Mad Dog Ski: Ski Resort guidebooks for Austria, Bulgaria, Canada, France, Italy and Switzerland

On the piste - Les Deux Alpes - France

Gondolas - Cathy RibierLes Deux Alpes has something for everyone, though its 220km of pistes aren't linked to other ski resorts in the area as some massive French areas are, so it can occasionally seem limited for on-piste skiing...

However, a ski pass does include a free day in either Alpe d'Huez, Briancon, La Grave, Puy-St-Vincent, Serre Chevalier or Vaujany, which together make up the area know as the Grande Galaxie. Regular buses run to La Grave, Serre Chevalier and Alpe d'Huez, but if you want to do it in style, a helicopter to Alpe d'Huez will only set you back around £30.

Our favourite runs

Beginners:
Les Gours is a big long blue run that starts at the mid-Jandri Express station (2100m) and winds down the valley to the bottom of the La Fee chair-lift.

Intermediates:
La Fee, a wide, steep, open red run which is fantastic for intermediate and advanced skiers/boarders who want to descend at pace.

Advanced:
For the most most exhilleratingly and challenging set of runs in the resort, try taking the Super Diable from the top of Tete Moute and hurtling down its steep face, followed swiftly by Les Vallons and Diable 2.

Off-piste:
As you come up on the La Fee chairlift, look down to the left and right and you will see plenty of relatively safe off-piste hills that come off Fee run and the black Aymes.