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Alpe d'Huez, French Alps
From 339 euros / £295* only !
 2011 The European Gay Ski Week in a New Resort! After rigorously checking many resorts to see if they would reach our exacting standards and provide you with a perfect gay snow experience we are excited and bubbling to announce the 2011 event will be at the positively perfect and superby splendid resort of Alpe d'Huez. Thank you Tignes, you were marvelous. But after three fabulous years we are moving the European Gay Ski Week to a new Resort and Ski area. We would like to thank all the people and businesses of Tignes (and Espace Killy) who made us so welcome and by doing so, helped us grow the European Gay Ski Week into what it has now become, but now we feel its time for a change..
Size is everything and the Massif des Grandes Rousses ski domain around our chosen resort has 269km of pistes within an area of 10,000 hectares. Morever this snowsure resort is nestled on a south facing plateau at the top of the Gorge de Sarenne with the central bowel of the ski domain opening up just above the village. From which you can be whisked to the summit of the Pic Blanc which at 3330m is the highest point of the domain with a spectacular panorama that takes in Mont Blanc, Cervin, the Meije and an area equal to one fith of France.
The European Gay Ski Week
 The resort itself is well laid out with all the facilities we need to make this seasons Europen Gay Ski Week the best ever. We will be creating some ingeniously unique and most memorable events in the great selection of clubs, bars and restaurants throughout the village and on the mountain. Our Fabulous Aprés Ski will be taking place at a different venue every day, with some days on the mountain, some days in the town and one steamy day in a hamman.
The great and grand Pic Blanc will be our exclusive hotel and the heart of this seasons event. It will be the venue for our Late Lounge, the Cabaret / Piano Bar and for meals for those of you who are staying elsewhere but taking either the breakfast or the half board options.
 Should you wish to eat out, we will be hosting our own Fondue and Raclette evenings which have proved so popular in the past or if you prefer something more intimate, you can stroll around the narrow atmospheric streets of the old town browsing the numerous and varied restaurants until you find the cuisine of your choice for that evening.
Within the Village most places are no more than a 10 minutes walk, but we are also running our own exclusive passholder shuttle bus throughout the resort every fifteen minutes from 17.00 through til 05.30. Whether you are serious skiers and boarders or fairly new to a blow in the snow this resort is for you.
 • The beginners slopes just above the village are amoungst the most expansive and easily accessible nursery slopes we have come across. There is also a beginners snowpark.
• Some of Europes most beautiful wide open pistes and wonderous tree lined runs are here and offer great days for Intermediates.
• Then for the fearless and most competent snow huggers there is La Sarenne, at 17km, the longest black run in Europe and also the famously infamous 'Tunnel', in fact there are 4 major runs all with non stop vertical decents of over 2000 meters. In addition to this there are vast areas of fantasic off-piste and an 'experts' Snow park.
Of course we will be offering our exclusively gay ski and boarding school and our free guided ski and boarder groups for the more able skiers and boarders.
And as we are in a new resort we will be increasing the number of guides to ensure that everyone gets a chance to discover this vast ski area.
 Those who've been with us before know that the European Gay Ski Week isn't just about skiing and boarding but is one of the year's best international Homosocial events and, whilst we never forget you come to make the most of the snow, we want to make your play time party time.
As ever, we'll be getting the best DJs from the best clubs - the likes of which you will not find anywhere else this winter. We are thrilled and delighted to welcome back some hot hits from last year - La Diva Live, Miss Kimberly, Heidilicious and the Crazyvore crew. In addition to this we will be bringing back the spectacle that is Salvation, the legendary Trade and our very own Snowball.
More tip top entertainment will be announced just as soon as they are confirmed.
Already confirmed for the 2011 European Gay Ski Week are:
The Clubs:
• Trade
• Lovechild
• Crazyvores
• Primanotte
• Red & Blue
• Bear Necessity
The DJ's:
• Steven Redant
• Pagano
• Steve Thomas
• Paul Heron
• Lady Alexandra
• Benji de la House
• Leomeo
• DJ RV
• Lady B
• Elof de Neve
The Performers:
• Miss Kimberly
• Vartoch
• Hardfire
• La Diva Live
• Heidilicious
The above named participants may be subject to change.
With packages for all pockets and every level of experience - both on piste and off – the European Gay Ski Week is good fun and good value. We had over 800 guests at our event last year and we hope you'll join us in this stunning and splendidly snow-sure resort for this year's European Gay Ski Week – the continent's biggest and fastest-growing gay winter party.
