Alpe d'Huez

Alpe d'Huez spreads 159 runs across 250 km of piste of terrain. It leans intermediate at 52%, with 45 beginner runs to find your feet and 32 advanced or expert runs when you want to push.

Alpe d'Huez operates from mid-November through to late April, with the 2025/26 season running 10 November to 20 April — one of the earlier opening dates in the French Alps, made possible by the Pic Blanc glacier and high-altitude snowmaking infrastructure that secures coverage from the summit down from the first weeks of the season.

The resort records an average annual snowfall of around 3.8 metres, but its elevation profile and 1,071-gun snowmaking network provide consistent coverage across the full 250km domain even in low-natural-snowfall years. The current 2025/26 season has accumulated a total of 781cm with a base depth of 350cm as of early March, reflecting a strong winter in the Isère.

Alpe d'Huez is widely known as the "Island in the Sun" — a nickname rooted in the south-facing orientation of the main resort village, which averages approximately 300 sunny days per year, more than almost any other major French ski resort. This characteristic creates a distinctive seasonal rhythm: cold, firm snow on high-altitude north-facing aspects contrasting with warm, spring-condition grooming on the lower south-facing village slopes, often simultaneously.

The Sarenne glacier at Pic Blanc maintains cold, reliable snow throughout the season regardless of conditions at lower elevations, making December through April consistently productive for skiers who know how to track the mountain's aspect changes across the day. Spring skiing at Alpe d'Huez is particularly well regarded, with long daylight hours, warm base temperatures and deep upper-mountain snowpack converging through March and April.