I saw the post about la Grave and was wondering what the off piste and touring possibilities were like in Alpe d"Huez. It has a reputation for being an family resort. I’m going to be there for a couple of weeks in the new year. I looked at the wiki pages but the information (apart from the restaurants) is not clear.

see the piste hors guide for alpe d,huez its a huge area but get a guide.

Yes there was a bit of a problem with the pages. The east and west sides off the summit (Pic du Lac Blanc) offer the widest range of options. This page has an aerial photo (taken with the PisteHors.com secret drone) of the east side (Clavans)

http://pistehors.com/backcountry/wiki/Isere-Drome/Alpe-D-Huez-Clavans-Off-Piste

The Classic Route is (F), the Grand Sablat and consequently this is a nice little earner for the ski school who do helicopter pickups from Clavans la Haut (personally I’m against helicopter pickups for a number of reasons and suggest just skinning back to the col du Sarenne).

The Grand Sablat stabilizes quickly but by March you should be looking to ski it earlier in the morning as it will get too warm later. The other, steeper routes are more prone to avalanche and you need to take care, the couloirs are generally ok but it is when you exit onto the 30-35 degree slopes that you can have problems. The Pic Bayle and routes off it require traversing a glacier and certainly the rimaye (bergschrund) at the bottom of the Pic Bayle is big enough to swallow a skier. The routes down to the Lac de Quirlies are also glaciated but when I’ve been that way in the summer the crevasses are pretty narrow (but deep).

On the Vaujany side you a veritable mine of routes

http://pistehors.com/backcountry/wiki/Isere-Drome/Vaujany-Off-Piste

http://pistehors.com/backcountry/wiki/Isere-Drome/Alpe-D-Huez-Grandes-Rousses-Off-Piste

The ski schools tend to focus on route (G). There is an intereting couloir under the Dome des Petits Rousses cable car called the Fleur. I have some photos somewhere. The Perrin bowl is avalanche prone as are some other routes on this side. Some of the routes are difficult to find, such as the Agnelin. There are always people falling over cliffs on this route (the slopes are largely convex although the Agnelin is a fairly obvious valley that cuts throught them).

If you want steep skiing check out the Chimneys (Cheminees de Mascle)

http://pistehors.com/backcountry/wiki/Isere-Drome/Alpe-Huez-Les-Cheminees-De-Mascle

I must get around to putting up some more information.