Alpe d'huez End of May?

eeimcaw

Hi,
myself and 2 friends are planning to go to Bourg d'Oisans and tackle Alpe d'huez and as many climbs as we can fit in from thursday to monday.

We planning to go 24th May - 28th May, but from reading posts on boards it seems like this might be a bit early to go.

Has anyone any experience of being over there at the end of May? Will the weather be ok, will the climbs be open etc?

Thanks in Advance..

jack01986

In my experience the weather in the Alps at that time of the year can either be snowy or sunny and everything in between.

boege

I did support for my son this year as he rode most of the Route des Grande Alpes. We started in Nice and finished at the Great St Bernard Pass..

We left Nice(Menton actually) around 3rd June and arrived on the Great St Bernard Pass around 11th June. We (well he really!) covered over 20 passes, 11 of which were above 2000m (including detours into Italy to bag a few classics) - for the record he covered 700+km and 24,000m of climbing in 7 days (he is 56kg and ex A2 racer).

This year all the locals indicated that there was way less snow than normal in the Alps. Despite this many of the 2000m passes only opened after 5th June. In fact Col D'Iseran (2700m+) was still closed on the 9th June. My lad managed to cycle over it while the workers clearing the pass were on lunch, but I had to take 150km detour in the car. Other passes including Galibier, only opened one or two days before. There are websites that track the opening times.

The work to clear many of the passes starts around mid/late May but once the roads are cleared of snow they have to allow the rock faces and remaining snow above roads to stabilize before they open the passes. If they remain unstable (rockfalls) they will blast the rock faces - they were blasting on Col DIseran on the 9th June. Until officially opened, the authorities physically block the road well down the pass with a pile of stone or place diggers across the path. You may get through on a bike but not in a car. However, the roads are not swept until officially opened and can be covered in scree from minor rockfalls.

I believe Alpe D'Huez is open all year as it is a popular ski resort, as is nearby Les Deux Alpes but other high mountain passes will likely be closed until early June. If you could delay for a couple of weeks it makes a massive difference.

If stuck with May, you might want to consider going north to the Porte du Soleil. Plenty of great climbs and opening of passes is much more predictable.

Have to add early June was a great time to be in the Alps, with a lot of snow still around the scenery was stunning.

eeimcaw

Thanks for the replies and has confirmed what i was fearing alright so going to change the dates and head over now for the 8th june to 12th.

boege that was some climbing by your son, fair play to him!

I had the option of doing it one year but the company cancelled it because of adverse weather. It was mid August.

The Alps have a climate all of their own.

C3PO

I have skied in Alp d'huez only a few weeks before you propose going .... I think I's leave it for a while!

9Crimes

I was there last year from 15/5 - 19/5 and it was perfect. I covered circa 350km in three days taking in col d'ornon, alp d'huez and la berade. There was still snow on the mountaintops but the roads were completely clear and it was lovely and warm - shorts and short sleave climbing, gillet for descent.

Wishbone Ash

boege wrote: »

... In fact Col D'Iseran (2700m+) was still closed on the 9th June...

I climbed the Col d'Iseran in September a few years ago and there was still plenty of residual snow around the summit from the previous winter.

boege

eeimcaw wrote: »

Thanks for the replies and has confirmed what i was fearing alright so going to change the dates and head over now for the 8th june to 12th.

boege that was some climbing by your son, fair play to him!

Enjoy, and make sure you bring full winter gear as you will need it for late evening descents or for any kind of wet day. My lad even had to put on his winter cowl one day but generally the weather was good.Trip with the son was epic (even for me in the car), below is some of the climbs he did - many over 20km long. Colle della Finestre in Italy stood out, although east side of Col de la Lombarde was close.

Col de la Madone,
Col de Turini
Col St Martin
Col de la Lombarde (west)
Col de la Lombarde (east)
Cim de Bonnette
Col de Vars,
Col D'Isozard
Col de Montgenevre
Mont Cenis
Col de la Fenestre (18km at 9,2% average, last 8km on gravel)
Col d'Iseran
Col d'Iseran (2nd time)
Petite St Bernard
Col St Carlo
Col Grand St Bernard

I have been visiting the Alps on holidays for over 20 years but had not done a trip travelling through the Alps. There was something special about starting at the Med and finishing on a pass with views of Mont Blanc - you need back up though.

eeimcaw

Updating this thread to help others thinking of going to the Alpes.

Just home from 3.5 days in Bourg D'oisian, 8th - 12th of June... Only one col remained closed while we were there(col du sabot) but everything else was open. Col du Galibier opened on the 8th... So we got away with it but the later you leave it in June the better.
As said above the Alp's have a climate of its own so there is no point looking at the weather apps(yr or accuweather). We were there for the 4 days and heavy rain promised every day and we only had one morning where it actually did(when it does rain it really did pour), rest of the time it was in the early 20's...

You need to bring lots of layers when going out for a spin especially when on the first 6 or 7K of a decent. Every day i had a gilet, arm warmers and a hat and even had the winter gloves with me one day.

Stayed in Hotel de Milan in middle of bourg d'oisian, hotel has mixed reviews on line but couldn't praise the hotel enough. Its not fancy but the rooms are good size and clean, has great storage for bikes in the basement and has plenty of tools for making little adjustments and pump for the tyres, also has washing machine so could get away with less clothes if needed... Location is brilliant, plenty of restaurants around and start of alp d'huez is 1KM away. Breakfast is good too. Family run hotel and the owner and staff are very friendly.

Rented the bikes off prompt shop in bourg d'oisian... Couldn't complain about the bikes but had sent on the retul bike fit measurements and was told that they couldn't do them because they were not retul trained... Asked about changing handlebars from 40's to 44's and was told it would cost €110 extra. Sent in ABC's(cost extra €5) for a finish and when i got the bike they were way off. Had one puncture and charged a €5 for a tube... Both tyres had flat spots as had all 5 bikes we rented and were well overdue a change.
Was also surprised that there was no insurance on the bike, had to sign a waiver to say if the bike was crashed that i would have to pay out €2500... Maybe this is normal with bike rental?

Got transfer to and from lyon airport which was very handy and worked out cheap enough when shared between 5 of us. Took about 1hr45min. Once you arrive in bourg d'oisian you have no need for a car...

As for the climbing
Day 1 - Col du lauterat - Col du Galibier
Day 2 - Alpe d'huez - col de Sarenne - les deux alpes - auris balconies.
Day 3 - Oulles - Col D'ornon - Col du Solude
Day 4 - Alpe d'huez
10,000 metres over the 3.5 days.

Best climb is probably Oulles followed closely by Alpe d'huez - col de Sarenne..

If i was to go back again i would make sure it was for a week atleast as there is some many more climbs i wish i could have done..