Minimum altitude: 734 meters
Distance: 94.3 km
Slope Aspect: South
Vertical Climbed: 9,634 meters (31,609 feet)
Vertical Descended: 10,256 meters
Return to l'Alpe d'Huez after 3 years due to Covid ! It has been a long time and we discovered the new Oule express lift from Allemont which is very practical. You only have to drive to 730 meters with no tiring drag up the mountain in the car. We took the Marmottes up to the glacier but the chair to the summit was closed so skied down the Sarenne to a six man chair (another new lift) on very good snow. We then tried to reach the glacier via the Pic Blanc but the DMC had a broken pulley so instead skied down to Villard Reculas to give them time to fix things. Finally we made it up to the glacier for a very sticky Sarenne at the end; 23 minutes for the whole descent.
The tunnel opened for 13h30 and we were among the first down. The top section on the glacier was heavily mogulled and hard to ski with a mix of ice and slush. The exit of the tunnel was great although a lot of people seemed to be making heavy weather of things. Then down to Vaujany to add some vertical. We skied another two runs on the Oz side to top out at 90k for the day, we hardly noticed the time passing. Not too many people but the roads were busy in both directions. 45 minutes from home via Allemont is excellent.
Firm refrozen snow before 10ish, slush in the afternoon. We skied the west slopes and high after midday for the best snow. Bottom of the Sarenne very sticky on the second run.
