Gavarnie-Gèdre
Off season · opens 19 December 20261,812 mVillage altitude
2,282 mTop of the ski area
20 kmAlpine pistes
8Ski lifts
€34Adult day pass · 2026-2027
Gavarnie-Gèdre, or Gavarnie-les Espécières, is a winter sports resort in the Pyrénées located in the commune of Gavarnie-Gèdre in the département of Hautes-Pyrénées, in the Occitanie region. It is part of the STEM International group. A high-altitude resort, it is renowned for its quality of snow, which is always fresh and natural[citation needed].
Live webcams
All webcams (3) →WebcamViewsurf
WebcamViewsurf
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.
Snow, opening and weather
Snow report →The domain is due to open on 19 December 2026 and close on 14 March 2027. Open pistes and lifts will appear here as soon as the resort publishes its daily report.
Avalanche danger
Good snow from mid-January to mid-March. 105 days a winter at 30 cm or more on average, and 536 cm of fresh snow, measured over 14 winters at the Météo-France “Piau” station. Fortnight by fortnight, over 14 measured winters →
3-day forecast
Village 1,812 m · top 2,282 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?3.5 / 5
Top of the ski area: 2,282 m · Bottom of the pistes: 1,820 m · Days above 30 cm per winter, measured: 105 days · Days above 30 cm, December to March, model: 62%
- Ski areaIs there enough to ski all week?3 / 5
Km of pistes at the resort: 20 km · Lifts: 8 · Balance between piste levels: 98%
- ValueIs the lift pass reasonable for what you get?3 / 5
Adult day pass: €34 · Day pass price per km of pistes: €1.7/km
- Families and beginnersIs it right for children and beginners?2 / 5
Share of green and blue pistes: 56% · Magic carpets: 0 · Sledging runs: 0 · Special prices out of 4 (beginner, child, family, free age): 2 · ESF ski school · Ice rink, pool, rail sledge…: 0
- AccessIs it easy to get to?2 / 5
Average drive time from 20 major cities: 7 hr 46 · Nearest railway station: 58 min · Station-to-resort shuttles per day: 0 · Nearest airport: 1 hr 12
- Atmosphere and après-skiIs there life in the evening and off the slopes?2.5 / 5
Bars and pubs: 4 · Nightclubs: 0 · Restaurants: 10 · 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
5-star hotels: 0 · 4-star hotels: 0 · Share of hotel rooms in 4 and 5 stars: 8% · Spas and saunas: 0 · Jewellers, watchmakers, fashion boutiques: 0 · Adult day pass: €34 — 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).
Lift passes 2026-2027
All prices (child, family, season) →€390 Season€29 Child, 1 day
Read on the official price list, full price, excluding promotions. 2026-2027 season. Official price list ↗
27 pistes, by level
6 green9 blue7 red5 black
- Skiable vertical
- 462 m
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 — Iris (blue), 204 m of vertical
395 mBiggest vertical without changing piste — 2,233 → 1,838 m, 1 km
2,282 mHighest lift top — Pic Des Tentes (chairlift), national lift register
6,157Total lift capacity, people per hour — 8 installations: 2 chairlifts, 6 drag lifts
45 yrsAverage age of the lift fleet — oldest 1971, newest 1991
1,070Biggest lift, people per hour — Pic Des Tentes (chairlift, 1986)
7 kmTotal length of lifts — 11 lifts mapped
114 haSki area boundary (OSM)
340Inhabitants — Gavarnie-Gèdre (INSEE 65192)
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 Gavarnie-Gèdre only (“GAVARNIE”), magic carpets included.
Staying and hiring gear in Gavarnie-Gèdre
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
- 6 hotels · 98 rooms (1 × 4★, 1 × 3★, 2 × 2★)
- 4 campsites · 187 pitches
Commune: Gavarnie-Gèdre · 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.
Ski hire
Skiset UK
Skiset’s UK site: ski hire in the resort shops, booked in English, paid in pounds.
Gear & equipment
Absolute Snow
UK ski and snowboard shop — delivers to UK addresses only.
Hardloop
Mountain gear shop: ski touring, avalanche safety, winter clothing.
