Ballon d'Alsace
1,104 mVillage altitude
1,150 mTop of the ski area
8 kmAlpine pistes
11Ski lifts
Not published by any source: adult day pass.
Ballon d'Alsace is a ski resort in the Vosges (Territoire de Belfort), in the commune of Sewen. The village sits at 1,104 m and the ski area rises to 1,150 m, a skiable vertical of 328 m.
Live webcams
All webcams (3) →Sommet TéléskiSkaping
Front de NeigeSkaping
Each player is the camera operator’s own, loaded only when you ask for it — it may set its own trackers.
Official players of the resort, live image. Checked on 15 October 2026.
Snow, opening and weather
Snow report →Open pistes and lifts will appear here during the season, as published by the resort. Out of season we show nothing rather than a misleading zero.
Right now at the BALLON DE SERVANCE station (1,213 m)
Source: Météo-France, BALLON DE SERVANCE weather station, 5.3 km away. Hourly measurement — not the resort’s own snow report.
Snow cover varies from one winter to the next — the best time runs from mid-February to mid-March. 43 days a winter at 30 cm or more on average, and 282 cm of fresh snow, measured over 10 winters at the Météo-France “LA PLANCHE” station. Fortnight by fortnight, over 10 measured winters →
3-day forecast
Village 1,104 m · top 1,150 m
Forecast corrected for altitude; fresh snow = forecast total at the top; UV = peak of the day. Beyond 3 days, check the resort’s own report. Source:Open-Meteo.
Seven criteria rated from 1 to 5 stars, in half-stars, from this page's sourced data. A rating is a rank among the 315 French resorts we cover — 5 stars means “among the best in France on this point”, not “perfect”. Nobody types these in.
- SnowCan you count on the snow?1.5 / 5
Top of the ski area: 1,150 m · Bottom of the pistes: 822 m · Days above 30 cm per winter, measured: 43 days · Days above 30 cm, December to March, model: 1%
- Ski areaIs there enough to ski all week?2.5 / 5
Km of pistes at the resort: 8 km · Lifts: 11 · Balance between piste levels: 96%
- ValueIs the lift pass reasonable for what you get?n/a
Not rated: no official price list could be found.
- Families and beginnersIs it right for children and beginners?2 / 5
Share of green and blue pistes: 61% · Magic carpets: 0 · Sledging runs: 0 · ESF ski school · Ice rink, pool, rail sledge…: 0
- AccessIs it easy to get to?2 / 5
Average drive time from 20 major cities: 5 hr 46 · Nearest railway station: 38 min · Station-to-resort shuttles per day: 0 · Nearest airport: 1 hr 16
- Atmosphere and après-skiIs there life in the evening and off the slopes?1.5 / 5
Bars and pubs: 0 · Nightclubs: 0 · Restaurants: 8 · Upcoming events: 0 · Collective tourist beds: 0 — index: what the map and the listings publish
- Luxury and comfortHow upmarket is the resort?1 / 5
5-star hotels: 0 · 4-star hotels: 0 · Share of hotel rooms in 4 and 5 stars: 0% · Spas and saunas: 0 · Jewellers, watchmakers, fashion boutiques: 0 — index: what the map and the listings publish
“Atmosphere” and “Luxury” are indexes: they count what OpenStreetMap and the event listings publish within 2.5 km (bars, nightclubs, rated hotels, spas, upcoming events), not what you experience there. A zero means “nothing mapped”, not “nothing there”. Sources per criterion: snow (altitudes declared by the resort (ANMSM, official website), STRMTG register, OpenStreetMap; snow depth observed at the Météo-France station, ERA5-Land model) ; ski area (figures declared by the resort (ANMSM, official website), national lift register (STRMTG), OpenStreetMap) ; value (the resort’s official price list) ; families and beginners (OpenStreetMap pistes, price list, ESF ski school, Famille Plus label, OpenStreetMap leisure) ; access (OSRM drive times from 20 cities, SNCF stations, GTFS shuttles, airports) ; atmosphere and après-ski (bars, nightclubs and restaurants within 2.5 km (OpenStreetMap), upcoming events (OpenAgenda), collective tourist beds (INSEE)) ; luxury and comfort (rated hotels within 2.5 km (OpenStreetMap) and by category across the commune (INSEE), spas and boutiques (OpenStreetMap), day pass price).
18 pistes, by level
7 green4 blue4 red3 black
- Skiable vertical
- 328 m
- Cross-country skiing
- 2 km of nordic trails
Ski-area figures — bottom, km of pistes, pistes by level: OpenStreetMap (1 Oct); top, lifts: STRMTG — French national lift register (1 Jan) .
The ski area in figures
Measured on 7 October 20261 kmLongest piste — Grand Langenberg (black), 280 m of vertical
280 mBiggest vertical without changing piste — 1,096 → 816 m, 1 km
1,150 mHighest lift top — Chaumière (Mannheimer) (platter lift), national lift register
8,885Total lift capacity, people per hour — 11 installations: 11 drag lifts
42 yrsAverage age of the lift fleet — oldest 1962, newest 2011
1,500Biggest lift, people per hour — Chamois (rope tow, 2011)
5 kmTotal length of lifts — 13 lifts mapped
81 haSki area boundary (OSM)
480Inhabitants — Sewen (INSEE 68307)
Measured on OpenStreetMap (altitudes: IGN RGE ALTI), not taken from the brochure. The vertical above is that of one piste, not of the whole ski area. Population: INSEE municipal population via geo.api.gouv.fr.
