Ski France

Welcome to the Ski France page, providing a regular round-up of the skiing conditions and current snow reports for the main ski resorts in the French Alps and the Pyrenees. Over recent years some of the most consistently good piste conditions have been reported at Tignes, Val d'Isere, Flaine, La Rosiere, La Plagne, Alpe d'Huez, Val Thorens and La Grave showing a mix of glacial resorts and those most exposed to the prevailing storm paths. However, in any given week or season the best slope conditions may be found at any of the other high French resorts or at lower elevation ski stations in poor weather.

For off-piste powder, resorts such as La Rosiere, Les Menuires, Morzine, Samoens, Les Saisies, Le Grand Bornand, Montchavin/Les Coches and Val d'Isere have proven among the most consistent either for their regular snowfalls, northerly aspect or for not getting tracked out quickly. Warm moist weather fronts drifting in from the Atlantic can produce significant snowfalls in the French Alps Chamonix, Argentiere, Flaine and Samoens have impressive records) but can also raise the freezing level so your choice of resort can be crucial if you are chasing powder. Check out the reports below for the latest news and the forecasts we provide for different elevations in the resort.

France is one of the world’s top skiing destinations. The best known of the country’s 400 or so ski areas are in the Northern and Southern Alps but there are also several dozen ski areas in the French Pyrenees and in other sectors like the Auvergne and Jura.

French ski resorts have really come in to their own in the past 40 years – later than the other three main Alpine skiing nations.

The post-war plan skiing in France was to help stop the migration of agricultural communities to the cities has been reversed by the country’s efforts to develop ski resorts. They have grown to include the world’s biggest fully lift-linked ski region (The 3 Valleys – which always had a 600km total no matter how many new runs are added); its biggest lift served vertical (at Chamonix) and indeed six of the world’s 10 biggest ski regions. Europe’s highest resort, Val Thorens, is also here.

But it’s not just size but also convenience that led many French resorts to success and ever more people to love to ski France – the original concrete resorts built in the 1960s were not always pretty but they were designed to be functional and give slopeside access to the skiing and all other facilities in a few short steps at a time when most resorts in Europe required a laborious trek to catch a ski bus and then ages on lifts getting up to the slopes.

This decision to build resorts at altitude has paid extra dividends in these years of climate change fears as, with many ski areas beginning and ending 1000 vertical metres higher than many traditional resorts, they are more likely to get natural snowfall when lower elevation resorts get rain, and for it to be cold enough to run snow making machines when lower resorts have air too warm.

Those who are not so keen on this high altitude, purpose-built ski experience however criticise the resorts as soul-less places, artificial communities (they are almost completely empty in spring and autumn) with their captive market charged high prices for a sometimes inferior service. The slopes are also criticised as bleak, being high above the treeline.

Aimed squarely at the family market, French resorts also offer the most comprehensive childcare for babies as young as a few months old at most resorts, and ski kindergarten from three, although they do make children pay for lift passes a few years younger than elsewhere in the Alps and the full adult price from early teens or younger. The family orientation also means that lively après ski is something of a rarity in France.

Although French lift passes for these big ski regions are – except when the Swiss franc is on a high – among the most expensive to ski at in Europe, the French argue that they are still the best value because your extra Euros buy access to far more kilometres of piste and the use of many more fast lifts than at smaller resorts. In any case there is usually a cheaper pass for part of the giant ski area which in any case is equal in size or larger than a ‘regular’ ski area elsewhere.

It is wrong to think however that all French resorts are purpose-built. Chamonix, Morzine, Val d'Isere, Montgenevre (Via Lattea) and many other famous resorts have long histories as mountain and ski tourism communities, some originally spa towns. Megeve was developed in the 1920s as a rival to St Moritz by Baroness Rothschild and it still retains much of the ‘old money’ and more Michelin starred chefs than any other French resort, while Courchevel has become the country’s most glitz resort where the most expensive chalet costs £200,000 a week to rent.

Summer glacier skiing has declined dramatically in France since 2000. There used to be 7 or 8 resorts offering summer skiing but now only three (Tignes, Val d'Isere and Les Deux Alpes) are open briefly in July and August and there’s no skiing at all in France from mid-May to late June or in September. From October to late November Tignes is the only ski area open.

