I am heading to Les 2 Alpes in March with a group of competent downhill skiers. Everyone in the group has considerable experience of mountaineering in winter conditions. We would like to try ski touring while in the area. Can anyone recommend where we could hire touring equipment? Any recommendations of suitable day tours in the area would also be welcome.

Many thanks,

Peter

Will you have transport?

Public transport only. However, we would not object to a long walk in, fitness is not likely to be an issue.

Possibilities from les Deux Alpes itself are not great although it is in the heart of an excellent ski touring area and is good for off piste. Nearby you have the Berade valley and above la Grave you have lots of possibilities such as le Goleon, Galibier, etc. In March you’ll need to be heading out earlier which makes public transport a problem. I wonder if you wouldn’t be better served getting a local guide to organize a tour for you and sort out the ski hire etc.

There’s at least one obvious off-piste tour which I guess people do on downhill skis.
As David says, there’s lots of great tours in the general area with an major-uphill-ski componenent—including some starting from the L2A - La Grave lifts (Col de la Lauze)—including a highly-sought multi-day tour ("Glaciers of the Meije")

But doing it in March is a bit early to bet on favorable conditions, so if you’re still at the level of not owning your own equipment, really makes more sense (as David suggests) to hire a guide to lead in managing the (serious) avalanche risks and (serious) mountaineering dangers, as well as arranging the equipment, arranging the transport back to L2A.

I remember we did a less-serious multi-day tour there in early April found the area pretty intimidating, decided it was a mistake to have invited to join us a non-advanced-experience ski tourer, and decided that it’s really a better bet for that area to wait for late April - early May.

Ken

Despite the fact I have been there four times (+ heading there for the fifth this very Sat), I have never done any real touring around. But, recalling the surroundings I guess there are some possibly good tours beyond Venosc. As seen from Le Deux Alpes cableways, both sidevalleys underneath La Muselle look very skiable and, if I recall it right, are even being marked in the map as ski touring tracks. Will have a look into the map later today.

Not ski-touring but skiing from L2A to the valley leading to St. Christoph is fun. You can take the standard route which starts from Dome de la Lauze (La Grave top station) or via Couloir Rama for some top notch couloir skiing.

Yes!

There are several tracks marked on the map (Carte de Randonee 3336 ET 1:25000) into the sidevalleys oposing Le2Alpes skiarena, some starting directly from Venosc, heading either to the Col de la Muselle or direct to the summiting glacier of the peak, other starting from Plan de Lac (some 2kms southwards from Venosc), heading directly towards La Muselle summit pyramide. And some more futher into the Veneon river valley.

Been diggin up the dirt in my archives for awhile… but, eventually succeeded in locating a pair of pics (taken back in the winter 2010/11) illustrating the above described tours. Look enjoyable.

Many thanks everyone. There’s some really useful information there and plenty of options to choose from when we get there. Pavproch those photos are stunning.

Does any one know where we could hire the touring kit. We will need skis, boots and skins - we already have transceivers, probes and shovels. A guide is a possibility although our budget may not stretch to that.

Use your existing downhill boots, just loosen off the top two buckles and strap.  Rental touring boots can be nasty.  So can rental touring skis - lightweight and bits falling off all the time. 

You forgot to mention map and compass...?  Group shelter, first aid kit, gaffa tape.

Don’t forget to tap the rescue services number into your phones.

Good luck.

Honestly, don’t do your first trip without a guide.  Probably, nothing will go wrong.  But the consequences when somethimg does can be manyfold greater than when you are close to a piste.  Forgive me if this is granny / eggs.