Ski France

Forget frogs, snails, berets, perfume, croissants & the Eiffel Tower. France should be renowned for the fabulous skiing instead! OK the French didn’t pioneer skiing, but they’ve sure taken it on with grand enthusiasm.

With nearly 200 ski resorts in France, it’s surprising that so many can exist in one country without going broke. This speaks volumes for the popularity of skiing amongst the French as well as the Brits and other international holiday makers that make regular pilgrimages to the French Alps & Pyrenees.

Many of the French ski resorts are massive and accessed via super sophisticated lift infrastructure. Increasingly, ski resorts in France, like other ski areas in Europe, are becoming lift, piste & pass interconnected with each other, making the skiable terrain even bigger.

Snow quality in the French Alps resorts is generally incredibly good. Much of the skiing in France is at high altitude (above 2,000m), which contributes to improved snow conditions & long seasons in the major resorts. Ski areas near the soaring Mont Blanc on the French-Italian border, as well as the high peaks of the Tarentaise & Maurienne valleys plus the glaciers of the southern Alps are known for being snow sure. However, French ski resorts with base areas below 1,500m do suffer more from the vagaries of climate change.

French Ski Regions & Resorts

Ski resorts in France are in three main areas to the country’s SW. The French Alps stretching from Switzerland near Lake Geneva down the coast near Nice has the lion’s share of the ski resorts. The Pyrenees on the border with Spain & Andorra and the Massif Central (between the Alps & the Pyrenees) are the other two main alternative regions to the Alps.

See our Best French Ski Resorts page for more information on where to ski.

French Alps Ski Resorts

The French Alps that border Switzerland & Italy offer some of the most extensive skiing opportunities in Europe plus are home to some of the most well-known & largest ski resorts in the world. Names like the 3 Vallees, Val d'Isere, Chamonix & Les Arcs are synonymous with skiing in France. However, away from the meg-sized 'industrial' resorts, an incredible number of smaller ski resorts abound in the French Alps. Smaller being a relative term, in that it might best refer to the size of a resort’s reputation as opposed to its actual size.

The Haute Maurienne is full of Powderhounds Gems including Bonneval sur Arc, La Norma, Valfrejus, Val Cenis and Aussois. On a powder day, these resorts are equal to, or better than, the large French ski areas in terms of skiing & snowboarding quality, & are our preferred stomping ground! Other massive ski areas close by (but receiving less snow!) include Sybelles & Galibier Thabor (Valmeinier-Valloire), plus a host of others, providing ample alternatives to the mega resorts further north and at a fraction of the cost. Note that Les Sybelles has over 300km of trails, and you probably have never heard of it.

Les Trois Vallées (the 3 Valleys) is the world's largest ski resort & probably the best overall in Europe. It incorporates an immense area of lift & piste interlinked ski resorts including Val Thorens, Les Menuires & St Martin in the Belleville valley, the upscale Courchevel, the party-centric, off-piste surprise of Meribel plus Orelle (so it should be called 4 Vallees, but the Swiss have scored that name for the broader region encompassing Verbier!). The 3 Vallees has a combined 600km+ of ski runs & a truly vast off-piste. Wondering how long it takes to ski them all? The Powderhounds found out and, despite some of the crass resort village development, were totally impressed with what we saw & skied.

Chamonix at the foot of Mont Blanc is world renown for superb off-piste, backcountry & extreme skiing in an amazing mountain environment. It is a collection of disparate ski resorts rather than one large, interlinked ski area, yet contrary to popular belief, Chamonix is just as good for intermediate skiers on-piste, as it is for experts off it!

South of Chamonix the legendary Haute Tarentaise valley has several mega sized interconnected ski resorts and smaller skiing areas, as well as the snow and elevation to be the Powderhounds pick for some of France's best snow destinations. Sainte Foy ski resort is our favourite and is juxtaposed against the enormity of the other Tarentaise resorts. The ski area formerly known as Espace Killy links the huge resorts of Tignes and Val d'Isère. Known for its high alpine off-piste & glacier skiing, plus over 300km of well-groomed piste, Tignes is perfect for intermediates whilst Val d’Isere is a little more upscale but with sensational freeride terrain. Heliskiing is also available from both resorts. La Rosiere is another Tarentaise ski resort perfect for families, plus it links into La Thuile in the Aosta valley, Italy. The Paradiski area is another huge Tarentaise ski resort interlinking Les Arcs & La Plagne with 8 other smaller resorts into an area with a whopping 425km of trails. Les Arcs is the pick of them with brilliant access from Bourg St Maurice.

