48 French Property News August 2019 http://www.completefrance.comLOCATION
I
f the keen skiers among you shed a tear in
early spring as you put away your skis for
another year do not despair. Help is at hand.
At an altitude of 3,600m, the Mont-de-Lans
glacier in the French Alps is the largest
summer skiing domain in Europe.
Les Deux Alpes ski resort, in the Isère
department, lies in the heart of the Oisans in
the Massif des Écrins in the eponymous
national park, which ranges between altitudes
of 700m and 4,102m. The massif, between the
northern and southern Alps, has 150 summits
over 3,000m and over 7,000 hectares of
glaciers. Get the map out and you’ll see what I
mean. You also have the choice of around
700km of signposted and maintained walking
paths, with around 40 mountain refuges for
the committed climber or hiker.
The resort was built in 1946 on the former
summer pastures for cattle (alpages) of the
villages of Mont-de-Lans and Vénosc. Last year,
the ski domain opened on 1 December 2018and closed on 27 April 2019. The
summer skiing season started on 22
June and runs till 25 August. Does it
get much better?
And if skiing is not your thing, Les
Deux Alpes, which has a spa and the
Famille Plus label, transforms itself
into a summer paradise for
mountain bikers, paragliders,
walkers and summer tobogganing- offering everyone plenty of pure
Alpine air and spectacular scenery.
Mountain style
Les Deux Alpes is the result of the
union of the two communes of
Mont-de-Lans (l’Alpe-de-Mont-de-Lans) and, to
the south, Vénosc (l’Alpe-de-Vénosc) either end
of a plateau, explains Audrey Antonini of
Immobilier du Glacier. The main resort lies at
an altitude of 1,650m; the little hamlet higher
up at 1,800m is known as the village.
The architectural style is mixed. The first
buildings date from the 1970s and in recent
years there has been a move to renovate
facades to regain a little of the original
mountain style. There are new-builds on the
rare building plots still available, and some
chalets, often belonging to individual families.
If you prefer to be outside the resort, prices
for detached houses in the two villages of
Mont-de-Lans and Vénosc either end of the
Deux Alpes plateau (both have ski lifts) will
depend on the size of the plot but will in
general be less expensive than properties onthe plateau. Audrey quotes a range
of €1,500-€1,800/m^2 , adding that recently
built properties will cost more, and older
original village houses – some may be over a
century old – will cost less. For example, an old
renovated detached house in Vénosc – 128m^2 ,
with seven rooms – is currently on the market
for €320,000 with entreparticuliers.com.
There is an interesting property for sale in
the hamlet of Bons, five minutes from Les Deux
Alpes in the commune of Mont-de-Lans – a
stone village house (110m^2 ) divided into two
separate entities, with barn for conversion,
priced at €134,000. Or you may be tempted by
a south-east-facing three-bedroom chalet,
120m^2 , also in Bons, where the basement could
be converted into a separate apartment. It
comes with a large terrace, grounds of 1,100m^2
and a price tag of €514,950 (both immobilier-
des-alpes.com). From the hamlet you can walk3 REASONS TO
BUY HERE
Summer skiing on
the Mont-de-Lans
glacier in the
majestic Écrins
National Park
Spectacular Alpine
scenery and
activities in
all seasons
Year-round use
of your property,
plus good
rental potentialIf you’re looking for an exceptional ski area with
guaranteed snow, as well as a host of other
outdoor activities, you’ll be blown away by Les
Deux Alpes says Carolyn Reynier
Ski sensation
How cool is that! Summer at the Restaurant des
Glaciers in Les Deux Alpesphoto credit: Bruno Longophoto credit: LucasLeufenMedia