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Les Deux Alpes 29/July

tollandtolland Posts: 4
edited August 2011 in MTB rides
Hi All,

Am going to be in Les deux alpes for the weekend for some down-hilling.

I would be interested on any reports of the conditions, as I heard there was a lot of snow on the lower routes, or any suggestions on where to go, what to see etc?

Thanks,

Tom

Posts

  • extremenikextremenik Posts: 15
    Going out same weekend for 2 weeks and it is 4th time biking, 6th overall.

    If I was to comment on the current snow line, you will still be able to ride from at least 2600m down to LDA at 1650m, from there you can ride the Venosc trail which goes down for a further 500m, or at the other side to the village Mont De Lans.

    By all accounts it is set to warm up towards next weekend and into the week beyond.

    The Pied Montet on the other side of the village has a nice fast blue, with berms and Tables that when flat out takes 6mins. This is from the first chairlift as you enter the village on the right. This mountain is 2100m and on the webcams the snowline is about 2600m so this side is untouched.

    The best run for me is to take the Red eggs (Diable) at the far end of the village and come down the Blue, then Red and continue down to Venosc.

    All runs that are under snow today are Lunar landscape type and are boring. You will still get 30 min runs in, and in my experience I would be surprised that it is like this next week!
    They can have strms and floods in the night and the trails be dry/dusty for dinner. If the warmer weather comes(above 20C) in LDA the snow line will be back to the glacier in 2 days.

    I ski in the winter and I won't be taking skis unless they have snow up top late next week, as I don't expect the snow to interupt any of my biking.
    Nick
  • extremenikextremenik Posts: 15
    If you put Les Deux Alpes Venosc in you tube there is loads of videos of the Red Run!
  • tollandtolland Posts: 4
    I was tempted to cam-up for this visit, but I am concerned I might be unwittingly participating a darwin awards live feed
  • pat mcguckenpat mcgucken Posts: 126
    we were there just over a week ago and took the Jandri express all the way up to the snow park at the top. Riding back down, with the exception of one very small patch, there was no snow. It's an amazing place to ride and I will def be going back. Camping (in the van) down at Venosc is an excellent way to do it, really cheap and a gondola that takes you up to town every morning, just up the lane from the camp site
  • pots74pots74 Posts: 62
    I ski in the winter and I won't be taking skis unless they have snow up top late next week, as I don't expect the snow to interupt any of my biking.
    Nick[/quote]

    I'm planning on going next year beginning of August, is this when the snow comes? For me it will be a once in a lifetime visit so i want to get the most out of the time i'm there. I was thinking of having 3 weeks, taking into account travel etc! I have just been watching some of the video's I can't wait!!!! :D Hopefully these will see me through the long winter nights!!!! Any advice/info would be fantastic! :)
    I have never been lost but I do admit to being confused for several weeks!

    Specialized Enduro Expert EVO 2012
  • tollandtolland Posts: 4
    Well, just got back from a cracking weekend.

    It was a little cold when the sun was behind the clouds, and there was some muddy bits on the lower slopes, but all the routes were open and in great shape.

    My favourites were Tallias and Vallons

    Full out on Cretes was a proper bone shaker
    Venosc was as fast as I dared with my limited talent ;-)

    We did have an interesting experience with the medical services in Les Deux, one of the guys had a fairly minor fall, but it developed into a full on Sciatica and he was immobilised.

    It turns out the closest A&E is Grenoble and the local doctor call out was going through to some drunk guy. Really it was kind of shocking compared to what I am used to in the UK or the US.

    It seems there is very limited emergency cover during the summer season, or we had the wrong numbers to call for an emergency.
  • extremenikextremenik Posts: 15
    Did the Tallias yesterday, and this year the bottom has been changed and it is great!

    23 degrees and Blue skis at the moment. As Tolland says the Cretes is quite rutted, first year on Enduro instead of DH bike and on the faster tracks the Breaking Bumps are a pain. Spending most of the time on the more technicl Reds me thinks.

    Hopefully going over to Alp'd'heuz to get the Enduro trails in.
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