(Les 2 Alpes this week)
The small summer ski area at Val d'Isere opened last weekend and the two big French ski areas with les 2 Alpes due to follow suit this coming weekend, opening on Saturday 16 June and Tignes from June 22nd.
The glaciers are reported to be in good shape for summer 2012 thanks to the heavy snowfall last winter and recent fresh snowfalls and cold temperatures.
However the slopes are normally open from early morning until lunchtime to provide the best conditions. Then skiers and boarders can enjoy summer mountain sports or just relax in the afternoon.
Val d'Isere, which has the shorted summer snowsports season of the three, lasting only five weeks to July 15th is open from 7.30am to 12.30am daily.
At Les 2 Alpes, which offers summer snowsports between 3200 and 3600m above sea level, the glacier will open slightly earlier every day, from 7.15 to 12.30, until Saturday 1st September 2012. Tignes will be operating its ski lifts from 7:15am to 1pm.
An average of 2,000 skiers ascend Les 2 Alpes' glacier every day, making a total of 135,201 skiers in a single summer with 40% of the resort's clientele in the summer coming to perfect their freestyle technique in the famous summer snowpark.
Established in 1993 it includes two pipes and has grown to cover 18 hectares served by two draglifts and a ski tow dedicated to the pipes, one of which is an Olympic-size super pipe. There are also hips, quarters, modules, whoops, hand rails, big airs and the park has a pro zone, an advanced zone and a fun zone.
At Tignes lifts serving 20 kilometres of runs on the Grande Motte glacier are open in the altitude range from 3,000 to 3,456 metres.
Thanks to the Perce Neige funicular which first opened in March 1993, it takes only seven minutes to reach the summer ski runs from the heart of Tignes, at an altitude of 2100 metres.