 Poster: A snowHead
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New name for 2025/2026!
I have the managers conference on Friday so should get the latest information for the winter.
Unfortunately the PIC BLANC cable car to 3300m won't be open for December. The arrival station suffered damage during storm Benjamin last month. They are going to open the Marmotte lifts earlier and finish later.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Here's a copy of the google-translated email about the cable car problems...
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Dear Ambassadors,
I wish to inform you of a technical incident that occurred on the Pic Blanc cable car, one of the iconic features of the Alpe d’Huez ski area.
During the night of October 22nd to 23rd, Storm Benjamin swept across much of France. Alpe d’Huez was particularly hard hit, and the Pic Blanc cable car sustained significant damage.
An exceptional ice formation developed on the cables. The sudden release of this ice, due to extreme temperature variations, caused a shock wave that resulted in significant damage to the upper station, located at an altitude of 3,300 meters.
Assessments carried out by our technical teams and our specialized partners have confirmed the need for extensive repairs to ensure a safe return to service. The safety of our customers and staff, as well as the continued operation of the ski area, remain our top priorities.
Eh oh! Progress and Opening Outlook
At this stage, the reopening of the Pic Blanc cable car (from 2,700 m to 3,300 m) is not planned for December. However, high-altitude skiing up to 3,000 m will remain accessible, notably via the Marmotte 3 lift, which also provides access to the Sarenne slope.
⏰ Ski Area Organization for the Winter Season
To ensure smooth and comfortable access for our guests, the opening hours of the Marmotte lift system will be extended to provide access to the summit (3060m):
Opening 45 minutes earlier in the morning
Extended opening 15 minutes later in the late afternoon
Departures from the resorts of Auris, Villard-Reculas, Oz-en-Oisans, and Vaujany will also be brought forward by 15 minutes to facilitate connections and access to the Marmotte lift system.
Our teams are fully mobilized to restore the cable car system to full operation as quickly as possible.
A detailed schedule of the work and the steps involved in restoring service will be provided as soon as possible. This information will also be available online soon on the Alpe d'Huez ski area website.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Quite often these things turn out to be long outages but let's hope not.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Does anybody know what's happening with the TPH up from Vaujany? It looks like it's been undergoing maintenance for quite a while now, and the two cabins for TPH1 have both been hanging from steel cables at Alpette since about mid September. The A-frame metalwork they normally hang from is on the ground nearby, occasionally getting a dusting of snow but not yet buried!
On a more positive note, I've been told by someone in resort that the new Poutran bubble is on schedule. It looks like the cables are run and the cabins are sitting ready for installation.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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@shrew, think they were replacing the cable. No news from
today other than they are working on it so should be ok for start of season.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Good to hear, thanks.
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I did a tour of the Vaujany cable car station a couple of seasons ago and was surprised to learn that the load bearing cables of which there are 2 for each cabin were the original ones installed in 1987.
At 3 kilometres long and each 1m length weighing nearly 100kilos replacing those must be a colossal job.
Maybe it’s the drive cable they are replacing?
Don’t know but it’s all very interesting.
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Let it snow let it snow let it snow
Limit about 1700m.
Vaujany cable car looks like a week delay.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Thanks @Alpinebear, is that just TPH1? I'm assuming TPH2 is independent and is still good to go?
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Judging by the Alpette webcam this afternoon it looks like the team are currently hard at work on it in some pretty challenging conditions. It's lovely to see the snow, but I really don't envy the crew doing this, particularly the ones on the platform at cable height!
I hope they know how much we really appreciate their efforts!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Booked up for the week with the kids, our first family ski trip as a family. Staying in Phoenix B new apartments. Webcams on hotlink now.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Snowed all day today. I would say around 30-40cm in resort.
Some more tomorrow hopefully.
Pic Blanc cable car looks like mid January now. You can reserve the Marmottes 3 lift like the Pic Blanc last year.
@shrew, yes think it’s just the premier tronçon.
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Glued to web cams now lol.
Looking good for a solid base
Can anyone reccomend ski school and private for a 10,12,14 year old total beginners?
Also anyone used Ben's bus and how lond does it take from Gernoble on average
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You know it makes sense.
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@marskey, the best ski school might depend on where you're staying.
I can't advise on AdH itself, but if you're in Oz or maybe Vaujany we used a good independent instructor a few years ago, Christelle working as part of SkiAOz.
What I would say is you probably need to get lessons sorted asap, particularly if you're going in a school holiday, as they do tend to book up.
Personally, with three total beginners as close in age as yours are, I'd very much recommend a private instructor. We did that for our three and they all made great progress in relatively short time periods, for a comparable cost to classes. Ours also enjoyed being together rather than in different classes.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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@marskey, if ADH Masterclass has a great reputation.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Thanks, we ate going 2nd week Jan and in Phoniex residence, bergen area.
Yes was looking to do private in afternoons and school in mornings.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Hi, we are going to Alpe d’Huez on Saturday for the Christmas week and the weather forecast for 21-26 Dec 2025 is currently looking very cloudy and snowy, which is a bit worrying. The last few Christmases when we have been skiing we have mostly had sunny weather and clear skies. Which weather app or website can you recommend for Alpe d’Huez?
