Les Deux Alpes | |
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Location | Isère, France |
Nearest city | Grenoble - 71 km (44 mi) |
Coordinates | 45°00′26″N 6°07′18″E / 45.00722°N 6.12167°E |
Vertical | 2,300 m (7,546 ft) |
Top elevation | 3,600 m (11,811 ft) |
Base elevation | 1,300 m (4,265 ft) |
Skiable area | 4.3 km2 (1,063 acres) of marked pistes |
Runs | 96 total 17 (18%) beginner 45 (47%) easy 22 (23%) intermediate 12 (12%) difficult |
Lift system | 51 total - 1 funicular - 3 cable cars - 3 gondolas - 23 chairlifts - 21 surface lifts |
Terrain parks | 1 |
Snowmaking | 214 cannons |
Website | les2alpes.com |
Les Deux Alpes (also Les 2 Alpes or Les 2 Alpes 3600) is a ski resort in the French Isère département. The village sits at 1,650 m (5,413 ft) and lifts run to 3,600 m (11,811 ft). It has the largest skiable glacier in Europe and is France's second oldest ski resort behind Chamonix, where the largest mountain in western Europe is located, Mont Blanc. It has the longest, normally open full on-piste vertical available in the world. It is a 71 km (44 mi) drive southeast of Grenoble.
The "two Alps" in the name do not refer to the two facing mountain-sides that comprise the resort, but rather to two adjacent areas of the original mountain pasture on the north-south plateau on which the resort was built. These pasture areas (or 'alps') are part of the two villages of Mont-de-Lans and Vénosc that lie in the deep valleys, respectively, to the north and south.
Access to the resort is by road RD 1091, in Livet-et-Gavet - no road connects the resort to Vénosc down the steep slope to the south, but a gondola connects the two, and there is a footpath passable in summer.
Les Deux Alpes offers approximately 220 km (137 mi) of pisted runs and 2,300 m (7,546 ft) of vertical drop. In terms of pistes the resort has been termed "upside-down", as the lower slopes down to the resort are steeper and more challenging than the higher ski areas, including the wide and forgiving glacier runs. Less advanced skiers either take a gondola down to the resort or follow a lengthy, gentle but narrow, track on the path of the access road. In winter 2015/2016 a new run made an intermediate route to the resort available, an effort involving the movement of over 550,000 cubic meters of earth. A wide area at the very bottom by the town is given over to nursery slopes. In total there are 100 marked runs spread across the resort however, in addition, it is said to have as much off piste as groomed piste.