The Resort
The Village Overview
  Alpe d'Huez was founded in 1936 and is one of the oldest French Ski Resorts and alongside Courchevel is one of the few Alpine resorts with its own airport. It was built on an alpine pasture in a large sunny bowel above the Gorges de Sarenne and is at the centre of the Oisans region of the French Alpes. It lies at 1869 meters above sea level and is the main resort in the Massif des Grandes Rousses Ski Domain.
The resort is aptly known as l'Isle au Soleil (the sunny island) due to the high percentage of sunny days it enjoys, most years it averages 300 days of sunshine. Despite this due to the Massif des Grandes Rousses ski domains' altitude and the local weather conditions it is normally skiable from early December until the end of April. For this 2010 / 2011 season Massif Des Grandes Rousses opens 4th Dec and closes 30th April.
The Village
 Alpe d'Huez is split into a number of sectors or 'quartiers' Alpe d'Huez and is a thriving year round resort with a steady community of 1700 permanent residents. The main quartiers are Quartier des Vieil Alpe (to the left), Quartier des Bergers (to the right)and Quartier des Jeux (in the middle) and are within a ten minute walk of each other.
Surrounding these central Quartiers are the Quartier du Cognet, Quartiers des Outaris, Quartiers L'eclose Quest and Quartiers L'eclose Est. Throughout the day there are continuous free shuttle busses running around the resort ensuring that it takes no more than a couple of minutes to go from one Quartier to another.
For the evenings and throughout the night The European Gay Ski Week will be running shuttle buses exclusively for our passholders calling at every stop on their route once every 15 minutes. The routes for our buses will take in all of our recommended accommodation and of course the clubs and bars.
 Quartier des Vieil Alpe is the oldest sector is the most charming part of Alpe d'Huez retaining many of its original buildings. A wander round its little back streets is worthwhile and is where you will find a number of traditional family-run restaurants.
Quartier des Jeux is the main 'centre ville' and the place to head for bars, shops and restaurants, the ice rink and Outdoor Pool. Some of the European Gay Ski Weeks accommodation is located in this area.
Quartier des Bergers is the area where the majority of the European Gay Ski Weeks recommended accommodation is located including our principal Hotel, The Pic Blanc. This area is the most modern part of town and contains its fair share of places to eat, drink and shop. Quartiers des Bergers is where one of the two main lift stations is located which ensures that no one has to walk more than 300meters to get to a Ski lift.
  The picture on the right shows the view from the piste looking don towards Quartier des Bergers, the building on the far right is our Principal Hotel the Pic Blanc , the buildings immediately to the left of the hotel are 'Residence France Location', 'Residence Les Bergers' and Residence Les Meleses , all of which could not be more convientley loctaed both for there proximity to aech other and to the pistes.
The Après Ski
The resort is full of bars, clubs and restaurants and has a reputation for attracting a lively crowd who are not afraid to party, so even without our specially tailored European Gay Ski Week nights and Après Ski parties, most of which will be within stumbling distance of each other and your accommodation, you would not have time to get round to them all in a single
The Ski Area
Ski Area overview
 Alpe d'Huez is a snowsure resort and one of Europe's premier skiing venues ranking alongside giants like Val d'Isere , Trois Vallees and Les Arcs/La Plagne.
In Where to Ski and Snowboard they write 'There are few places to rival Alpe d'Huez for extent and variety of Terrain, it is one of our favourites'.
There is terrain to suit everyone with 249kms of pisted runs and infinate off-piste possibilities within the 10,000 hectares of the Massif des Grandes Rousses Ski Domain.
Should this not be enough, with a 6 day or more Grandes Rousses ski pass you also have acces to the vast (500km of piste) Grande Galaxie ski domain that encompasses not only Alpe d'Huez, but Les Deux Alpes, Oz, Vaujany, La Grave, Serre Chevalier, Montegenevre and Puy St Vincent.
The Ski Area
 For beginners, just above the village there is a large network of green runs across a huge expanse of gentle slopes which provide the perfect terrain for beginners to build up thier confidence.
For Intermediates, ther are a wide selection of runs throughout the area and the variety is difficult to beat, with long gentle blues running down from the big Gondola and some great cruising runs above Vaaujany. The Adventurous will find that there are many challenging red runs throughout the domain, which increase in difficulty as the altitude increases, finishing with the long blacks down from the Pic Blanc which are strictly for those fearless intermediates amoungst you.
 For Advanced Skiers, the possibilities are endless with plenty of long and testing blacks (and some reds which should be blacks) including the famously infamous 'Tunnel' and 'La Sarenne' which at 16km is the longest nonstop black run in Europe. There are in fact four runs with vertical drops of over 2000m. In addition to this, to be undertaken only with professional guides from the resort, is some exhilarating back mountain off piste areas including several remote areas where the only way back is by helicopter.
