Best Skiing Destinations: Alpe d'Huez

Alpe d’Huez is a true paradise for those who love snow and the great outdoors. The village has been developing since 1936 and sits perched on a full south facing plateau at 1860m altitude in the Grandes Rousses mountain range. The ski area called ‘Alpe d’Huez grand domaine Ski’ links up to the resort villages of Auris-en-Oisans, Huez, Ozen-Oisans, Vaujany, Villard-Reculas, La Garde and Le Freney. Its summit, the Pic Blanc is 10,925 feet at its highest point and offers an exceptional panorama stretching over one fifth of French territory.

Alpe d'Huez is one of Europe's premier skiing venues. The site of the Pomagalski's first surface lift in the mid thirties, the resort gained popularity when it hosted the bobsleigh events of the 1968 Winter Olympics. At that time the resort was seen as a competitor to Courchevel as France's most upmarket purpose built resort but the development of Les Trois Vallées, Val d'Isère, Tignes, La Plagne and Les Arcs saw Alpe D'Huez fall from favour in the 1970s and early 1980s.

L'Alpe d'Huez is climbed regularly in the Tour de France. It was first included in the race in 1952 and has been a stage finish regularly since 1976.

The race was brought to the mountain by Élie Wermelinger, the chief commissaire or referee. He drove his Dyna-Panhard car between snow banks that lined the road in March 1952, invited by a consortium of businesses who had opened hotels at the summit. Their leader was Georges Rajon, who ran the Hotel Christina. The ski station there opened in 1936. Wermelinger reported to the organiser, Jacques Goddet, and the Tour signed a contract with the businessmen to include the Alpe.

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