VENUE DESCRIPTION

Alpe d'Huez is a ski resort at 1,860 to 3,330 metres. It is a mountain pasture in the Central French Alps, in the commune of Huez, in the Isère département.

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.

With 249 km of piste and 84 ski lifts, the resort is now one of the world's largest. Extensive snowmaking facilities helped combat the ski area's largely south-facing orientation and helped Alpe d'Huez appeal to beginner skiers, with very easy slopes. The expansion of the skiing above the linked resorts of Vaujany, Oz-en-Oisans, Villard Reculas and Auris boosted the quantity and quality of intermediate grade slopes but the resort is mostly known for freeskiing, drawing many steep skiing enthusiasts to its high altitude terrain.