Chalmazel
1,449 mVillage altitude
1,583 mTop of the ski area
11 kmAlpine pistes
9Ski lifts
Not published by any source: adult day pass.
Chalmazel or Chalmazel – Pierre-sur-Haute is a winter sports resort located in the Massif Central, within the commune of Chalmazel-Jeansagnière in the Loire department of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. Its alpine ski area stretches from 1,109 to 1,600 meters above sea level on the slopes of Pierre-sur-Haute, the highest point of the Monts du Forez, between the forest and the wild high moors.
Live webcams
All webcams (3) →L’espace apprentissageWebcam-HD
L’arrivée du télésiège des JasseriesWebcam-HD
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 12 September 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 COL DE LA LOGE_SAPC station (1,261 m)
Source: Météo-France, COL DE LA LOGE_SAPC weather station, 9.4 km away. Hourly measurement — not the resort’s own snow report.
3-day forecast
Village 1,449 m · top 1,583 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: 1,583 m · Bottom of the pistes: 1,109 m · Days above 30 cm, December to March, model: 1%
- Ski areaIs there enough to ski all week?3 / 5
Km of pistes at the resort: 11 km · Lifts: 9 · Balance between piste levels: 98%
- 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?1.5 / 5
Share of green and blue pistes: 41% · Magic carpets: 1 · Sledging runs: 0 · ESF ski school · Ice rink, pool, rail sledge…: 0
- AccessIs it easy to get to?2.5 / 5
Average drive time from 20 major cities: 4 hr 32 · Nearest railway station: 49 min · Station-to-resort shuttles per day: 0 · Nearest airport: 1 hr 49
- Atmosphere and après-skiIs there life in the evening and off the slopes?2.5 / 5
Bars and pubs: 1 · Nightclubs: 0 · Restaurants: 2 · Upcoming events: 1 · 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 · 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).
17 pistes, by level
4 green3 blue6 red4 black
- Skiable vertical
- 474 m
- Cross-country skiing
- 11 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 20262 kmLongest piste — Les Jasseries (red), 352 m of vertical
352 mBiggest vertical without changing piste — 1,461 → 1,109 m, 2 km
1,583 mHighest lift top — Les CIMES (drag lift), national lift register
7,333Total lift capacity, people per hour — 9 installations: 1 chairlift, 7 drag lifts, 1 magic carpet
31 yrsAverage age of the lift fleet — oldest 1964, newest 2010
1,800Biggest lift, people per hour — Jasserie (detachable chairlift, 2002)
7 kmTotal length of lifts — 8 lifts mapped
219 haSki area boundary (OSM)
457Inhabitants — Chalmazel-Jeansagnière (INSEE 42039)
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 Chalmazel only (“CHALMAZEL”), magic carpets included.
Staying and hiring gear in Chalmazel
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.
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 Chalmazel
Museum
- Musée du fixé sous verre · Job · 6.9 km away
- Musée de la Fourme et des Traditions · Sauvain · 7.4 km away
- Jasserie-musée du Coq Noir · Saint-Anthème · 9.2 km away
Cinema
- Gare de L'Utopie · Vertolaye · 8.6 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
Tourist office
Office de tourisme
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 →Ski touring routes described
1 ski touring route documented within 10 km of Chalmazel — up to 1,025 m of climb.
| Summit and route | Ski grade | Climb | Altitude | Aspect | From resort |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pierre sur Haute · Crête de Pierre-sur-Haute (Haut Forez) | n/a · F | 1,025 m | 1,110 → 1,634 m | NE | 1.1 km |
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
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 Chalmazel
From Paris: 5 hr 53 (510 km) by road.
By road
- From Saint-Étienne: 1 hr 36 · 86 km
- From Clermont-Ferrand: 1 hr 44 · 101 km
- From Lyon: 2 hr 06 · 128 km
- From Valence: 2 hr 58 · 204 km
- From Grenoble: 3 hr 16 · 230 km
From other major cities (15)
- From Chambéry: 3 hr 18 · 226 km
- From Annecy: 3 hr 37 · 264 km
- From Dijon: 3 hr 43 · 296 km
- From Genève: 3 hr 44 · 283 km
- From Besançon: 4 hr 19 · 354 km
- From Montpellier: 4 hr 55 · 380 km
- From Marseille: 5 hr 06 · 415 km
- From Bordeaux: 5 hr 42 · 491 km
- From Toulouse: 5 hr 47 · 495 km
- From Nancy: 5 hr 50 · 507 km
- From Perpignan: 5 hr 50 · 481 km
- From Paris: 5 hr 53 · 510 km
- From Strasbourg: 6 hr 42 · 592 km
- From Nice: 6 hr 44 · 573 km
- From Pau: 7 hr 43 · 686 km
Excluding traffic and winter conditions; passes closed in winter are avoided.
By train
Boën-sur-Lignon station
halt · then 49 min drive (30 km)
Nearest main station: Saint-Étienne Châteaucreux, 1 hr 35 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
- Clermont-Ferrand Auvergne (CFE): 1 hr 49 by road · 98 km
- Lyon-Saint-Exupéry (LYS): 2 hr 26 by road · 167 km
Take me there
These links open the app with Chalmazel 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.
Introduction from the English Wikipedia article (CC BY-SA).
Frequently asked questions
How high is Chalmazel?
Chalmazel sits at 1,449 m at village level, and its ski area rises to 1,583 m.
How many kilometres of pistes does Chalmazel have?
Chalmazel has 11 km of slopes, 9 lifts.
What is the longest piste in Chalmazel?
The longest piste is Les Jasseries: 2 km (red run), for 352 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 Chalmazel?
The highest lift, Les CIMES (drag lift), tops out at 1,583 m. Source: STRMTG, French national register of mechanical lifts (CAIRN database), file dated 1 January 2025.
How many lifts does Chalmazel have, and what is their capacity?
The French national register of mechanical lifts records 9 installations at Chalmazel (1 chairlift, 7 drag lifts, 1 magic carpet), for an authorised capacity of 7,333 people per hour, of which 1,800 for Jasserie alone. The fleet spans 1964 to 2010, an average age of 31 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 Chalmazel?
By road, Chalmazel is 1 hr 36 from Saint-Étienne (86 km), excluding traffic and winter conditions. By train, the nearest station is Boën-sur-Lignon, 49 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 Clermont-Ferrand Auvergne, 1 hr 49 away.
How long is the drive from Paris to Chalmazel?
5 hr 53 for 510 km from central Paris, excluding traffic and winter conditions. Computed on the real road network (OpenStreetMap): allow more on a school-holiday Saturday.
Is Chalmazel good for beginners and families?
41% of the pistes are green or blue: a rather technical 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. Chalmazel in French →
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