It's a little unfair as, on an individual basis, the resort compares extremely well to just about any in France. It is the second oldest in resort in the country, after the world famous Chamonix and can boast more than 200km of runs to itself. However, while 2 Alpes may individually have a large ski-area, it lacks the collective might of areas such as the Trois Vallees or Espace Killy when it comes to a linked network of slopes. Essentially, with 2 Alpes what you see is what you get.
For most this won't be a problem - almost 100 different
pisted slopes plus good opportunities to drop into off-piste powder fields should keep all but the most demanding skier happy for a week or two.
For the very demanding skier, an area lift pass will get you access to nearby resorts - but these require a bus journey (or a helicopter ride) and extreme skiers always have La Grave to tackle - a world famous black descent into a historic alpine village. Not for the faint hearted and it's recommended to follow in the tracks of one of the experienced mountain guides.
Like Alpe D'Huez, the majority of the resort is south facing, meaning when the sun is out, it's warm and eminently pleasant to lounge in on one of the four or five mountain caf� terraces sprinkled at convenient points throughout the ski area. Prices, as to be expected, are high - but service is usually faultless and as usual, in France, the food is exceptional. The resort itself has around 50 restaurants and will satisfy most tastes, from traditional French to Tex-Mex.
The layout of the ski area itself is one of 2 Alpes weak points. Everything seems long and thin here. The main resort itself sits between the main ski area and a smaller alp, which provides a home for a handful of alternative slopes. All the bars and accommodation is squeezed into a longish sausage, served by two long main roads. It means if your chalet is at one end of resort, it's a long walk to get to the other.
With the bulk of the ski lifts departing from the centre of the strung out resort, it can be frustrating for skiers staying in chalets at the far ends who find they are served by just one or two short chair lifts.
A regular bus service does run from end to end of 2 Alpes, but hit it at the wrong time and it can take you 45 mins to get from a chalet at the furthest reaches into the centre of town.
The main ski area mirrors the elongation of the resort itself. It stretches up and away in a long line of lifts until it reaches the glacier at its maximum 3600m elevation. Additional spurs of lifts reach off this main line of fast gondolas and telecabins - but the skiing never feels as extensive as those more used to the bowls of Tignes and Val D'Isere.
The thinness of the ski-area also creates the expected bottlenecks of lift queues in the morning - although the speedy and modern Jandri Express copes well except at real peak time. Finding your way back to resort centre at the end of the day can also be frustrating with the only one or two easy runs, from "mid station" to resort, becoming crammed with learners and the harder red and black options soon getting rutted and dangerously crowded with over-confident yet under-skilled snowboarders and skiers.
Once the problems presented by getting up and coming down are solved, 2 Alpes has a wide range of skiing to suit all styles. There is a good spread of greens, blues, reds and blacks. Learners especially will love the resort, with its gentle drag-lifted nursery slopes near the centre and it's natural progression through blues and reds. Even the topmost glacier can be accessed by beginners, so that by the end of the week they truly feel they've "skied the mountain". It's also almost perfect for intermediates, who will find enough to challenge them without feeling the need to venture outside the safety of the pisted slopes. Advanced skiers however will probably feel the most frustration - unless they're prepared to make the effort to access La Grave, which is often closed due to weather conditions.
Of course, a ski holiday is not just about the time spent on the skis. For nightlife 2 Alpes has a deserved reputation as one of the liveliest resorts, without the braying crowds of English "Sloans" you risk in Val or Tignes. There is a huge range of bars, as noisy or sedate as you like and the majority of nightclubs are open until morning breaks.
If you've got the energy left there is also an ice-rink, which is free (excluding skate hire) to lift pass holders, climbing walls and an oddly municipal (but also free with lift-pass), unheated and outdoor swimming pool.
At this end of the Alpes, access to the resort is easiest by flying into Grenoble and then taking the hour and a half coach up to the hills. Lyonairport is a little further by coach, with around a three-hour transfer time - which can quickly become a bum-numbing seven or eight hours if you get caught in the weekend rush for the slopes.
While Deux Alpes has a lot going for it and is certainly worth a visit, it's unlikely to be the sort of resort you'll want to return to again and again.
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Jun 28th, 2006
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