The Grand Galaxie Ski Domain
For Intermediates and above included with your lift pass as long as it is for 6 days or more is the opportunity to go further afield and explore the larger ski domain of Grandes Galaxie as included in your lift pass is 2 days in the following resorts, Les Deux Alpes, Briancon, La Grave or 1 day in either Serre Chevalier or one day in Puy St Vincent.
Traveling from the UK
Option 1:
You can book a package inclusive of your travel and transfers through our recommended suppliers, please go to the Crystal Holidays , Thomson Holidays & Pierre Vacances webpages for further information.
Option 2:
Please find below information which may assist if you if you are traveling independently to the European Gay Ski week.
Flying:
The following carriers fly into at least one of the main airports serving Alpe d'Huez. The main airports are Grenoble, Chambery, Lyon and Geneva.
Train from the UK:
Full details for travelling by train are available at the websites linked below. You are advised to, if possible change trains in Lille to avoid the transfer from the Gare du Nord across Paris the Gare de Lyon.
There are two ways to book, you can book your entire journey with the Eurostarg(16404658)a(1161358)) or book the legs separatley using the Eurostarg(16201324)a(1161358)) to book to Paris then the SNCFg(16198440)a(1161358)) site to book your journey to Grenoble. If you book the legs of the journey separately, depending upon availability, it is possible to save up to £100 on the basic £235 fares offered by Eurostar Journey. All rail options at Rail Europe
website.
Driving from the UK:
With the tunnel and the Ferries it is remarkably easy to get across the channel. Once in France it should take around 9 hours to drive to Alpe d'Huez from Calais if you are using the autoroutes. If you want to avoid the toll roads, get an early crossing arriving in Calais by 7am and you should still be able to arrive in Alpe d'Huez by around 8pm. Return fares on the Ferries start at approx £60.00 for a car with 4 passengers. The toll charges are around €50 each way.
Women's at European Gay Ski Week
 The European Gay Ski Week is very much an international affair, with a diverse mix of nationalities and is a great way to meet like-minded women from across Europe. With Primanotte hosting you can bet on a strong group of women ready to ski, mix and party. The events which are hosted by Primanotte are in addition to the overall event program for the week, so whatever your mood on the day, we have something to suit you.
The Breakfast and Half Board Options
 For those of you who decide to stay in self catering accommodation but would prefer not to cook for yourselves we have both a breakfast option and a half board option. These will be served at our host hotel the Pic Blanc and will be identical to the meals served to the Hotel guests, Giving you the bonus of having hotel standard meals whilst staying in your own apartment.
The Breakfast Option
Served in our host hotel Le Pic Blanc
This will be a high standard buffet breakfast as served to the hotel guests
9€ per day for seven days.
Every morning Sunday through to Saturday from 08.00 through to 11.15* at Le Pic Blanc.
 This is a full hotel standard breakfast and includes:
* Unlimited Coffee or Tea,
* Unlimited Fruit Juices
* Cereals and Yogurts
* Croissants, bread, rolls
* Jams and Spreads
* Cold meats, Cheeses
* Cooked breakfast
* A selection of Fruits
Between 10.30 and 11.15 only a limited breakfast will be available
The Half Board Option
Served in our host hotel Le Pic Blanc
The dinners menu will be as served to the guests of the hotel
24€ per day for five evening dinners
+ 9€ per day for seven breakfasts
 For any five of the seven evenings of during the Week Le Pic Blanc will be providing the dinners for the Half Board option. The Dinner consists of a choice of three starters, three or four main courses and three deserts and coffee.
Dinner will be served in Le Pic Blanc every evening. There are two sittings, one from 19.00 another from 21.30. Guests who take the early sitting must be seated by 20.00 and will have to vacate their tables by 21.30. Le Pic Blanc restaurant is usually fully booked therefore Guests who have taken the half board option must book whichever sitting they require by 18.00 pm on the days that they wish to eat at Le Pic Blanc.
Should you not wish to order from these fixed menus you may chose from the restaurants A La Carte Menu and a credit of 24€ will be applied to your bill.
Fine Dining
 Last year we started our fine dining option, which we will be repeating again in Alpe d'Huez as there are some fine gastronomique restaurants in the resort.
These dinners will be hosted by the European Gay Ski Week's very own foodie, the multi-lingual racounteur Pol Furguson Thompson, ex producer and presenter of numerous cooking programmes for the BBC and other channels in the UK.