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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| Motherofthree wrote: |
| Hi, we are going to Alpe d’Huez on Saturday for the Christmas week and the weather forecast for 21-26 Dec 2025 is currently looking very cloudy and snowy, which is a bit worrying. The last few Christmases when we have been skiing we have mostly had sunny weather and clear skies. Which weather app or website can you recommend for Alpe d’Huez? |
Snowy is good!
I use WePowder.com
As well as looking at the models on https://www.wetterzentrale.de/en/show_diagrams.php?geoid=42263&model=gfs&var=202&run=18&lid=ENS&bw=1
Also Bergfex Ski app.
Enjoy your trip.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Snow is a great deal better than rain....
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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@EvieTee, @Origen, Thanks for your replies. Yes, snow is much better than rain. I just hope we will be able to see the sun a little bit during the six days we will be in Alpe d'Huez over Christmas!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@Motherofthree, your prayers need to be focussed on the "limite pluie/neige" and keeping it as high as possible. At present, as across much of the Alps, rain is more than possible. And in a ski resort, rain really is the pits. Kids - more than their parents - often quite enjoy skiing in the snow.
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Hoping a few folks who are travelling today can give us an update on resort conditions as they look forward to Christmas skiing
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@trolleyed I've been keeping a close eye on the webcams (going out to ADH on 27th) and considering the limited recent snow fall, the piste's seem to be fairing pretty well. Few brown patches on the Jeux area but the piste bashers have been on it in the evening.
They've been using the snow machine's in the evening on past few nights anyway.
The official FB page doesn't really post an awful lot so most of the latest 1st hand in resort updates I've seen have been off of Facebook posts.
Here's the link to the webcams
https://www.alpedhuez.com/en/webcams/
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Considering how mild it has been, the conditions are really very good. The pisteurs must have been doing heroic work in some places.
It's been actually quite decent everywhere from mid stations up, but there are increasing brown patches at lower levels, particularly down to the edge villages like Auris, Villard, and some of the poutran valley down to Oz.
Some of the higher slopes have been stunning, especially after the dusting of snow a few days ago. And some unusual areas have been the best I've seen them for ages, such as Edelweiss and La Fare, although the latter was mid week to be fair. Not sure about that now.
All in all, it's surprisingly good, but you may need to head high.
There's no doubt that significant snow fall is needed soon though.
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We arrived yesterday and had our first day on the slopes today. The mountain conditions this morning were fantastic and a pleasant surprise after what we’d seen yesterday afternoon. Even the lower runs looked good, although by the afternoon they had become slushy again, with some brown patches showing through. The village itself is still lacking snow, but hopefully there will be some snowfall later this week.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@shrew and @motherofthree - thanks for the update - fingers crossed for some snow soon as I'm also travelling on 27th @samsnow
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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I’m seeing lots of accommodation available 7th - 14th Feb. But when searching 31st Ja - 7th feb there’s not much to book. Is there something going on in the resort on the week of the 31st?
I know 7th Feb is the start of French holidays, thought it would be booked up more.
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Hey guys. Looks like I’m going to be in ADH for the day on the 15th. Any update on how the snow is doing there at the moment? I know the alps (generally) could do with a refresh and I'm hoping the forecast snow on or around the 10th and on will materialise (I know, forecast that far out etc). Updates between now and then always welcome….. 
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You know it makes sense.
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Came back yesterday. Conditions were hard packed and very icy. However still plenty of good skiing to be had
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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@Wilip, 31st to 7th is the Belgian university winter holidays, which sees atleast half of all Belgian university/higher-education students go skiing, most of which choose French resorts for price reasons. That's the only major break/holiday in Europe that I'm aware of during that first week of february. AFAIK nothing is going on in Alpe d'Huez specifically.
P.S: Anyone aware of any updates to the Pic Blanc damage/repairs?
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Poster: A snowHead
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1st day Skiing in ADH today. Family of relative beginners, so green runs only today, like Marcels farm and Chez Rodger, and the greens from Pic Blanc down. Its obviously needing some new snow, and a few icy patches, but all in all, better than I was expecting. Hoping we get some snow as the week progresses.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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You would have thought they'd manage the build up of ice.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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A skilift on an icy mountain, that breaks when it gets icy.
Sounds good.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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According to Google they are aiming for a 17th Jan re-opening. Not sure how accurate that is but it would be great as we arrive on Jan 18th!
I presume Marmottes 3 is much more congested at the moment?
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Well the 17th is still what the website is saying (https://skipass.alpedhuez.com/hiver/en/book-pic-blanc-cable-car/).
You can pre-book a timeslot for Marmottes 3 if you know what time you're likely to get there. No cost.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Just seen a post that Geraint Thomas is in resort.
You can book Marmottes 3 on ski pass alpe d’huez. There is usually less availability first thing then after not too bad.
Glad we have the weather expert, climate change expert and cable car specialist joining the thread.
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| Alpinebear wrote: |
Glad we have the weather expert, climate change expert and cable car specialist joining the thread. |
Trump has joined us then ? 
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FAQ
or hi viz either 