Les 2 Alpes Completes New Blue 'Home Run'
For years now, the question of an easier route back to the resort has been under discussion.
Les 2 Alpes’ vertical slope profile means there are easy runs at high altitude and more challenging runs in the lower part of the resort. In the past, that meant skiers either had to take black and red runs or an often-crowded green run to return to their accommodation.
What was once only an idea has now become a reality! The new “resort return” blue run is finally ready.
This new run is the first building work to be undertaken on this scale in a French ski resort, an extraordinary task that was unprecedented in terms of square metres of earth to move, clear and reshape (550,000m³), as well as a major revegetation project, with 12,000 trees replanted, (along with tripod supports to protect them and also serve as avalanche barriers), and a total budget of 10 million euros.
This investment is more beneficial than a new ski lift, because it means completely reconfiguring the ski area and the summer area (for mountain biking) to provide easier return access to the resort, and gives visitors the chance to ski between altitudes of 3,600 metres and 1,600 metres solely on easy runs (2,000 metres of vertical drop) and above all, it makes the journey back to the resort safer. This new run is also equipped with artificial snow cannons.
Les 2 Alpes innovates and invests in order to provide visitors with even more comfort, and always takes environmental impact into account. Nothing is undertaken lightly! The run’s banks were constructed in such a way as to integrate natural contours to limit the development’s visual impact on its surroundings. In order to protect wildlife, the building work didn’t start until after the black grouse’s nesting season, and by planting 12,000 trees Les 2 Alpes were able to create a substitute black grouse habitat and above all, a forest that looks as natural as possible.
Clients will be able to use the new blue run from Saturday 5 December 2015. There will be an inauguration ceremony on Wednesday 13 January for the ski industry and international media.