Ski schools and practical information
Ski school
ESF Gavarnie
9 instructors
🇬🇧 3 English-speaking instructors — lessons in English available
🗓️ This school sells its lessons online — book ↗
Source: esf.net
Tourist office
Informations/Billetterie
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: Desman
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 Gavarnie-Gèdre — up to 1,155 m of climb.
| Summit and route | Ski grade | Climb | Altitude | Aspect | From resort |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pic Mourgat · Face NE | 3.2 · E1 · AD- | 370 m | 1,830 → 2,101 m | NE | 0.7 km |
| Pic Mourgat · Cheminée S | 4.3 · D+ | 265 m | 1,840 → 2,101 m | S · SW | 0.7 km |
| Pic de Lary · Face W | 3.3 · E1 · PD- | 740 m | 1,720 → 2,350 m | W | 0.9 km |
| Pic des Tentes · Depuis les Especières | n/a · PD | 522 m | 1,800 → 2,322 m | NW | 0.9 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 Gavarnie-Gèdre
From Paris: 9 hr 38 (883 km) by road.
By road
- From Pau: 1 hr 44 · 96 km
- From Toulouse: 3 hr 00 · 233 km
- From Bordeaux: 3 hr 45 · 306 km
- From Perpignan: 4 hr 50 · 428 km
- From Montpellier: 5 hr 18 · 463 km
From other major cities (15)
- From Clermont-Ferrand: 6 hr 53 · 602 km
- From Marseille: 6 hr 58 · 626 km
- From Valence: 7 hr 08 · 661 km
- From Grenoble: 8 hr 05 · 753 km
- From Lyon: 8 hr 15 · 760 km
- From Saint-Étienne: 8 hr 18 · 639 km
- From Nice: 8 hr 36 · 784 km
- From Chambéry: 8 hr 50 · 811 km
- From Annecy: 9 hr 15 · 870 km
- From Paris: 9 hr 38 · 883 km
- From Genève: 9 hr 45 · 908 km
- From Dijon: 9 hr 48 · 898 km
- From Besançon: 10 hr 24 · 956 km
- From Nancy: 11 hr 55 · 1108 km
- From Strasbourg: 12 hr 47 · 1194 km
Excluding traffic and winter conditions; passes closed in winter are avoided.
By train
Lourdes station
main station, high-speed trains · then 58 min drive (56 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
- Tarbes-Lourdes-Pyrénées (LDE): 1 hr 12 by road · 68 km
- Pau-Pyrénées (PUF): 1 hr 50 by road · 105 km
Take me there
These links open the app with Gavarnie-Gèdre as the destination. Your starting point is never sent by us — the app asks you for it, if you agree.
Charging an electric car
1 charging station within 2 km
2 charging points · up to 44 kW
- FR-S65-E65188-001 · Load Stations · 2 points · 44 kW · 1.7 km
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 Gavarnie-Gèdre?
Gavarnie-Gèdre sits at 1,812 m at village level, and its ski area rises to 2,282 m.
How many kilometres of pistes does Gavarnie-Gèdre have?
Gavarnie-Gèdre has 20 km of slopes, 8 lifts.
What is the longest piste in Gavarnie-Gèdre?
The longest piste is Iris: 2 km (blue run), for 204 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 Gavarnie-Gèdre?
The highest lift, Pic Des Tentes (chairlift), tops out at 2,282 m. Source: STRMTG, French national register of mechanical lifts (CAIRN database), file dated 1 January 2025.
How many lifts does Gavarnie-Gèdre have, and what is their capacity?
The French national register of mechanical lifts records 8 installations at Gavarnie-Gèdre (2 chairlifts, 6 drag lifts), for an authorised capacity of 6,157 people per hour, of which 1,070 for Pic Des Tentes alone. The fleet spans 1971 to 1991, an average age of 45 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 much is a lift pass in Gavarnie-Gèdre?
The adult day pass costs €34 (2026-2027 season, read on the official price list).
How do I get to Gavarnie-Gèdre?
By road, Gavarnie-Gèdre is 1 hr 44 from Pau (96 km), excluding traffic and winter conditions. By train, the nearest station is Lourdes (main station, high-speed trains), 58 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 Tarbes-Lourdes-Pyrénées, 1 hr 12 away.
How long is the drive from Paris to Gavarnie-Gèdre?
9 hr 38 for 883 km from central Paris, excluding traffic and winter conditions. Computed on the real road network (OpenStreetMap): allow more on a school-holiday Saturday.
When does Gavarnie-Gèdre open?
According to the official website, the resort opens on 19 December 2026 and closes on 14 March 2027 (2026-2027 season).
Is the snow reliable in Gavarnie-Gèdre?
Good snow from mid-January to mid-March. 105 days a winter at 30 cm or more on average, and 536 cm of fresh snow, measured over 14 winters at the Météo-France “Piau” station. This verdict rests on 14 winters of Météo-France measurements (1992-2022); in season the daily report prevails.
Is Gavarnie-Gèdre good for beginners and families?
56% 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. Gavarnie-Gèdre in French →
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