Col de Plainpalais
1,173 mVillage altitude
34 kmAlpine pistes
16Ski lifts
Not published by any source: top of the ski area, adult day pass.
The Col de Plainpalais is a pass in France located in the massif des Bauges, in the Prealps.
Live webcams
All webcams (1) →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 16 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 FECLAZ_SAPC station (1,328 m)
Source: Météo-France, FECLAZ_SAPC weather station, 2.8 km away. Hourly measurement — not the resort’s own snow report.
Avalanche danger
3-day forecast
Village 1,173 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?n/a
Not rated: neither the resort nor the map gives the altitude of its highest point.
- Ski areaIs there enough to ski all week?3.5 / 5
Km of pistes at the resort: 34 km · Lifts: 16 · Balance between piste levels: 85%
- 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?3 / 5
Share of green and blue pistes: 73% · Magic carpets: 3 · Sledging runs: 2 · ESF ski school · Ice rink, pool, rail sledge…: 0
- AccessIs it easy to get to?3.5 / 5
Average drive time from 20 major cities: 3 hr 59 · Nearest railway station: 25 min · Station-to-resort shuttles per day: 0 · Nearest airport: 40 min
- Atmosphere and après-skiIs there life in the evening and off the slopes?1.5 / 5
Bars and pubs: 0 · Nightclubs: 0 · Restaurants: 0 · Upcoming events: 0 · Collective tourist beds: 933 — 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).
52 pistes, by level
10 green28 blue9 red5 black
- Lifts
- 2 chairlifts, 11 drag lifts, 3 magic carpets
- Cross-country skiing
- 70 km of nordic trails
- Snowpark
- Yes
Ski-area figures — km of pistes, lifts, pistes by level: OpenStreetMap (1 Oct) .
Staying and hiring gear in Col de Plainpalais
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
933 bed spaces in tourist residences, holiday villages and hostels
- 2 hotels · 45 rooms
- 2 tourist residences and apartment hotels · 933 bed spaces
Commune: Les Déserts · 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 Col de Plainpalais
Without skis on — 0 km of snowshoe and walking trails · 2 sledging runs
Toboggan runs
- Espace Luge au Revard - Luge en S · Les Déserts · 5 km away
Swimming pool
- Piscine municipale d'Aillons Margériaz · Aillon-le-Jeune · 7.9 km away
Dog sledding
- La Ferme des Chiens de Traîneaux des Aillons-Margériaz · Aillon-le-Jeune · 3.5 km away
Paragliding
- EPiC - L'École de Parapente de Chambéry · Bassens · 9.5 km away
- Aire de décollage de parapente du Mont-Morbié · Aillon-le-Jeune · 9.5 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
Ski school
ESF La Feclaz
67 instructors
🇬🇧 63 English-speaking instructors — lessons in English available
🗓️ This school sells its lessons online — book ↗
Source: esf.net
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 → 0 Marked off-piste itineraries
2 km Ski touring routes
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
12 ski touring routes documented within 10 km of Col de Plainpalais — up to 880 m of climb.
| Summit and route | Ski grade | Climb | Altitude | Aspect | From resort |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montagne de Lachat · Versant SE depuis Plainpalais | 1.1 · E1 | 250 m | 1,173 → 1,441 m | SE | 1 km |
| Mont Margeriaz · couloir N en Z | 4.2 · E2 · D | 600 m | 1,176 → 1,730 m | N · NE | 1.7 km |
| Mont Margeriaz · par les Crêtes | 1.2 · E1 · F | 445 m | 1,400 → 1,845 m | E | 1.7 km |
| Mont Margeriaz · Sentier des Tannes et Glacières | n/a · F | 450 m | 1,330 → 1,845 m | S | 2.4 km |
The other 8 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
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 Col de Plainpalais
From Paris: 6 hr 16 (588 km) by road.
By road
- From Chambéry: 27 min · 19 km
- From Annecy: 45 min · 37 km
- From Grenoble: 1 hr 01 · 72 km
- From Genève: 1 hr 15 · 77 km
- From Lyon: 1 hr 39 · 118 km
From other major cities (15)
- From Valence: 2 hr 04 · 165 km
- From Saint-Étienne: 2 hr 13 · 167 km
- From Dijon: 3 hr 31 · 319 km
- From Clermont-Ferrand: 3 hr 32 · 284 km
- From Besançon: 3 hr 35 · 250 km
- From Montpellier: 4 hr 11 · 369 km
- From Marseille: 4 hr 16 · 379 km
- From Strasbourg: 5 hr 30 · 467 km
- From Perpignan: 5 hr 33 · 517 km
- From Nancy: 5 hr 38 · 530 km
- From Nice: 5 hr 54 · 537 km
- From Paris: 6 hr 16 · 588 km
- From Toulouse: 6 hr 29 · 604 km
- From Bordeaux: 7 hr 30 · 673 km
- From Pau: 8 hr 23 · 794 km
Excluding traffic and winter conditions; passes closed in winter are avoided.
By train
Chambéry - Challes-les-Eaux station
main station, high-speed trains · then 25 min drive (18 km)
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
- Chambéry-Savoie (CMF): 40 min by road · 27 km
- Grenoble-Alpes-Isère (GNB): 1 hr 23 by road · 109 km
Take me there
These links open the app with Col de Plainpalais 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.
Translated from the French Wikipedia article (CC BY-SA), machine translation.
Frequently asked questions
How high is Col de Plainpalais?
Col de Plainpalais sits at 1,173 m at village level.
How many kilometres of pistes does Col de Plainpalais have?
Col de Plainpalais has 34 km of slopes, 16 lifts.
How do I get to Col de Plainpalais?
By road, Col de Plainpalais is 27 min from Chambéry (19 km), excluding traffic and winter conditions. By train, the nearest station is Chambéry - Challes-les-Eaux (main station, high-speed trains), 25 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 Chambéry-Savoie, 40 min away.
How long is the drive from Paris to Col de Plainpalais?
6 hr 16 for 588 km from central Paris, excluding traffic and winter conditions. Computed on the real road network (OpenStreetMap): allow more on a school-holiday Saturday.
Is Col de Plainpalais good for beginners and families?
73% 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. Col de Plainpalais in French →
Every figure carries its source and date; a missing figure shows as “—”, never estimated. Embed this widget on your site