Sector: Toura
With three cable car stations, two good restaurants, and proximity to a world-class
terrain park, this area is not only the geographical centre of the ski domain, it's also the social heart of the station for most of the day.
Another reason this area is so popular is that the altitude here (2600 m | 8528 ft) ensures that the surrounding slopes are reliably snow-sure, yet they are also much less exposed than those in the higher glacial zone.
The interchange area is sited at a narrow bottleneck in the pistes network, and virtually all on-piste traffic descending from the summit glacier and the
Slide Zones needs to pass through this area. This is also the only interchange where the ski lifts from the lower sectors link with those connecting with the uppermost-altitude sector interchange hub at
Glacier 3200.
Upper Level
The twin Jandri Express cable cars are the principal lifts in the ski domain, and their massive [shared] mid-station dominates the skyline at Toura 2600.
Arriving at this altitude via the
Jandri Express 1 cable car (55) brings you to the upper level at the interchange, where a cluster of linking ski lifts are located, alongside the animated
Pano-Bar & Le Panoramic restaurant. As you exit from the Jandri Express 1 terminal, immediately to your left in the forward half of the same building is the
Jandri Express 2 cable car terminal (56), linking with the Glacier 3200 sector interchange. It is also possible to put your gear on at this point and glide away down the short link-piste straight ahead, parallel to the line of the rising Retour rope tow (41), to reach the wide lower plateau level below.
Ahead-right, the piste flowing along the ridge towards the cable cars' station is the
Liason Super Diable a Toura link track, merged with traffic coming from the top of the snowpark's L'Envers button tow (40). This link track glides around the side of the Jandri Express 1 section of the station building and under the line of its cables; steps there then provide access to the Jandri Express 1 cable car platform for the download to Les Deux Alpes.
On the far side of the Jandri Express station is a flat open area housing a centrally positioned Piste Patrol cabin, with a tool point and plenty of directional signs fixed to its walls. Beyond that is the upper terminal for the
Jandri 2 cable car (33). Passengers arriving on that lift have to walk around to the far side of the Jandri Express station to reach the entrance for the Jandri Express 2 cable car (56), and for the link-piste down to the lower level of the interchange in order to head towards the
Snowpark; there's a shortcut under the line of the Jandri Express 2, down to the rear of the
Chalet de la Toura bar/restaurant.
The third building on the upper level at Toura 2600 houses the very lively Pano-Bar & Le Panoramic restaurant, located beyond the Jandri 2 cable car station (33), furthest away from the twin Jandri Express cable cars' station.
From the flat area around the Pano-Bar and between the cable cars' stations, you can glide away on-piste in two directions:
flowing off to the west (towards Les Deux Alpes) takes you to a steep entrance to the
Grand Nord run, down the face of the mountain towards the Lac du Plan area; in the opposite direction, behind the Pano-Bar/Le Panoramic building, a short blue-graded track leads to the 8-seater
Glaciers chairlift (42), connecting with the sector interchange at
Glacier 3200; you can also glide down to join the flat pisted track emerging from the tunnel [below-right] coming from the Chalet de la Toura level.
Heading away from the tunnel on this latter route takes you to a nearby junction: straight on is the
Gours piste towards La Fée 2100; peeling off to the skier's left is the easier main route of the
Grand Nord in the direction of Les Deux Alpes.
Lower Level
This huge natural amphitheatre is overlooked by
Les 2 Alpes' Snowpark, which is served by the
Toura (38) &
Lac Noir (39) chairlifts that rise from this flat floor of the Toura snowbowl. These lifts are some distance away from the cable cars' stations, which means that you have to walk across this wide plateau in order to reach them; unless you are descending into this area on-piste, in which case you can easily link with most of the lifts at this hub.
The pistes entering this area from the looker's left of these chairlifts' base terminals are the
Jandri and the merged
Grand Creux & Goulet du Lac Noir. The
Jandri piste also has a spur which bypasses the flat floor of the snowbowl by traversing higher on the flank above for a fair link across to the finish of the
Brêche piste, linking towards the major inter-sectors lifts on the upper level at Toura 2600 closest to the
Pano-Bar & Le Panoramic restaurant.
The only other viable on-piste route leading into Toura 2600 is the [very flat]
Liason Super Diable a Toura track, which runs to the upper level of this hub.
This piste also has a shortcut, via the steep sidewall of the snowbowl, towards the lifts serving the
Snowpark.
At the northern end of this wide & sheltered amphitheatre, nearest the cable cars' stations, is the popular
Chalet de la Toura bar/restaurant. This massive log cabin is the main social hub at Toura 2600, and is usually buzzing from late morning to late afternoon every day.
For all onward links out of this lower level at Toura 2600: either take the rope tow at the side of the Chalet de la Toura terrace, to reach the lift terminals on the upper level; or, go through the pisted tunnel past the other side of the Chalet to access the
Gours and the
Grand Nord pistes.
