our dump alert service that we had some decent snowfalls over the past week, with light snowfall on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights. A pretty decent dump fell on Thursday night making it a total of around 40cm of fresh snow on the lower slopes and around 50cm on the higher ones, which was truly welcomed after a prolonged dry spell in the Alps.
It goes without saying that conditions have improved dramatically after the recent snow which, combined with an improvement in the weather, has brought about some of the best conditions of the season in Alpe d’Huez.
Saturday was a real bluebird day up on the hill and, with the resort being noticeably quieter after the hectic week that was Tomorrowland Winter, it definitely felt a bit bigger. Sunday started as a gloriously day although it did cloud over towards the end of the day. These clouds gave us another light dusting of snow overnight, nothing massive but welcomed all the same.
The weather will be a lot more settled now after a really unsettled past three weeks. An approaching area of high pressure is to thank for this improving weather forecast. With its arrival, the winds look like staying nice and light at around 10kmph so the windy days of last weekend are, thankfully, well behind us now. The next 14 days are forecast to be lovely and settled with plenty of sunshine as spring takes control again. Daytime resort highs are likely to get up to 12ºC by the end of the week.
After last week's fresh snowfall, on-piste snow cover stands at the following replenished depths:
- Alpe d’Huez (1850m): 150cm
- Pic Blanc (3300m): 220cm
- Auris Station (1650m): 55m
- Auris Signal (2176m): 160cm
- Villard Reculas (1500m): 65cm
- Vaujany (1250m): 90cm
- Oz Station (1350m): 110cm
- Montfrais (1650m): 150cm
- Dome-des-Rousses (2800m): 200cm
The fresh snow, as expected, has caused a rise in the avalanche risk, which currently stands at 3/5 across the majority of the ski area. However, the onset of settled weather allied with the hard works of the pisteurs should see it drop over the next few days – as is always the case take care up on the hill at times of heightened avalanche risk.
In what is undoubtedly a quieter week we still have the luxury of having 98 pistes open,l being served by 64 lifts. Lift queues are nice and short and they should remain so for a while now. Of these 98 pistes, 30 are green, 30 blue, 25 red and 13 are black – 10 in Oz-en-Oisans, 15 in Vaujany, 14 across in Auris-en-Oisans, seven in Villard Reculas and 42 in Alpe d’Huez itself. The famous Sarenne black run is in great condition after the fresh snowfall for its entire 16km length. The fresh snow has helped to remove the “very good skiers only” caveat from the still super-steep Tunnel black run up at the top of the Pic Blanc.
Meanwhile, off-piste depths now stand at:
- 3000m: north - 290cm, south - 200cm
- 2500m: north - 255cm, south - 175cm
- 2000m: north - 140cm, south - 110cm
- 1500m: north - 105cm, south - 30cm
Off-piste conditions are massively improved now. The area from the top of the Pic Blanc over towards the Pyramides boasts some great fresh lines for the taking. The same can be said for the whole off-piste area down towards Clavans which is truly heaven after the fresh snowfall.
All 39km of the cross-country ski trails have improved thanks to the snowfall as have the 28km of walking trails. With the upcoming settled weather forecast, these trails really are a great way to see the area from a different aspect, especially as the days continue to lengthen – today's sunrise was 06:45 and, with sunset at 18:43, we had very nearly 12 hours of daylight.
As widely reported in the UK news feeds, the “gilet jaune” protests continue here in France. Now entering their 19th week, and they show no signs of letting up. Although thankfully peaceful, the protests are becoming part of weekly life on the outskirts of Grenoble and in Vizille (on the way up to resort), continuing to cause a few delays, especially on Saturday mornings (transfer day). Nothing to worry about, just be aware of the delays they may pose to your drive or airport transfer.