Source: national register of mechanical lifts (STRMTG, CAIRN), fleet as of 1 January 2025 — lifts attributed to Ballon d'Alsace only (“BALLON D'ALSACE”), magic carpets included.
Staying and hiring gear in Ballon d'Alsace
The partners covering this resort, shown side by side, and the shop to kit out before you leave. Some links earn us a commission — never at the expense of the price or of the data.
Collective accommodation
- 1 hotel · 16 rooms (1 × 3★)
Commune: Sewen · INSEE tourist accommodation survey, 2026, read on 12 September 2026. Collective accommodation only — privately let flats and second homes are not counted. INSEE dataset ↗
Stay & accommodation
Holidu
Holiday-rental comparison site.
Gear & equipment
Absolute Snow
UK ski and snowboard shop — delivers to UK addresses only.
Hardloop
Mountain gear shop: ski touring, avalanche safety, winter clothing.
Beyond skiing at Ballon d'Alsace
Toboggan runs
- Piste de luge - au Langenberg · Sewen · 0.2 km away
- Piste de luge - Col des Démineurs · Sewen · 2 km away
- Tubing ou descente en bouée · Plancher-les-Mines · 6.6 km away
- Station de La Planche des Belles Filles · Plancher-les-Mines · 6.8 km away
Swimming pool
- Piscine de plein air de Saint-Maurice sur Moselle · Saint-Maurice-sur-Moselle · 6 km away
Paragliding
- Ascension'aile Cumulus parapente · Bussang · 8.8 km away
Museum
- Maison de la nature des vosges saônoises · Haut-du-Them-Château-Lambert · 9 km away
- Musée départemental de la Montagne · Haut-du-Them-Château-Lambert · 9.1 km away
Source: DATAtourisme (open data), within 10 km of the resort; places in a large town of the valley are left out. Checked on 12 September 2026. Opening times and prices are the operator’s — check before you go.
Ski schools and practical information
In case of accident
112 — the European emergency number, free of charge, triggers mountain rescue. On the pistes, the ski patrol number is printed on the piste map and at lift ticket offices. Piste rescue is charged: check your insurance or take the option sold with the lift pass.
Off the pistes: off-piste and ski touring
The resorts for off-piste skiing → 1 Marked off-piste itineraries · 1 km
— Ski touring routes
Named itineraries: Le trou de la chaudière
Itineraries surveyed on OpenStreetMap within a 4 km radius (7 September 2026): “marked” means an itinerary exists on the map, not that it is open or safe on the day.
Ski touring routes described
7 ski touring routes documented within 10 km of Ballon d'Alsace — up to 3,800 m of climb.
| Summit and route | Ski grade | Climb | Altitude | Aspect | From resort |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ballon d'Alsace · Danielus Road | n/a · PD+ | 1,600 m | 600 → 1,247 m | n/a | 1.8 km |
| Ballon d'Alsace · Tricotage au Ballon d'Alsace | 2.3 · F+ | 820 m | 850 → 1,247 m | NW · N | 1.8 km |
| Ballon d'Alsace · "Marcus Road" | 2.3 · PD+ | 820 m | 780 → 1,247 m | W | 1.8 km |
| Tête des Perches · par le lac des Perches | 2.1 · E1 · PD- | 612 m | 610 → 1,222 m | S | 6.9 km |
The other 3 routes, with grades and vertical →
Not a piste. Neither marked, nor patrolled, nor secured: transceiver, shovel, probe, the day’s avalanche bulletin and, better still, a guide. Ski grade (1.1–5.6) = steepness and commitment; exposure (E1–E4) = consequence of a fall.
Source: Camptocamp.org topo guide (CC BY-SA), routes starting within 10 km, read on 13 October 2026. Descriptions and photos are on Camptocamp; an empty cell is a field nobody has filled in. Camptocamp ski touring routes ↗
Piste map
Open on OpenSnowMap ↗Official piste map
Open the piste map (PDF, 3.5 MB) ↗
Link to the resort’s own file — a piste map is a copyrighted artwork, we host no copy.
Pistes coloured by level, lifts as lines. The resort’s official map is the reference in season.
Base map © OpenTopoMap (CC-BY-SA) · pistes © OpenSnowMap (CC-BY-SA) · data ©OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
Getting to Ballon d'Alsace
From Paris: 5 hr 28 (459 km) by road.
