Welcome to Alpe d'Huez Independent

This independent website is a guide to help those people planning a skiing/boarding holiday in the French Alps ski resort of Alpe d'Huez.

Alpe d'Huez Introduction

Founded in 1936 and located high in the Oisans Alpes at 1869 metres above sea level, Alpe d'Huez is the central resort of the Grandes Rousses Massif domain. It links the traditional mountain villages of Auris-en-Oisans, Villard Reculas, Oz-en-Oisans, Vaujany and La Garde.

Alpe d'Huez can be reached in approximately one hour from Grenoble airport and four from Paris. The standing population is 1700 residents and there is accommodation for 32,000 visitors.

Grandes Rousses Ski Area

The domain covers an area of 10,000 hectares which includes 249km of linked pistes extending over an altitude range of 2,230m. The top station, Pic Blanc (3330m) in the Alpe d'Huez area, offers breathtaking views of the Alps including Mont Blanc, Mont Cervin and the Meije. On a clear day a fifth of France can be seen from this point.

The Alpe d'Huez slogan is "L'ile au Soleil" (Island of the Sun) and this reputation is well deserved with almost all slopes being south facing. The national meteorological office further confirms this with average figures of 300 sunshine days a year consisting of up to 7 1/2 per day in December and 11 in April.

The latest information on the ski domain can be found by following this Alpe d'Huez winter season 2008/2009 link.

Summer in Alpe d'Huez

During the summer Alpe d'Huez hosts one of the most famous stage finishes of the Tour de France. The climb up to the resort covers 14km over an average gradient of 8%. The route consists of 21 hairpin bends, each marked with a plaque commemorating former winners of the stage.