Every winter, people from all over the France or even the world come to Grenoble for skiing. There are world-famous big ski resorts, and also small local favorites. Although I have a good reason (unfortunately) not to ski, it would be a shame spending a whole winter in Grenoble without seeing the snow mountains. Not to say that I do love snow skiing.
Here’s the deal. My father-in-law flew all the way from Japan to France to ski in Alpes, so we picked a big and well-known ski resort – Les Deux Alpes. Our concern was whether the high altitude would affect my pregnancy (7/8th month). After all, we would spend three days above 1800m, and I would very much like to go to the top of the mountain, which is 3600m. Found some articles online saying that above 2000m was not recommended… So we thought that 1800m might be fine! Actually, in China, we visited Huanglong when I was three months pregnant. Huanglong is above 3200m, and on the way to Huanglong the highest point is above 4000m. Our baby seemed OK for the high altitude!
So we started to plan our trip. First of all, we booked the hotel – Turan, because it has direct access to the slopes. Then, we purchased the ski pass for the first day online, and requested the cards to be mailed to our home. After receiving the cards in the mail, we purchased the ski pass for the following two days using the card numbers (for insurance). Somehow without the card numbers, it’s only possible to get insurance for the first day. That’s why we purchased our three days’ ski pass separately. If you do not want the insurance, then you can just purchase the ski pass (for as many days as you want), and pick up the card in the resort. The last thing we booked was the bus tickets – from Transaltitude. € 15 per person, one-way. The bus leaves from the Gare of Grenoble, and it takes about 1h 40m to reach Les 2 Alpes Ski Resort.
We were probably the last ones to board the bus, and it was quite full! Maybe because it’s the peak season – February, there were some traffic going into the mountains. We got off the bus at the first stop – Point Info, which we thought was the closest to our hotel. There’s an information center right there. We got maps, and asked for directions to the hotel. Without any difficulty, we checked into Hotel Turan. The girl at the front desk was very helpful. She showed us the ski dry room and where the lift was. She also gave us coupons for the ski rental and a close-by Italian restaurant (we ate there every day)! Talking about ski rentals, we probably should have made reservations at home, but we didn’t realize until the day before our trip, and it was already too late! You can’t reserve rentals for the next day! However, thanks to the coupon from the hotel, I guess we still got a pretty good deal. So don’t forget to ask the hotel for coupons 😉
After lunch (already 3pm), my husband and his father went to skiing. I, of course, stayed in the room. The size of the room was OK. There were two single beds and a bunk bed. The room was simple, but adequate.
The second day, I also went out after they went for skiing. I took the free shuttle to the center of the village (@1650m), because we planned to meet there to take the lift Jundri Express #1 to 2600m. That lift is for both skiers and walkers. I didn’t feel bad in the lift, but I was still a little bit worried. Then, we took Jundri Express #2 to 3200m! Although it’s almost the highest point, the slopes were actually easy. That’s why Les 2 Alpes is good for skiers at all levels, even I could come up to the top and ski (if I were not pregnant)! In USA, however, I usually couldn’t go all the way up to the top, otherwise I might get stuck there.
The view at 3200m was wonderful! Since I didn’t feel bad at this altitude, I decided to try a little bit more, 3400m. There’s an overlook up there. To get to 3400m, we had to take a cable car to go down a little to reach the other cable car, which goes up to 3400m through a tunnel. If you are a skier, then you have other lifts to go to 3400m, but I don’t have other choice. Maybe because it’s not used often, that first cable car was not functioning well – we got stuck! With operator’s help, it still took a few minutes for us to get to the second cable car. The second one is much bigger, and is used routinely – many other passengers. When we get to 3400m, one operator told me that it’s windy outside so it’s too dangerous for pedestrians. I had to go back to 3200m, immediately. OK then. We took the same way back to 3200m. Yes it’s windy! I took the Jundri Express #2 back to 2600m. My husband and his father skied down to meet me. I went back to the hotel after lunch at 2600m. For me, that’s all I did in this ski trip, except for staying at the hotel and sightseeing in the village. The photo below was taken by my husband, at 3600m. Plus, you can find his post here, if you understand Japanese 🙂
The village has so much to offer! Cinema, bowling, post office, library, museum, pool, restaurants, shopping, … And the shuttle service is so convenient. If I had one week here, I would be able to explore more. I heard there were short tours to other close-by villages. So, besides skiing, there are still a lot to do here in Les 2 Alpes! And thanks to the high altitude, skiing is even possible in the summer (above 3200m)!
Now, I want to compare Les 2 Alpes with some ski resorts in USA. I lived on the east coast, so you know immediately that there are no comparable ski resort to Les 2 Alpes! The skiable area is much much smaller, the slopes are much much shorter,… ok no way to compare with the vast Alpes. Let me just introduce some ski resorts in USA – in Virginia and West Virginia. The best ski resort we have been to is Snowshoe Mountain ski resort, which is said to be the largest in the mid-Atlantic. We liked it! The village is built on the top of the mountain. We watched sunrise from our room! Next level ski resorts are Beach Mountain, Sugar Mountain, and Wintergreen. The smallest we have been to is Cataloochee. Often, they have to use snow-making machines to maintain the slopes. Although the ski resorts in USA are much smaller, the price is higher (~30%)! Especially in the holidays and weekends! Very crowed as well. Maybe Colorado is a different story! When we were in Snowshoe, somebody (a lift sharer) told us about The West with an expression of excitement – looked like Snowshoe was nothing to him (in contrast, we were already amazed by Snowshoe). Now after seeing the Alpes, I felt like I could understand that guy a bit…
Alpes is Alpes. I am glad my baby saw it as well. And, we will come back!
Lastly, just one comment about the pregnancy. Based on my experience, a few hours at high altitude seemed fine. But it’s just me! Anyway it should not be recommended. My husband was scared. Poor him.
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