Why you should learn to ski or snowboard in Les 2 Alpes in 2019

There are five ski schools in Les Deux Alpes with over 400 instructors plus several independent teachers. Instructors come from France, Britain, Italy and further afield so they speak a lot of languages between them. Whatever your requirements and budget, there will be an instructor or class to suit. Big schools provide a wide choice of instructors and lessons. Small schools offer a more personalised approach with great attention to detail. Independent instructors specialise in bespoke products for you or your group. Instructors working in France have to pass some of the toughest ski teaching exams in the world, including the infamous Eurotest, so you are likely to be taught by some of the best-qualified instructors anywhere. Despite this, group lesson starting prices in Les Deux Alpes are among the lowest in the Alps.

Les Deux Alpes has great beginner slopes along the foot of the pistes in front of the town, where there are several free lifts. The runs here start with the Petit Viking and Petit Bosquet beginner areas. These slopes at opposite ends of the resort are almost flat, making them ideal for the first day. The easy gradients and slow button lifts are perfect for learning to glide on snow and make gentle turns. Next, there are several slightly steeper, but still easy, green slopes to progress on over the next few days. This snow front area has plenty of bars and restaurants alongside the slopes. The Petit Viking lift is overlooked by the Hotel Aalborg and Hotel Mélèzes terraces. Both of these offer food and drink while watching skiers and snowboarders on the Viking pistes. A little further along, the Umbrella Bar is a great place to start your après ski.

At just over 2000 metres altitude, Les Crêtes offers a fantastic learning area with a view. The ‘magic carpet’ travellator and Ancontres button lift serve easy slopes to complement those at the bottom of the hill. After these, head up the Crêtes chairlift when you are ready for the next challenge. The Petites Crêtes, Bellecombes 1 and Jandri 2 green runs let you get some miles under your skis while staying on easy terrain. A word of warning though – steer clear of the Demoiselles green until much later. This area also has two good mountain restaurants, La Patache and the Diable au Coeur. The latter is the place to go for fine dining on the mountain while the Patache is a bit cheaper. Both make good stops for a quick snack or hot chocolate between runs.

More advanced blue, red and black pistes are easily accessible from Les Crêtes too. If you are with experienced skiers, they will find enough challenging runs to tackle while you are practising. The area is well signposted though, so you won’t have to worry about straying onto the harder runs accidentally. If you are skiing on Les Crêtes as a beginner, don’t try to ski back to the resort. All the runs down from here are too hard for now. Take the White Eggs Gondola or the Belle Etoile, Village or Diable chairlifts.

Les Deux Alpes is often described as an upside-down ski resort. This is because a lot of the lower slopes are steep while the top of the mountain is relatively flat. For a beginner, this means that the glacier skiing at the very top is accessible as soon as you have mastered easy blue runs. Many beginners will be able to ski at 3000 metres above sea level in their first week, experiencing unsurpassed views across the Alps. You will not have to ski those lower slopes until you are ready either. The Jandri Express lift takes you from the centre of town to the glacier and back, giving direct access to the high-altitude domain. You can take the lift back down from the 2600 metre mid-station or from Les Crêtes as well.

A quarter of visitors to Les Deux Alpes’ are snowboarders, compared to an average of 10% in France. If you want to learn to snowboard, it makes sense to choose a destination with a strong boardriding community. There are plenty of specialist snowboard instructors here to get you going. The magic carpet area on Les Crêtes is an ideal place to start. It is just the right pitch for the first few days on a board and there is no drag lift to worry about. As you progress, the high-altitude blue runs on the glacier are easily accessible to snowboarders, as are the wide open pistes leading back to the famous Pano Bar at 2600 metres.

For a world-class ski area, Les Deux Alpes is surprisingly reasonably priced. Size-wise, the resort is in the French top ten and has the biggest continuous on-piste vertical drop in the world. However, these statistics are not that relevant for your first week of skiing. Nobody manages to ski all 200 kilometres of pistes on their first trip. What you do need to know is that there is more than enough skiing for your first few weeks and there is good terrain to learn on. The town has a wide range of eating, drinking and activities, whether you are looking for family-friendly entertainment or wild après ski. It is big enough to have something for everyone. There are reasonably priced supermarkets and accommodation choices to suit all budgets. Eating out need not break the bank but there is Michelin starred fine dining on offer too.

Besides travel and accommodation, you will need to pay for a ski pass, equipment hire, lessons and insurance. You will also need warm clothes, thick gloves, sunglasses or goggles and sun cream. You can rent a helmet with your skis or snowboard, but a warm hat is a good idea to wear when you stop.

We do strongly advise that you budget for lessons on your first trip. Skiing and snowboarding are hard sports to learn by yourself. Let an experienced instructor take you through the basics and you will be happily cruising the pistes within a few days. The choice of group or private lessons depends on you. Beginners often benefit from the camaraderie and fun atmosphere of learning in a group. That said, if you are on holiday as a group of beginners, booking a private instructor between you can be a good way to get the best of both worlds. If you are particularly nervous then a private lesson can give you the individual attention you need to progress and build confidence. Have a look at our guide to beginner skiing in Les Deux Alpes for more practical information for your first ski or snowboard trip.

Read more from our reporter Ian on his website.

Les Deux Alpes ticks all the boxes for a first ski or snowboard holiday. It is a top-class resort with reasonable prices. The town is both lively and family friendly. The ski area is big, the beginner slopes are flat and wide, and there are easy blue runs right at the top. If you have always wanted a holiday in the snow, this is the perfect place to start.