These dinners will be arranged for a different restaurants each evening.
However we are changing the way this was organised. Last year many people wanted to attend these dinners but did not want to decide in advance when and at which restaurant they wished to go to. So for this year we will be booking a table for 10 at a different restaurant every night and all you will have to do is text / tell Pol that you will be attending before 18.00 on the day. We will announce the name and location of the restaurant together with Pol's contact details in our news sheet the 'Daily Salopette' in addition for those of you who have mobile access to the internet, we will post the information to our profile page on facebook and we will also text the details to all our guests who have provided us with thier mobile numbers. These restaurants always require advance booking and sometimes can be quite difficult to get into. We will have a table for 10 - 12 people held in each of these restaurants. So places will be available on a first come first served basis.
This option will not be bookable in advance on our website.
Ski and Snowboard School
In Alpe d'Huez, as we did in Tignes, we will only be working with 'gay friendly' instructors who work to the highest standards, and they will be creating, specifically for the passholders of the European Gay Ski Week, Europe's only gay ski & boarding courses.
 Tuition With European Gay Ski Week Ski School
• The ski school groups will be made up entirely of European Gay Ski Week Passholders.
• Maximum number of people in each group: 6 - 9 people. This optimises learning time and ensures close attention is paid to all group members. These classes are subject to a minimum of 5 people per class. If there are 4 or less people in a particular ability class you will be transfered to a general ski school class of the same ability or offered a full refund.
• Morning only lessons (excluding beginners) - allowing you time to socialise and enjoy a leisurely lunch on the mountain, prior to sloping off to play with your friends.
• 5 day courses allowing you to join the other European Gay Ski Week Guests for your last day.
Beginners Course - 2 hours every morning and 2 hours every afternoons Sunday - Thursday
€168.00
Non-Beginners Lessons - 2 hours 45 minutes every morning from Monday to Friday
€126.00
Ski and Snowboard Guiding
 From Sunday through to Thursday our volunteer guides will be taking groups on tours of the Massif de Grandes Rousses. Weather permitting we will also be organising an Off Piste day (under the supervision of professional High Mountain Guides) and an excursion to another ski areas within the Massif des Grandes Rousses or the Grandes Galaxie domain such as La Grave or Les Deux Alpes. (the off piste guiding and transportation to the other ski area's will be chargable)
Our Guides' meeting point will be the tent with the rainbow flags at the bottom of the piste ajacent to Quartiers de Bergers.The Guides depart with thier groups at 10.00 promptly every morning except Friday. There will be a maximum of 3 snowboarding groups depending on demand. If either all the ski groups or all the snowboard groups fill up in the morning there will be overflow guided groups in the afternoon. These places will be allocated in the morning at the Guides' meeting point. It will not be possible to join the afternoon groups unless you have registered in the morning.
Please Note:
• The Ski & Snowboard Guiding is for competent skiers and boarders only. By competent skiers we mean skiers who are above the level of the top class of ski school. You should have the ability to ski down a black run with ease. If you are not at this level and you wish to ski in company we recommend that you join one of our Gay Ski School classes. Please be aware that if you are unable to keep up with the pace of a group, you will be asked to leave.
• If you want to get into the group of your choice it is recommended that you arrive at the meeting point by 09.45 at the latest. The maximum size of a group is approximately 10 people and places in the various groups are allocated on a first come first served basis.
The Off Piste / Excursion Day
These will take place on either Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday of our week depending on which day promises to have the best weather conditions. There are several possible itineraries for the Off Piste and several resorts for the excursion. There will be no additional lift pass charges as the areas we will visit will be with the area of validity for your Massif de Grandes Rousses lift pass. These will be announced at the beginning of the week once the snow conditions have been assessed and the forecasts considered.
 For the Off Piste day, the actual itinerary to be followed will be decided on the day and our High Mountain Guides who will make thier decision based upon the weather and which itinerary is likley to have the best snow conditions.
In order for the Off Piste day to go ahead, it needs to be arranged in advance as the High Mountain Guides need to be booked, to ensure thier availability. The minimum number of participants is 5 and the maximum number in a group is 8. If you would like to participate, please confirm this within the booking options. The cost of this option will be between 60 & 100€ depending on the itineary, a non refunadable deposit of 50€ is payable via the booking options and the balance will be payable on the day. You will be informed before the week what you will need to bring with you and what you will be provided with for this day.
If the High Mountain Guide decides that no itinerary is possible during our week or if there are not enough participants you will be given a full refund.
For the Excursion day, this will be simpler and will be decided at the beginning of the week and announced to the various groups to give everyone the opportunity to participate.
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