Issarbe
1,500 mVillage altitude
Not published by any source: top of the ski area, km of alpine pistes, ski lifts, adult day pass.
The Issarbe ski resort is a cross-country ski resort of the Pyrenees in the département of Pyrénées-Atlantiques in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region. It is located approximately 35 km from Oloron-Sainte-Marie and 70 km from Pau.
Live webcams
Issarbe publishes no public webcam (checked on 12 September 2026 on its website, its tourist office and the operators’ directories). Know of one? Tell us.
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.
Avalanche danger
Natural snow is low on average: skiing depends on snowmaking and good years. 33 days a winter at 30 cm or more on average, and 290 cm of fresh snow, measured over 21 winters at the Météo-France “Iraty” station. Fortnight by fortnight, over 21 measured winters →
3-day forecast
Village 1,500 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?n/a
Not rated: neither the resort nor the map gives the length of its pistes.
- 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?n/a
Not rated: the map does not grade its pistes by difficulty.
- AccessIs it easy to get to?1.5 / 5
Average drive time from 20 major cities: 8 hr 22 · Nearest railway station: 55 min · Station-to-resort shuttles per day: 0 · Nearest airport: 1 hr 50
- Atmosphere and après-skiIs there life in the evening and off the slopes?1.5 / 5
Bars and pubs: 1 · Nightclubs: 0 · Restaurants: 1 · 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 · 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).
Staying and hiring gear in Issarbe
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 Issarbe
Toboggan runs
- Espace nordique d'Issarbe · Lanne-en-Barétous · 0.6 km away
- Espace nordique de La Pierre Saint-Martin · Arette · 6.1 km away
- Station de ski La Pierre Saint-Martin · Arette · 6.4 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 →Ski touring routes described
8 ski touring routes documented within 10 km of Issarbe — up to 1,500 m of climb.
| Summit and route | Ski grade | Climb | Altitude | Aspect | From resort |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pic d'Arlas · Depuis la Pierre Saint Martin | n/a · E1 · PD | 400 m | 1,650 → 2,044 m | N | 6.6 km |
| Pic Lakhoura · Face E | n/a · E2 · PD+ | 620 m | 1,440 → 1,877 m | NE | 7.5 km |
| Pic du Soum Couy · Depuis la Pierre Saint Martin | n/a · E1 · PD | 665 m | 1,650 → 2,315 m | N | 7.9 km |
| Pic d'Anie · Depuis la Pierre Saint Martin | 4.2 · E1 · D- | 900 m | 1,690 → 2,504 m | W · SW | 8.4 km |
The other 4 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 ↗
Getting to Issarbe
From Paris: 9 hr 42 (857 km) by road.
By road
- From Pau: 1 hr 33 · 69 km
- From Toulouse: 3 hr 43 · 264 km
- From Bordeaux: 3 hr 49 · 279 km
- From Perpignan: 5 hr 33 · 459 km
- From Montpellier: 6 hr 01 · 494 km
From other major cities (15)
- From Clermont-Ferrand: 7 hr 36 · 632 km
- From Marseille: 7 hr 41 · 657 km
- From Valence: 7 hr 51 · 692 km
- From Grenoble: 8 hr 48 · 783 km
- From Lyon: 8 hr 58 · 791 km
- From Saint-Étienne: 9 hr 01 · 670 km
- From Nice: 9 hr 19 · 815 km
- From Chambéry: 9 hr 33 · 842 km
- From Paris: 9 hr 42 · 857 km
- From Annecy: 9 hr 58 · 901 km
- From Genève: 10 hr 28 · 939 km
- From Dijon: 10 hr 31 · 928 km
- From Besançon: 11 hr 07 · 987 km
- From Nancy: 12 hr 38 · 1139 km
- From Strasbourg: 13 hr 30 · 1224 km
Excluding traffic and winter conditions; passes closed in winter are avoided.
By train
Lurbe-Saint-Christau station
halt · then 55 min drive (37 km)
Nearest main station: Pau, 1 hr 33 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
- Pau-Pyrénées (PUF): 1 hr 50 by road · 78 km
- Tarbes-Lourdes-Pyrénées (LDE): 2 hr 08 by road · 114 km
Take me there
These links open the app with Issarbe 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 Issarbe?
Issarbe sits at 1,500 m at village level.
How do I get to Issarbe?
By road, Issarbe is 1 hr 33 from Pau (69 km), excluding traffic and winter conditions. By train, the nearest station is Lurbe-Saint-Christau, 55 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 Pau-Pyrénées, 1 hr 50 away.
How long is the drive from Paris to Issarbe?
9 hr 42 for 857 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 Issarbe?
Natural snow is low on average: skiing depends on snowmaking and good years. 33 days a winter at 30 cm or more on average, and 290 cm of fresh snow, measured over 21 winters at the Météo-France “Iraty” station. This verdict rests on 21 winters of Météo-France measurements (1997-2019); in season the daily report prevails.
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. Issarbe in French →
Every figure carries its source and date; a missing figure shows as “—”, never estimated. Embed this widget on your site