For Brits, France has been the most popular destination for the past two decades taking nearly 40% of the UK market each winter. Fast motorways from the English Channel to the Alps make French resorts the easiest to reach from southern England and it’s also possible to reach many French ski areas direct by Eurostar from London St Pancras railway station. read more...

Snow: next 3 days

Ski resorts in France from A to I

Resort	Webcam (click to zoom)	Top and bottom snow depth	On-piste	Off-piste	Forecast snow in next 3 days (click for forecast)	Weather forecast for 3 days ahead Weather report	Last snow
Abondance					0 cm	Heavy rain (total 34.0mm), heaviest during Sun morning
Abries-Ristolas					33 cm	A heavy fall of snow, heaviest during Sat night. Becoming milder with light rain (total 3.0mm) on Sun afternoon
Aillons-Margeriaz					0 cm	Heavy rain (total 20.0mm), heaviest during Sat night
Albiez-Montrond					12 cm	Mild with moderate rain (total 13.0mm) on Sat afternoon, Becoming colder with a light covering of snow, mostly falling on Sat night
Alpe d'Huez					19 cm	A moderate fall of snow, heaviest on Sat night
Alpe du Grand-Serre					11 cm	Heavy rain (total 21.0mm), mainly falling Sat night. Becoming colder with a light covering of snow, mostly falling on Sat night
Ancelle					0 cm	Heavy rain (total 31.0mm), heaviest during Sat night
Annecy-LeSemnoz					1 cm	Heavy rain (total 21.0mm), heaviest during Sat night. Later becoming colder with a dusting of snow on Sun morning
Arêches-Beaufort					2 cm	Heavy rain (total 27.0mm), heaviest during Sat night. Later becoming colder with a dusting of snow on Sun morning
Argentiere		270 cm 0 cm	Closed	Powder	25 cm	Light rain (total 2.0mm) on Sat afternoon. Becoming colder with heavy fall of snow, heaviest during Sun morning Strong winds have led to the closure of all lifts	0 cm on 17 May
Artouste					12 cm	A light covering of new snow, mostly falling on Sat afternoon. Becoming milder with light rain (total 6.0mm) on Sun afternoon
Arvieux en Queyras					28 cm	A light fall of snow, heaviest on Sat night. Turning milder with light rain (total 5.0mm) on Sun afternoon
Auris En Oisans					27 cm	A moderate fall of snow, heaviest on Sat night
Auron					34 cm	A heavy fall of snow, heaviest during Sat night. Becoming milder with moderate rain (total 10.0mm) on Sun afternoon
Aussois					26 cm	A moderate fall of snow, heaviest on Sat night. Becoming mild with drizzle, on Mon afternoon
Autrans					0 cm	Heavy rain (total 44.0mm), heaviest during Sat night
Avoriaz					12 cm	Moderate rain (total 10.0mm), heaviest on Sat night giving way to a moderate fall of snow, heaviest on Sun morning
Ax-les-Thermes					26 cm	A heavy fall of snow, heaviest during Sun night. Becoming milder with light rain (total 7.0mm) on Mon night
Ballon d' Alsace					0 cm	Heavy rain (total 33.0mm), heaviest during Tue morning
Bareges & La Mongie					15 cm	A moderate fall of snow, heaviest on Sat afternoon
Bellefontaine					0 cm	Heavy rain (total 42.0mm), heaviest during Sat night
Bellevaux					0 cm	Heavy rain (total 26.0mm), heaviest during Sat night
Bernex					3 cm	Heavy rain (total 20.0mm), heaviest during Sat night. Later becoming colder with a dusting of snow on Sun morning
Bessans Val D'Arc					30 cm	A heavy fall of snow, heaviest during Sat night. Becoming milder with light rain (total 5.0mm) on Sun afternoon
Besse Super Besse					0 cm	Moderate rain (total 10.0mm) heaviest on Sat afternoon, then becoming colder with a dusting of snow on Sun morning
Beuil Les Launes					0 cm	Heavy rain (total 63.0mm), heaviest during Sat night
Bolquere Pyrenees 2000					36 cm	A heavy fall of snow, heaviest during Sun night. Becoming milder with heavy rain (total 24.0mm) on Mon night
