History

Founded in 1936 and located high in the Oisans Alpes at 1869 meters above sea level, Alpe d'Huez is the central resort of the Grandes Rousses Massif domain linking the traditional mountain villages of Auris-en-Oisans, Villard Reculas, Oz-en-Oisans, Vaujany and La Garde.

Alpe d'Huez can be reached in around one hour from Grenoble airport, two from Lyon and four from Paris. The standing population is 1700 residents and there is accommodation for 35,000 visitors.

Ski Area

The domain covers an area of 10,000 hectares which includes 248 km of linked pistes extending over an altitude range of 2,230m. The top station, Pic Blanc ( 3330m ) offers breathtaking views of the Alps including Mont Blanc, Mont Cervin and the Meije whilst on a clear day a fifth of France can be seen from this point.

The Alpe d'Huez slogan is L'ile au Soleil or Island of the Sun and this reputation is well deserved with almost all slopes south facing. The national meteorological office further confirms this with average figures of 300 sunshine days a year consisting of up to 7 1/2 per day in December and 11 per day in April.

The amazing amount of artificial snow making covering about 2/3 of the area, allows skiing from the 1st of Decembre right up to the last week-end of April, with beautiful conditions and consistency.

The central bowl of Alpe d’Huez naturally divides into zones catering for different abilities. It should be said that the resort is an excellent place for beginners to learn as the large number of green pistes testify. These currently stand at 39 and the majority occupy the shallow bowl immediately above the resort. There are a number of chairlifts serving this area such as Romains, Fontbelle. or button lifts such as les Jeux, Rifnel, Poussins, Tk ecole... 

The Village

Alpe d'Huez is divided into a series of quarters, the main ones being Quartier du Vieil Alpe, Quartier des Bergers and Quartier des Jeux. Quartier du Vieil Alpe is the oldest area of the resort and is quiet and largely residential although it does contain a number of restaurants. The Les Cimes and Le Mariande are the main British tour operated hotels.

Quartier des Jeux is the main town and it contains the biggest concentration by far of hotels, apartments, shops, restaurants and bars but is not as convenient for the slopes as some of the other areas. L'Ours Blanc Apartments and the Royal Ours Blanc hotel are the main choice for accommodation.

Quartier Bergers is the newest addition to the resort at the eastern end and about 10 minutes walk from the centre. There is a small arcade of shops which contains largely sports outlets in addition to a supermarket. Although there are a smattering of restaurants and bars, most visitors will head to the centre of the resort for entertainment. Accommodation is mainly self catering consisting of Les Bergers Apartments, the newer Quartier des Bergers Apartments and the Christiana Apartments.