Facts about Alpe d’Huez Grand Domaine Ski and SATA

Alpe d’Huez in figures

Since 1936, Alpe d’Huez has expanded to an altitude of  1860 m on the southern  side of the Grandes Rousses massif, in the heart of  ‘Oisans aux 6 vallées’.
From 1135 to 3330 m of altitude, the ski resort of Alpe d’Huez and surrounding resorts of  Auris en Oisans, Villard Reculas, Oz en Oisans and Vaujany  face due south and provide  tourists with 240 km of ski slopes, 50 km of cross-country ski slopes and 35 km of marked footpaths for pedestrians.

The Pic Blanc, the highest peak in the Alpe d’Huez Grand Domaine (3330 m), offers breath-taking panoramic views over the national Ecrins Park and its peaks: le Rateau, la Meije, la Muzelle, les Aiguilles d’Arves and the Mont Blanc… rates 3-star in the Michelin guide!

The Alpe d’Huez Grand domaine ski area comprises :

  • 80 ski lifts (cable cars, gondolas, chair lifts, drag lifts, liason lifts and others…).
  • 923 snow guns and  2 snow making factories supplying good snow on 75 km of slopes from the beginning to the end of the season and right down to the village resorts.
  • 23 piste bashers working to make the slopes more comfortable.
  • 91 Gazex, 10 Catex and 3 avalancheurs will secure the ski area before its opening to the tourists.
  • SATA employs at the busiest  time of the season around 550 people including more than 100 permanent workers. It is the primary employer in the canton of Bourg d’Oisans.
  • Concerning the Marmotte 3 : total budget : 7,3 millions euros including 4,6 millions euros only for the lifts.

Very important investments

In order to make the customers more comfortable, to reduce the waiting times and to increase the security , very important investments have been made – some examples :

  • A ski lift  with an altitude drop of 200 m and a flow of 900 skiers/hour has the same cost as 40 small cars, so around 300 000 €.
  • A chairlift with an altitude drop of 300 m and a flow of 1500 skiers/hour costs 1,5 million euros.
  • A gondola lift with an altitude drop of 500 m and a flow of 1800 skiers/hour costs 6 millions euros.
  • Some other bigger lifts (cable cars, funiculars) cost the equivalent of  a plane “Airbus A 319″ (so more than 15 million euros ).
  • A big Caterpillar piste basher vehicle costs more than 200 000 euros.

Average snow making equipment costs as much as a gondola lift.