By road
- From Besançon: 1 hr 53 · 128 km
- From Nancy: 1 hr 58 · 136 km
- From Strasbourg: 2 hr 13 · 154 km
- From Dijon: 2 hr 39 · 210 km
- From Genève: 3 hr 58 · 259 km
From other major cities (15)
- From Lyon: 4 hr 16 · 369 km
- From Annecy: 4 hr 28 · 303 km
- From Chambéry: 4 hr 56 · 345 km
- From Grenoble: 5 hr 02 · 455 km
- From Saint-Étienne: 5 hr 04 · 428 km
- From Valence: 5 hr 21 · 468 km
- From Paris: 5 hr 28 · 459 km
- From Clermont-Ferrand: 5 hr 42 · 508 km
- From Montpellier: 7 hr 25 · 669 km
- From Marseille: 7 hr 30 · 679 km
- From Perpignan: 8 hr 46 · 817 km
- From Nice: 8 hr 54 · 732 km
- From Bordeaux: 9 hr 14 · 848 km
- From Toulouse: 9 hr 18 · 852 km
- From Pau: 11 hr 15 · 1044 km
Excluding traffic and winter conditions; passes closed in winter are avoided.
By train
Bas Évette station
halt · then 38 min drive (24 km)
Nearest main station: Méroux, 56 min by road.
No direct bus line from the station to the resort appears in the open-data timetables (checked on 11 October 2026): ask the resort about a private shuttle or a taxi.
Shuttles and buses from the station: see the resort’s official website.
By plane
- Bâle-Mulhouse (BSL): 1 hr 16 by road · 77 km
- Strasbourg-Entzheim (SXB): 2 hr 06 by road · 144 km
Take me there
These links open the app with Ballon d'Alsace as the destination. Your starting point is never sent by us — the app asks you for it, if you agree.
Charging an electric car
No freely accessible charge point is declared within 2 km of the resort (checked on 9 October 2026). Covered car parks in the resort may offer chargers reserved for their customers: those are not listed here.
Freely accessible charge points read from the French national EV charging database (data.gouv.fr ↗, operators’ own declarations), checked on 9 October 2026. Check availability before you leave: the database says what is installed, not what is free tonight.
Road conditions
From 1 November to 31 March, snow chains or winter tyres are compulsory in most mountain areas (French “Loi Montagne II”).
Driving times computed on the OpenStreetMap road network (OSRM), SNCF stations (open data), airports (Wikidata). Indicative, not a timetable: allow extra time in snow.
The area offers 8 km of alpine pistes, 18 marked pistes (7 green, 4 blue, 4 red, 3 black), 11 ski lifts. Green and blue runs dominate: terrain suited to beginners and families.
Measured on the OpenStreetMap map: the longest piste runs 1 km (Grand Langenberg) and the highest lift tops out at 1,150 m.
Access: 1 h 53 by road from Besançon and 38 min from Bas Évette railway station.
3 official webcams show the pistes live (on the French page).
Frequently asked questions
How high is Ballon d'Alsace?
Ballon d'Alsace sits at 1,104 m at village level, and its ski area rises to 1,150 m.
How many kilometres of pistes does Ballon d'Alsace have?
Ballon d'Alsace has 8 km of slopes, 11 lifts.
What is the longest piste in Ballon d'Alsace?
The longest piste is Grand Langenberg: 1 km (black run), for 280 m of vertical. Measured on the OpenStreetMap map, segments of the same name and level joined end to end, altitudes from the IGN RGE ALTI terrain model — a resort sometimes advertises a longer run by chaining several pistes.
How high do the lifts go in Ballon d'Alsace?
The highest lift, Chaumière (Mannheimer) (platter lift), tops out at 1,150 m. Source: STRMTG, French national register of mechanical lifts (CAIRN database), file dated 1 January 2025.
How many lifts does Ballon d'Alsace have, and what is their capacity?
The French national register of mechanical lifts records 11 installations at Ballon d'Alsace (11 drag lifts), for an authorised capacity of 8,885 people per hour, of which 1,500 for Chamois alone. The fleet spans 1962 to 2011, an average age of 42 years. This count covers the resort itself, magic carpets included, not the whole linked ski area — a resort brochure often announces a different number. Source: STRMTG, French national register of mechanical lifts (CAIRN database), file dated 1 January 2025.
How do I get to Ballon d'Alsace?
By road, Ballon d'Alsace is 1 hr 53 from Besançon (128 km), excluding traffic and winter conditions. By train, the nearest station is Bas Évette, 38 min by road from the resort. No direct bus line from the station to the resort appears in the open-data timetables. The nearest airport is Bâle-Mulhouse, 1 hr 16 away.
How long is the drive from Paris to Ballon d'Alsace?
5 hr 28 for 459 km from central Paris, excluding traffic and winter conditions. Computed on the real road network (OpenStreetMap): allow more on a school-holiday Saturday.
Is the snow reliable in Ballon d'Alsace?
Snow cover varies from one winter to the next — the best time runs from mid-February to mid-March. 43 days a winter at 30 cm or more on average, and 282 cm of fresh snow, measured over 10 winters at the Météo-France “LA PLANCHE” station. This verdict rests on 10 winters of Météo-France measurements (1989-2019); in season the daily report prevails.
Is Ballon d'Alsace good for beginners and families?
61% of the pistes are green or blue: a rather easy area.
Nearby resorts
Full page in French. The French page carries the editorial guides and a few extra readings; every figure, webcam and price on this page is the same one. Ballon d'Alsace in French →
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