ALTUS ALPE D’HUEZ 2024
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Edito – Altus Alpe d’Huez 2024

Eco-friendly paper?

While digital technology continues to expand its influence, and all-digital technology becomes the norm, we remain faithful to paper, not only because we know the pleasure of reading a beautiful medium, but also because we are convinced that paper has solid eco-responsible arguments.

We have chosen PEFC-labeled paper to guarantee sustainable forest management: trees are planted and replanted in such a way as to guarantee supply without depleting natural resources.

Our magazine is 100% recyclable: we use acrylic varnish on the cover. Recycling paper reduces waste and the consumption of raw materials.
We print in the Alps, in a short circuit: in less than two hours’ drive, our magazines arrive at their distribution site. Our printer holds the Imprim’Vert label, for greater respect for the environment.

Our Altus magazines are “keeper” magazines: we know that you’ll take them home with you, and that they’ll live on for many years in your library, without any CO2 emissions… Unlike e-mails and data stored on servers: if the Internet were a country, it would be the world’s third largest consumer of electricity, after China and the USA!

So yes, as long as we live, we pollute, but we’re doing everything we can to reduce our impact on the environment as much as possible, while offering you the best possible reading comfort.

Happy reading, and don’t forget to leave a place for your magazine on your coffee table.

Roland Claude Durand-Terrasson
Publishing Director

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NEWS

60 YEARS OF PIC BLANC!

For six decades, the Pic Blanc aerial tramway has dominated Alpe d’Huez from its 3,330-metre altitude. The highest point in the resort, nestled in the Grandes Rousses massif, it has stood the test of time through a long and eventful history, offering visitors the best view of the resort.
The Pic Blanc, a name inherited from the summit on which it is perched, is first and foremost the result of the folie de grandeur and unyielding ambition of the plateau’s shopkeepers and hoteliers, who joined forces in this crazy project as early as 1952. Technical constraints and an excessive budget put the brakes on this first project. In 1959, SATA purchased the infrastructure and completed the construction, finally reaching the summit of the Pic. Inaugurated on February 10, 1963, the line as we know it is now operational. Offering a playground for ski enthusiasts, the Sarenne glacier shone above all with summer skiing until the 1990s. In winter, the exceptional site can only be accompanied by mythical slopes.

FIRST TRACKS!

Every Wednesday, a lucky few make their first tracks from the summit of Pic Blanc! Just as the sun is rising, a small group of skiers enjoy a privileged moment of contemplation at an altitude of 3,330 meters. Accompanied by mountain professionals who show them their job, their environment and their morning routine, they can then take a sneak preview of the mythical Sarenne piste.

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an olympic ice cave!

Artificially created at an altitude of 2,700 metres, the Alpe d’Huez ice grotto is dressed in its finest every year, with 120 metres of galleries, halls and igloos. A veritable jewel of ice and snow sculpture, it is pampered by a dozen sculptors. With the 2024 Olympic Games coming up in France, the grotto’s 30 sculptures will reflect the theme of the Winter Olympics. Not to be missed.

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Charpente & menuiserie de l’oisans, builders of the peaks!

Charpente & Menuiserie de l’Oisans, undisputed specialists in high-altitude carpentry, has been entrusted with the task of building the timber structures for the three stations of the brand-new Jandri Express. An ambitious project, nourished by the know-how of three generations of Oisans builders.

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Culture

L’alpe d’Huez and comedy, a history of humour

The pitch: the third week in January has become a must-attend event. A film festival where, every winter, the great family of comedy comes together
in a festive atmosphere of sharing and friendship. The setting: a blanket of white snow and a backdrop of mountain peaks. For over 25 years, the Alpe d’Huez International Comedy Festival has been raising the bar for comedy in the world of cinema.

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Discovery

Ice Chronicle

Popularized only 50 years ago, ice climbing is said to have originated partly in the heights of Alpe d’Huez. Just a stone’s throw from the ski area, an exceptional natural site abounds with waterfalls
for all levels.
Symphonie d’automne, the best-known, is a 70-metre-high wonder of frozen water. Discover this frosty universe.

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Mountain

Off-piste: managing risk

Leaving your mark in the immaculate snow. Savor the pleasure of big curves in the powder
far from the ski lifts. Off-piste is the promise of a privileged mountain experience.
And when the snow conditions are right and the rules are followed, it’s perfectly safe. Follow the guide.

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Sport

Florian Jouanny, with Paris 2024 in his sights!

Paralympic handbike champion in Tokyo in 2021, Florian Jouanny has won everything in his discipline. But the man from Bourg-d’Oisans, at the foot of the legendary Alpe d’Huez climb, has his sights set on the Paris Paralympics. He hopes to shine in the three events in which he will be competing.

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Trail

Mégavalanche Trail: a mega-descent!

On July 9, Vincent, one of our journalists, took the start of the Mégavalanche Trail, a race with the particularity of offering a 21-kilometer, downhill-only route, starting on snow at an altitude of 3,300 meters. An experience as fun as it is demanding on the legs!

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