Beautiful Lupines near Les Deux Alpes in France. Les Deux Alpes is a winter sports resort and ski area in the French region of Oisans in the Alps (Écrins massif). The name refers to the location of the ski station on the alpine pastures ( Alpes ) of the communes of Mont-de-Lans and Vénosc.
The ski area was an initiative of these two municipalities, and the winter sports station was developed on the territory of both cities on a vast, flat saddle at an altitude of 1600 meters. From Vénosc, the winter sports station can only be reached via a cable car. Les Deux Alpes is located about 64 kilometres southeast of Grenoble.
History
Les Deux Alpes was one of the first ski resorts in France. It was founded in the 1930s, slightly later than Chamonix-Mont-Blanc. In the 1950s, the ski station and ski area were significantly expanded.
Geography
The village can only be reached from the north, from Mont-de-Lans. The only access road thus provides access to the broad saddle on which the ski station was developed. Steep rocky cliffs on the south side sharply bound this plateau. From the deep valley of the Vénéon, Les Deux Alpes can only be reached by a commuting cable car or a steep mountain path.
The ski station extends over more than three kilometres, with extensive access to the slopes (the so-called front de neige), especially on the east side of the ski station. The ski station is mainly developed along the two kilometerskilometre long Avenue de la Muzelle. This Avenue refers to the view from Les Deux Alpes on the 3465-meter-high mountain Roche de la Muzelle in the south. The Avenue de la Muzelle crosses the entire “Alpe de Mont-de-Lans” and ends at the Place de Vénosc (on the Alpe de Vénosc).
Winter sports
The ski area is open all year round. In summer you can ski on the glacier: the “Glacier de Mont-de-Lans”. It is the largest glacier in France, where you can ski in the summer. The glacier can be reached in summer using the Jandri Express. This gondola lift starts in the village at 1650 meters and goes directly to 3130 meters in the summer. From here, entering the glacier with drag lifts or a funicular is possible. Both go to the top of the 3417-meter-high Dôme de Puy Salié. The ski area’s highest point is even further east and can only be reached via Téléski de la Lauze tow lift. This leads to the western end of the Crête de Puy Saliéat, at 3511 meters, just west of the 3559 meters high Dôme de la Lauze. In winter, the ski area is much larger than the glacier, and about 200 kilometres (425 hectares) of ski slopes are opened up by 63 lifts. The ski area is also located on the territory of a third municipality, Saint-Christophe-en-Oisans. With the help of a danseuse, you can reach the ski area of La Grave, famous for its off-piste possibilities.
The 425-hectare ski area is located in the mountains between the valleys of the Vénéon in the south and those of the Romanche in the north. Nevertheless, the majority of the ski area (the part east of the “crête” (ridge) immediately east of the village) is located in the basin of the Romanche. The high side of the ski area is often on the south side, bordered by a series of jagged peaks such as the Pic du Diable, Tête de la Toura and le Jandri. If you want to reach the highest part of the ski area in the east from the ski station (around the 3130-meter-high Col de Jandri), you pass through two narrow valleys that drain to the north: the valley of Thuit and the valley of Les Gours.
Mythical slopes of the ski area are the Diable and the Super-Diable. The Diable takes its name from the nearby Pic du Diable (2868 m). The Super-Diable is located at the higher elevation of the first piste. One of the most challenging runs is that of the Pierres Grosses, which descends into the valley of Les Gours. A well-known off-piste in the area, the Chalance, also falls in that valley but starts higher near Roche Mantel.
Cycling
See Les Deux Alpes (cycling) for the main article on this subject.
The climb to Les Deux Alpes is a well-known climb in cycling, mainly because of the Tour de France.
