Unforgettable Skiing Experience: Les Deux Alpes Has It All!
The ski city 3,600m in the sky.
It’s no secret that skiing in the French Alps offers some of the best skiing conditions and some of the best apres. You’ve likely heard of Val Thornes, Val-d’Isere and Tignes as these are some of the main ski areas within France. It just so happens that Les Deux Alpes is one of the most outrageously underrated ski resorts for reasons I will state in this article.
Reason 1: The day and night life.
My experience in Les Deux Alpes has shown me the whole range of fun to be had. From the ski-parachuting to the quiet bars just off the piste. The bars are quaintly decorated chalet lodges usually with a fireplace for warmth. In these bars, the beer is always cold, perfect for building your confidence for the slopes or numbing the pain if you’re had a fall but it certainly can’t mend your ego.
Ski-parachuters rain down from the sky in Les Deux Alpes, I wasn’t brave enough to try it, but I can only imagine the views as you swoop above the resort. While I was there I saw many more experienced parachuters perform aerobatic tricks like barrel rolls and close terrain passovers and I couldn’t help but stop what I was doing to watch. The nightlife in Les Deux Alpes is also incredible, it really is a city on a mountain, there are an incalculable number of nightclubs, pubs, restaurants etc. All of the things you’d want for either a quiet night or a guaranteed hangover.
Reason 2: The views.
The views at Les Deux Alpes are some of the most spectacular that I’ve experienced to date. The altitude this resort allows you to get up to reveals a panoramic scape of a crystal plane, something that not even my camera can do justice. You simply just have to see it in the flesh. The air is a different sort of clean in the Alps, it really does feel like you can take a deep inhale up there although you may feel the need regardless as the air can feel noticeably thinner at those higher altitudes.
The view of any mountain beats cloudy Britain, you’ll see something spectacular from just about any point on the slopes which makes you realise you really are deep within the seemingly infinite mountain ranges. Every bar has a view for you, even the small ones grant you this luxury. Even from most apartments or chalets, you’ll be greeted with a spectacular morning view. Perfect for any avid sight spotter.
Reason 3: Skiing.
What would an article talking about a ski resort be without mentioning actually skiing? Naturally, this depends on your skill level and what you have experienced in the past, but I firmly believe from a skiing standpoint it is amazing. There are just enough runs with a range of difficulty levels for everyone to enjoy, the pistes are well-maintained and the chairlifts take you all over the resort. The weather was amazing when I was there too, obviously this is not a feature of the resort but it certainly helps elevate the experience.
There is not much else that tops sliding over powder on a sunny day with the incredible scenery around you, I have on a few occasions now almost fallen over or crashed because I’ve not been looking where I needed to. This is obviously a good problem to have (sort of), how often can you think of a time where you’ve had a near-death experience because of your surroundings? You get my point.
Issues with skiing:
While this section will be shorter (there are too many good things that outweigh the bad) it is still important to run over the issues that you may be faced with. Firstly, the cost of these holidays are sadly quite high so in all cases, it may not be possible to experience this for yourself because of this but booking in advance can help with this. Secondly, weather can impact your skiing experience as poor weather, such as cloudy overcasts can cause for some testing conditions, especially for those who are novice skiers.
Thirdly, it can get very busy on the slopes, especially during half term and with a busy slope comes a higher chance of collision and a faster formation of moguls which are essentially mounds of snow that form and compact on the piste the more they are skied on, creating difficulty in skiing. Lastly, the amount of green on the mountains has been greater than in years prior and this can be put down to climate change, the rising global temperature has certainly impacted the quantity of snowfall which we may see get worse over the years to come.
So, this is a call to action. We must cut down on global emissions to protect the natural wonder of the Alps and everywhere else on our planet.
