Saint-Lary-Soulan

Saint-Lary-Soulan is a commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department in south-western France.

Geography

Saint-Lary is located in Hautes-Pyrénées 80 km south of the département's capital Tarbes, next to the Le Néouvielle Nature Reserve and the Pyrenees National Park and is a 20 minute drive to Spain.

Sports

Skiing

Saint-Lary-Soulan is one of the largest ski resorts in the French Pyrenees with over 100 km of downhill slopes. There are 53 pistes spread over three linked, and yet distinct sectors. Saint Lary 1700 is known as the Pla d'Adet sector and provides family skiing including snow kindergarten, toboggan run and a 'Kidpark', a snowpark aimed at young skiers aged between 6 and 12 years. Saint Lary 1900 is known as the Espiaube sector and is frequented by more experienced skiers. The showpiece ski run is the Mirabelle which descends 700 metres over its 3.6 km (2.2 mi) length. Saint Lary 2400 has a snowpark which doubles as a skate park in the summer, mogul and slalom stadiums and also provides access to Lake Oule for snow-shoeing.

Pla d'Adet

Pla d'Adet or Saint-Lary 1700 is a ski resort in the French Pyrenees, in the department of Hautes-Pyrénées, and the region Midi-Pyrénées. The resort is situated above the village of Saint-Lary-Soulan, at an altitude of 1,680 metres (5,510 ft). The climb to the ski station is frequently used as a stage finish in the Tour de France cycle race.

Skiing infrastructure

Ski area

Cycle racing

Details of the climb

The climb to the ski station starts at Vignec, on the outskirts of Saint-Lary-Soulan. From here, the climb is 10.7 km (6.6 mi) long. Over this distance, the climb gains 861 m (2,825 ft) in altitude, at an average gradient of 8%, with several sections near the start of the climb in excess of 12%.

The finish line of the climb as used in the Tour de France is at 1,680 m (5,510 ft), although in 2005 this was at 1,669 m (5,476 ft).

Tour de France

The Tour de France has featured Pla d'Adet as a finish on 10 occasions since 1974, most recently in 2014.

References