To the north of Chamonix, remarkably close to Geneva, is the Portes du Soleil ski area. This massive ski resort is a combination of 8 smaller French ski resorts including Châtel, Morzine & Avoriaz, plus several Swiss ski resorts including Morgins & Champery. Portes du Soleil is the closest major ski destination to the UK, so it might be a tad popular, but the Swiss sectors are quieter than on the French side of the frontier! Due to its geographical location, it can get huge dumps of snow in a good year. Another nearby snow magnet is the extensive and popular Flaine & Samoens interlinked ski area, the Grand Massif. To give a sense of the size of the resort, Le Grand Massif has a piste trail that runs over 1700m vertical - gob-smacking for a ski area most people outside Europe have never heard of! Given these resorts proximity to large cities, they can be incredibly busy during peak periods. Other resorts in the Haute Savoie include La Clusaz and Le Grand Bornand near Annecy & the extensive Megève which combines with St Gervais- St Nicolas and Les Contamines to create the Evasion Mont Blanc ski area with over 445km of trails.

In the southern French Alps, the huge resorts of Alpe d’Huez, Les Deux Alpes, La Grave & Serre Chevalier dominate. The diversity of terrain & ski villages in the region is extraordinary. When the standard skiable vertical in an area is over 2000m (6,562ft), you know you have hit the big time! Another cluster of smaller ski resorts (remember previous definition of small!) are in the mountains further south toward Marseille. The largest of them is Risoul-Vars and whilst you haven’t heard of it; rest assured the ski resort is bigger than most - go figure!

French Alps ski resorts with international links include La Rosiere (linked with La Thuile in Italy – Espace San Bernardo), Montgenèvre (linked with Claviere, Cesana-Sansicario, Sauze d'Oulx & Sestriere in Italy - Via Lattea) and of course Portes du Soleil.

Pyrenees Ski Resorts

To the surprise of many, there are plenty of ski resorts in the Pyrenees, including Ax, Cauterets, Gavarnie, & Saint Lary. Most are relatively unknown to non-Europeans, however the intrepid skiers & snowboarders from the UK have usually staked a claim in them at some point. Pyrenees ski resorts tend to be smaller, less developed, less crowded & less expensive than those in the Alps. However, don’t be fooled into thinking that they are in fact less! The Pyrenees often get more snow in a season than the Alps & many of the resorts have high altitude bases with cold north-aspect terrain to maintain that snow in optimal condition. The Pyrenees are a location to watch & travel to when they have a deep snowpack with more in the forecast.

Massif Central Ski Resorts

Over 30 ski resorts are in the volcanic mountainous region known as the Massif Central in France. All have summits lower than 1,900m elevation, but skiable vertical is still over 700m in some resorts. The larger Massif Central ski resorts have up to 60 piste trails and include Super Besse, Le Lioran and Le Mont Dore.

Summer Skiing & Snowboarding in the French Alps

Summer skiing is available in France at 3 ski resorts. Tignes, Val d’Isere and Les Deux Alpes provide glacier-based skiing in summer, but climate change is making its ongoing operation difficult - POW (Protect Our Winters). Tignes has the highest and most extensive variety of terrain (including advanced runs) and lifts available in France on the Grand Motte glacier. Val d’Isere has at least 6 easy and intermediate trails on the Glacier du Pissaillas open during summer. Les Deux Alpes has a small number of easy and intermediate trails across its broad glacier, but also an impressive terrain park operating for the summer season.

Lift Passes

In recent seasons, a host of international aggregated lift passes have become conditionally valid in some French ski resorts. IKON Pass & Mountain Collective is valid in Chamonix. EPIC Pass is valid in 3 Vallèes. Access to each resort is usually limited & conditionally. See the full access details & conditions on our Europe Ski Lift Passes page.

France still has some the Alps’ best value lift passes too. Lift passes in the Haute Maurienne (La Norma etc) are amongst the cheapest in the Alps, and practically free by North American standards.

Skiing in France - Characteristics

When skiing or riding the French Alps expect the biggest skiable verticals in the world, expect some of the most impressive lifts in the world & expect some seriously huge, interconnected ski areas with more terrain than one could imagine. No one does BIG better than the French in the world of skiing, so if you looking to go large, put France on your list of places to ski & board. However, there are still places very much of the radar and largely forgotten by the masses. Resorts like Areches Beaufort, Pralognan la Vanoise, and the combination of ski areas in the Queyras, retain all that is good about skiing in France, but without the crowds.

A wonderful characteristic of most skiing in Europe is the presence of a traditional village at the ski resort base. In France, some of the older ski resorts have an associated village. These traditional towns have evolved into ski towns, and they continue to ooze rustic charm. Examples include the charming Val d'Isere, Megeve, Chamonix or the sublime Bonneval sur Arc. However, many of the French ski resorts were purpose built at a time when the architectural style hasn’t necessarily stood the test of time. Resorts like Les Menuires, the upper sectors of La Plagne, parts of Tignes & Les Arcs may lack quaintness and the traditional European alpine style, but they possess advantages such as the convenience of ski-in ski-out accommodation, self-contained apartments, and a generally higher resort base altitude that older villages struggle to provide. Many resorts have a combination of old & new or budget & high-end villages. The higher in elevation one goes, the newer & more expensive it gets!

