{"id":537,"date":"2014-08-13T11:16:01","date_gmt":"2014-08-13T09:16:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mountainpassions.com\/wordpress\/?p=537"},"modified":"2023-09-25T12:15:34","modified_gmt":"2023-09-25T10:15:34","slug":"ski-oz-en-oisans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mountainpassions.com\/winter\/ski-resort-reviews\/alps\/ski-oz-en-oisans\/","title":{"rendered":"Oz-en-Oisans"},"content":{"rendered":"
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U<\/span>ntil now the only image we have of Oz-en-Oisans is of a gondola lift high above the village, so as we turn off the road up from Bourg d\u2019Oisans and wind our way further up the mountain we\u2019re more than usually curious to see just what actually awaits us in Oz. A few minutes later we have part of our answer as a huddle of large, chalet-style apartment blocks appears in the distance through the chill early-morning mist. As we draw closer there are few further clues until we park the car and start to transfer our bags, at which point we emerge from a large pedestrian lift to see before us an unexpected image.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\nSome way above the mid-station the climb eventually eases and as things open out there are some fine views across to the surrounding mountain ranges. Already Oz seems a long way away.\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\n\"Top
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Top station of the Oz-en-Oisans gondola to Alpe d'Huez<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\n\"The
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The Poutran gondola drops skiers at 2100m beside the mid-station of the Grandes Rousses DMC lift from Alpe d'Huez.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Skiing in the heart of Oz-en-Oisans<\/h2>\n

As in Avoriaz<\/a>, the streets of Oz<\/strong> are covered with freshly-groomed snow, only here the style is not high-rise but almost chocolate-box \u2013 delightful to look at, even if it makes access to our apartment something of a hike. But it\u2019s a small price to pay for the convenience of being in a ski-in\/ski-out location, a point which comes home to us when we snap into our bindings and ski down to the front-de-neige, to board the Poutran gondola lift<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

In fact, the lift is one of two gondolas sited at opposite ends of the village. The other lift provides direct access to the same Alpette<\/strong> (2050m) area we\u2019ve already explored via the cable-car from Vaujany, so we take Poutrans instead, and relax on a smooth haul up to around the 2100m<\/strong> mark, for a look at the access to terrain above Alpe d\u2019Huez<\/a>. It\u2019s quite a ride, with a mid-station which opens up the possibility of skiing down to accommodation at the opposite end of the village, or to pick up the other gondola. Some way above the mid-station the climb eventually eases and as things open out there are some fine views across to the surrounding mountain ranges. Already Oz seems a long way away.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Ski options from Oz-en-Oisans<\/h2>\n

From the top arrival point there are several possibilities, the most popular being to simply ski on gentle, blue- and green-graded runs straight down into Alpe d\u2019Huez<\/strong>. A less tame option is to transfer to the Li\u00e8vre Blanc chairlift<\/strong> round to just above the Plat des Marmottes<\/strong> (2300m) and pick up a blue, red or black piste down, again into Alpe d\u2019Huez<\/strong>. Since we\u2019re time-limited by our morning arrival in Oz and consequent late start, we merely take the nearest, most direct blue down for an exploratory look around around the village. <\/p>\n

Somehow \u2018town\u2019 seems more appropriate, given the scale of things here. Given more time we\u2019d now take the chairlift which heads back up to the Signal<\/strong> (2115m) sector which we effectively bypassed during the gondola ride up from Oz<\/strong>. A worthwhile detour, it\u2019s the arrival point for a high-speed chairlift up from the village of Villard Reculas 1480<\/strong>, and offers a selection of blue, red and black-graded runs all the way back down \u2013 the blue option being satisfyingly long.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\n\"Freshly-groomed
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Freshly-groomed snow keeps the traffic-free heart of Oz-en-Oisans looking welcoming.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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There's a choice of blue and red-graded pistes leading back to Oz-en-Oisans.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Steep and deep<\/h2>\n
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It\u2019ll have to wait for now, though. Instead we board one of the big, 25-person cabins of the muscular-looking Grandes Rousses DMC <\/strong>(Double-Mono-Cable<\/em>) gondola-lift up to 2700m<\/strong>. For most skiers it\u2019s an essential stage in the climb (completed via a cable-car) to the sensational 3330m Pic Blanc<\/strong>, another pleasure which we\u2019ll have to forgo for now. We leave the lift at its intermediate station, a useful feature which allows tired skiers to transfer to the Poutran gondola<\/strong> for a snug ride back down to Oz<\/strong>, or in our case to ski some of the return runs. The terrain looked surprisingly steep from the gondola, and while a couple of sections of even the blue-graded Boulevard des Lutins<\/strong> certainly are, there\u2019s nothing here which need deter intermediate skiers. Our preferred route down, though, has to be the red-graded (and therefore less-skied) combination of Poutran<\/strong> and l\u2019Olmet<\/strong>, whose snow quality remains excellent for so late in the day. It\u2019s also an eloquent demonstration of the fact that Oz\u2019s steep-and-deep location allows it to retain snow cover even when south-facing areas elsewhere might be starting to struggle.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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