Sector: Le Diable
A compact ledge perched at 2400 m (7872 ft) altitude on the flanks of the Tête Moute, directly above the Venosc end of Les Deux Alpes, with superb vistas over the Vénéon Valley.
The area is focused around the upper-terminal station of the
Diable gondola (23) and the excellent
Le Diable au Coeur bar/restaurant. As well as the gondola, this area is also reached by the
Crêtes (28),
Thuit (32), and
Vallons (22) chairlifts, plus the Petite Diable button tow (24), although access to the bar/restaurant level is slightly inclined from all lifts except the gondola.
Orientation
The entrance to the bar/restaurant is almost immediately to the right on exit from the gondola station. There are deckchairs on a snow patio here, clustered around a large piste map/information board & tool point.
The
Vallons chairlift (22) arrives just beyond the restaurant's terrace, which is facing south overlooking the Vénéon Valley with views directly towards the imposing peak of La Muzelle.
You can put your gear on at this level and immediately slide away to sweep down to the skier's right in front of the terrace, out on to the wide shoulder of the mountain below; the steep piste joining from above/behind is the
Super Diable, together with its blue-graded variant. Ahead skier's left is the entrance to the
Descente piste, which also gives access to the Vallons du Diable off-piste route. Just to the skier's right of this is Les 2 Alpes' paragliding hotspot, which provides a spectacularly sited launch pad into space above the deep Vénéon Valley ahead. There is also a good spot for a picnic nearby, on the high ground to the looker's right of the finish of the
Super Diable piste, overlooking the launch site.
Continuing round to the skier's right, the
Super Diable chairlift (34) is then an easy link ahead-right. Beyond this point begins the
Vallons run, down to the base terminal of the Vallons chairlift (22) and a little-known link-track over to join the
Diable run in order to make a full descent to Les Deux Alpes.
North from Diable Gondola
To get to the northern side of the Diable gondola station at Le Diable 2400 you have to stroll/skate up a short inclined slope, against the flow of piste traffic.
Just past the station building, the arrival point of the Petit Diable button tow (24) is immediately to the skier's left, next to the entrance to the
Petit Diable piste which provides the prime access to the
Diable run.
The
Crêtes piste dips away ahead-left towards
Les Crêtes 2100, down the line of the
Crêtes chairlift (28) which arrives on slightly higher ground ahead-right; with the upper terminal of the
Thuit chairlift (32) slightly higher just beyond that.
The
Séa Grand Nord route begins beneath the line of the Thuit chairlift, a further short inclined walk away from the gondola station level: this route accesses the lovely [red-grade profile] upper section of the excellent
Thuit run; less experienced visitors can also use the
Séa Grand Nord to make a long but easily manageable excursion, via the Lac du Plan area and across the impressive Thuit Coomb, all the way to Les Crêtes 2100.
