Les Deux Alpes Advanced Skiing

Les Deux Alps has much to offer advanced skiers: steep runs, natural canyons, plenty of couloirs and classic off-piste itineraries.

Strong skiers have come to the right place in Les Deux Alps. The steep reds and blacks are exactly what they should be, the natural canyons are great fun as are a few runs down through the snow park, while the narrow pistes mean only one thing: wide flanks of unpisted terrain. All the blacks just above the village are worth exploring and young trees have been planted between the pistes to act as avalanche protection and slalom poles. Both of the blacks under the La Fée chair are characterful runs and the Grand Couloir under the Bellecombe chair cuts a steep line down through the rocks. The Rachasses couloirs to the side are more challenging still. The itinerary from the top of Diable cuts round the shoulder of the peak and joins the run of the same name and is particularly good in spring snow.

Much of the off-piste has been touched upon above but there are several classic descents. One follows the ridge line directly below the Clot de Chalance all the way down through the trees to the village of Cuculet, just above the lake. The marked itinerary skier's left of the Clot, known locally as the Gully, is also an entertaining ski. The only off-piste on the Glacier itself is skier's right of Dôme and is called the Echines de Chevres, or 'goat's shins'. The other superlative itinerary is a 2,000m vertical descent from the top of La Toura to the village of St Christophe.