The popularity of skiing in France, in some respects, also contributes to the mainstream French ski resorts being rather expensive relative to other ski areas in Europe (with the possible exception of Switzerland). If on a budget, lower elevation accommodation, use of public transport or free ski buses & self-catering are simple ways to avoid the bill shock when buying lunch at Courchevel! The French have established some of the world’s best ski resort picnic & BBQ areas (Serre Chevalier, Courchevel & Meribel being case in point) providing a fabulous alternative to alpine restaurant dining for the fiscally skint.

One unsavoury characteristic of French (& indeed, much of the Alps) skiing is the lack of lift queue etiquette. Aside from the usual ‘step on skis, push to the front all costs mentality’, the French also have an unalienable ability to block entry to the ski lift gates, or having entered the gates, suddenly want to wait for their friends to join them on the chair, despite the length of the queue or the location of their friends within said queue. Gather your friends together before the queue & get out of the bloody way...! To avoid the worst examples of this behaviour, simple techniques include gratuitous use of elbows & ski poles to hold your position in the line or getting away from busy ski resort base areas by starting early. Lining up for first lifts is the Powderhounds way and it makes for a far more pleasant day. Skiing larger resorts in off-peak periods & not skiing any French resorts during peak times outlined on our When to Ski France page.

The term “après ski” might be French, but most ski resorts in France aren’t as vibrant after skiing when compared to the famous Austrian and Italian ski resorts where partying continues until the wee hours. Party animals shouldn’t lament though. There’s still plenty of après ski action at resorts such as Chamonix and Val d’Isere. The French have even tried to imitate the best Austrian version of après through the multi-resort La Folie Douce venues – they are a lot of fun, even though a tad contrived.

Travel to French Ski Resorts

French Alps ski resorts are best accessed via Lyon St Exupery (LYS) airport for non-European travellers. Geneva (GVA) airport is best for those northern French Alps resorts like Portes du Soleil, anything near Chamonix or in the Tarentaise valley. Minor airports at Chambery (CMF) & Grenoble (GNB) can work as well, particularly on weekends for travellers from within Europe or the UK. The Italian airports of Turin (TRN) & Milan Malpensa (MXP) can be convenient to some areas; particularly the Maurienne, Southern Alps & Chamonix (via the Aosta valley).

Several major ski areas are accessible by train to stations like St Gervais, Chamonix, Bourg St Maurice, Moutiers & Modane, including fast TGV from Paris or Milan.

Whilst public transport works well for some resorts, if not on an all-inclusive package deal, a private transfer will be the more convenient & efficient mode of travel. Search & book here for all private transfers to French ski resorts.

For more information see the Travel to French Ski Resorts page.

When to Ski France

It is possible to ski France via lifts every month (not day) of the year (although September can have a large question mark over it!). Whether you are skiing a glacier at Les 2 Alpes or Val d’Isere in mid-summer or Val Thorens or Tignes in Spring, skiing & snowboarding in France, like the rest of Europe is only limited by your imagination & sense of adventure. In winter, the vast opportunities in the French Alps are best sampled by Powderhounds in mid to late January when temperatures are cold, the powder is deep, prices are low & crowds are non-existent. Some resort areas known for their off-piste terrain are best sampled in March. Summer skiing in France is becoming an 'endangered species' due to climate warming & rapid glacier melt, and it would not be surprising if it ceases in the coming years.

As a rule, many of the French ski resorts are incredibly busy over the Christmas break (Christmas to the end of the first week in January) and during school holidays in February (particularly Paris school holidays). However, many of the larger resorts cope surprisingly well with the numbers & the multitude of ‘smaller’ resorts provide options if forced to visit during these busy times.

See our When to Ski France page for month-by-month information on the best times to go skiing.

More Reasons to Ski France

Massive interconnected ski areas, variety of ski terrain including tree skiing plus high-altitude snow should be enough reasons in themselves to ski France, but of course part of skiing in Europe isn’t about the skiing or snowboarding at all. A major priority should be the food & alcohol. “Cuisine” was invented in France and some would say it is the wine capital of the world. France definitely comes up trumps in the foodie stakes!

Compare French Ski Resorts to Europe & the World

See how the French ski resorts compare on the France ski resort ratings page, or compare to the rest of Europe on the European ski resort ratings page.

Alternatively see comparisons to the rest of the world on our Best Ski Resorts page.

Reviews

The Powderhounds Europe team are constantly reviewing new ski resorts in France & Europe or having a second or third look at old ones. See our reviews via the links on each ski resort overview page.

If you have a question about skiing & snowboarding anywhere in Europe, CONTACT US.

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