Hautes-Alpes snow forecast

Skiing in Hautes-Alpes

The Hautes-Alpes area covers the southern French Alps around Briançon, where the weather is often sunnier than further north and the resorts are generally quieter. It has two sections: the Briançonnais and the Vallouise and Guillestrois.

Serre Chevalier is the big resort here, with around 250 km of pistes spread along the valley from Briançon at 1,200 m through Chantemerle, Villeneuve and Le Monêtier-les-Bains, up to about 2,750 m. Much of the skiing is north-facing and the tree line is higher than in the northern Alps, so the larch-wooded lower slopes give good shelter and visibility in bad weather. La Grave, 25 minutes away over the Col du Lautaret, is different: a cable car rises to about 3,200 m, and apart from a couple of groomed routes on the Girose glacier the whole mountain is unpatrolled off-piste, for experienced skiers only, ideally with a guide.

Puy-Saint-Vincent, in the Vallouise at the edge of the Écrins National Park, skis from about 1,400 m to 2,750 m and is a quieter, good-value family choice. Risoul, at 1,850 m, links with Vars as La Forêt Blanche, about 185 km of mainly intermediate pistes between about 1,650 m and 2,750 m.

The main season runs from mid-December to April. Briançon has a railway station with a night train from Paris, and Turin airport is usually closest, about 1h30 to 2 hours by road.