Bonneval sur Arc					37 cm	A heavy fall of snow, heaviest during Sat night
Bozel					0 cm	Heavy rain (total 37.0mm), heaviest during Sat night
Bramans					0 cm	Heavy rain (total 45.0mm), heaviest during Sat night
Briancon					18 cm	Moderate rain (total 15.0mm), heaviest on Sat afternoon giving way to a moderate fall of snow, heaviest on Sat night
Brides Les Bains					1 cm	Heavy rain (total 28.0mm), heaviest during Sat night. Later becoming colder with a dusting of snow on Sun morning
Bussang					0 cm	Heavy rain (total 34.0mm), heaviest during Tue morning
Camurac					7 cm	Heavy rain (total 38.0mm), mainly falling Sat afternoon. Becoming colder with a light covering of snow, mostly falling on Mon morning
Cauterets					14 cm	A moderate fall of snow, heaviest on Sat afternoon
Ceillac en Queyras					29 cm	A heavy fall of snow, heaviest during Sat night. Becoming milder with light rain (total 2.0mm) on Mon afternoon
Ceuze Gap					1 cm	Heavy rain (total 27.0mm), heaviest during Sat night
Chaillol 1600					2 cm	Heavy rain (total 25.0mm), heaviest during Sat night. Later becoming colder with a dusting of snow on Sat night
Chalmazel					0 cm	Moderate rain (total 14.0mm), heaviest on Sat afternoon
Chamonix		260 cm 0 cm	Spring snow	Spring snow	28 cm	A heavy fall of snow, heaviest during Sun morning Cloudy today, rain/snow possible	5 cm on 20 Apr
Champagny					24 cm	A moderate fall of snow, heaviest on Sat night
Chamrousse					12 cm	Mild with moderate rain (total 15.0mm) on Sat night, Becoming colder with a light covering of snow, mostly falling on Sat night
Chastreix-Sancy					0 cm	Moderate rain (total 17.0mm), heaviest on Sat afternoon
Chatel					14 cm	Moderate rain (total 10.0mm), heaviest on Sat night giving way to a moderate fall of snow, heaviest on Sun morning
Col d' Ornon					0 cm	Heavy rain (total 37.0mm), heaviest during Sat night
Col de Rousset					0 cm	Heavy rain (total 51.0mm), heaviest during Sat night
Combloux					0 cm	Heavy rain (total 39.0mm), heaviest during Sat night
Correncon en Vercors					0 cm	Heavy rain (total 48.0mm), heaviest during Sat night
Courchevel					19 cm	Mild at first with light rain (total 4.0mm) on Sat afternoon followed by colder weather and light fall of snow, heaviest on Sat night
Crevoux					16 cm	Moderate rain (total 14.0mm), heaviest on Sat afternoon giving way to a moderate fall of snow, heaviest on Sat night
Dévoluy					17 cm	Mild at first with light rain (total 6.0mm) on Sat afternoon followed by colder weather and light fall of snow, heaviest on Sat night
Drouzin Le Mont					0 cm	Heavy rain (total 30.0mm), heaviest during Sun morning
Espace Cambre d'Aze (Eyne 2600)					47 cm	A heavy fall of snow, heaviest during Sun night
Flaine					19 cm	Drizzle on Sat afternoon followed by colder weather and a moderate fall of snow, heaviest on Sun morning
Flumet					0 cm	Heavy rain (total 31.0mm), heaviest during Sat night
Foncine Le Haut					0 cm	Heavy rain (total 45.0mm), heaviest during Sat night
Font Romeu					51 cm	A heavy fall of snow, heaviest during Sun night
Formigueres					40 cm	A heavy fall of snow, heaviest during Sun night
Gavarnie/Gèdre					16 cm	A moderate fall of snow, heaviest on Sat afternoon
Gérardmer					0 cm	Heavy rain (total 36.0mm), heaviest during Tue morning
Gourette					16 cm	A moderate fall of snow, heaviest on Sat afternoon
Greolieres Les Neiges					0 cm	Heavy rain (total 52.0mm), heaviest during Sat night
Gresse en Vercors					0 cm	Heavy rain (total 51.0mm), heaviest during Sat night
Guzet					6 cm	Heavy rain (total 22.0mm), heaviest during Sat afternoon. Later becoming colder with a dusting of snow on Mon morning
Hauteluce					0 cm	Heavy rain (total 35.0mm), heaviest during Sat night
Isola 2000					38 cm	A heavy fall of snow, heaviest during Sat night