Bars and Clubs
Lots!
BARS - Les Bluets for chilled atmosphere, the
Croque Maison. Smokey Joes
and Smithy's are always
busy for hectic après ski, theme nights and Tex Mex. The
Secret bar under the Cret
hotel is worth a try, as are Corrigans,
Le Dutch, Hors Limites and Le Baron. La
Grotte du Yeti is popular with groups, and is regularly filled
with a lively crowd.
CLUBS - L'Opera in Le Village is as close to an actual club as you will find in the Alpes, with three floors, loads of guest DJs, and a new live music venue. Le Brazilien is ever popular for predictable cheesy tunes, as is L'Avalanche, and La Casa is fashionable with the French and Italian crowds.
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Off-piste*
La Grave speaks
for itself - accessible from the top of the glacier at 3600m. Take
a guide the first time as the top section is riddled with crevasses
and the region is reputed to have the highest death rate in Europe
- hence the name!
In Les Deux Alpes itself, the
most popular places to head for after a dump are:
The Ice wall - from the top of the glacier towards the bottom of
the signal.
La Fee - go exploring from the top of the chair, but watch out for
cliffs.
Le Bons - on the Pieds Moutets side of the valley. If the snow is
good low down, this can be superb, but go with someone who knows
the way or you'll have a long walk out.
St Christophe - an amazing descent to a tiny village in the valley
below the 'End of the World'. Again, don't try it without someone
local who really knows the area.
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Moguls
The front face of the resort is nearly
always mogully. Also Le Diable and Super Diable often have some
healthy house-sized bumps.
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Speed
Nothing beats hurtling from the top of the glacier to the
bottom of the signal on perfect corduroy at 3200m to get your legs
burning and heart pumping. Alternatively you can race from the top
of the glacier to the bottom of the Valentine. Fastest so far is
just over four minutes.
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Snowparks
With the all year glacier skiing and popularity of Les Deux Alpes with boarders, the park is excellent. Long pipe, great boardercross, big air and spines, plus there's regular music, BBQs, displays and comps.
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Events
Blisssnowschool offer our readers a 10% discount when you book lessons using the code 'Natives' on their site.
Regular big air and pipe comps, amateur freeride on the
Challance, Snow and DJ events and the Super Diable challenge.
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Famous
visitors
Mmm...perhaps they go incognito..
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Away Days
You can get to Alpe d'Huez in the helicopter
for only £30 - a bargain day out. Alternatively buses run
to Bourg d'Oisans regularly and from there you can bus to La Grave,
Serre Chevalier and Alpe d'Huez. All the tour operators run regular
trips - depending on where the good snow is.
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Shopping
The main high street is packed with shops and there a couple of
gems - Ski Extreme is well known and superb, as is the board shop,
Sliders. There are also loads of good clothes shops, big supermarkets,
and tacky tourist traps.
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Internet
Cafés
Smokey Jos and Corrigans both run internet cafes.The Crystal
Club Hotel Tessa also has Internet access.
More
details
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Eating Out
You're spoilt for choice.
Mid price, Smokey's is always a good bet, and if the sun's shining, then Les Sagnes is great. Les Bluets, Le Rouge et Le Noir, and La Spaghetteria are my favourites. Also worth a try are Casa Mia and L'Etable.
At the high end of the market, the Chalet Mounier and Bel Auberge are both lovely - reps can sometimes eat free in the Bel Auberge.
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McDonalds
The nearest one is in Grenoble! Try Eddie Burger for a local
alternative.
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Shopping Day
There are two big supermarkets in resort - Super U and Casino.
Many of the companies have orders delivered by lorry from Grenoble,
but some (eg Crystal and First Choice) shop locally. Bread is delivered/collected
from local bakeries.
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Transfer Day
Transfers to Les 2 Alpes from Grenoble Airport take about 1hr 45mins and cost from GBP30 Return with www.bensbus.co.uk Other airports nearby are Lyon (2 1/2 hours) and Turin (3 1/2). The nearest train station is Grenoble (1 1/2 hrs)
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Après-ski Options
Apres in 2 Alpes is infamous, and the bar crawl is chaos
but brilliant - with all the tour operators running on the same
night, fights to book up the bars, and hundreds of people all passing
each other on the streets! Staff are well looked after - which is
probably why it's always a shambles! Other big events include day
trips on the helicopter to Alpe D'Huez (10 pax = free place for
a rep), Coach trips to La Grave or Serre Chevalier, Meal nights
(reps can eat free in most restaurants for 10 or more guests), skidoos
and parapenting..
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Living
Les Deux Alpes is a relatively big
ski town and there are over 500 UK tour operator staff, bar staff
and ski bums knocking around. Ideal location are the blocks at the
bottom of the pistes, near Smokeys, but you're more likely to find
yourself at the Village end of town (near Club Med and very Scandinavian)
or right at the other end - near the bottom of the red eggs - where
most of the older cheaper accommodation is. There are lots of club
hotels too, where staff live-in. But the resort's flat, you can
walk from one end to the other in less than 20 minutes, and the
free bus is pretty efficient.
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CdS
Search
If you’re thinking of doing a season in Deux Alpes then why
not search through the Club
des Saisonniers to see who else has worked there and what advice
they may be able to offer.
Join
Anyone who has done a season or has a firm offer from a tour operator
may join the Club des Saisonniers.
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[Thanks to Steph Lightfoot for putting this Guide
together]
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