Sectors: Toura/La Fée/Les Crêtes
A crucial link in the route of the continuous on-piste descent from summit to base, providing the sole route through and out of the
Toura 2600 area; often very busy, particularly in the afternoons.
The
Grand Nord officially begins above the tunnel behind the
Chalet de la Toura bar/restaurant, spliced on to the end of a spur off the
Brêche run; it then spills off the ridge past the nearby cable cars' stations and descends steeply into the Bellecombes area. There is also a less steep variation, accessed from the flat lower plain at Toura 2600 by passing through the pisted tunnel itself towards a wide junction with the
Gours piste: turn to the skier's left there to pick up the easiest route option for the
Grand Nord.
Both variations then converge as a wide standard blue straight down towards the Lac du Plan area, with a couple of further variant pisted spurs wider to the skier's left which merge with the
Grand Nord Bis,
Tête Moute, and
Bellecombes pistes.
The
Grand Nord Bis is a variant which begins higher to the skier's left. It is accessed from the
Liaison Super Diable a Toura, and can be reached from the
Snowpark via a traverse from the top of the short L'Envers button tow (40). It begins off the wide lip of the ridge above the Bellecombes area, as a broad high-end blue, and then converges with the other routes sharing these slopes, as per the principal
Grand Nord piste.
All of these routes finish by merging together and funnelling through a chicane of speed-control barriers before flowing gently across the flat Lac du Plan area, to link with the
Bellecombes chairlift (35). To continue the descent towards Les Deux Alpes, simply bypass this lift terminal to seamlessly join the
Route du Thuit ahead.
Another option is to peel off to the skier's right at the point where you enter the Lac du Plan area, to traverse above the tarn via the [mostly flat]
Route de la Fée towards La Fée 2100.
