La Garde
La Garde is a ski resort in the Northern Alps (Isère). The village sits at 715 m and the ski area rises to 2,112 m, a skiable vertical of 302 m.
The area offers 72 km of alpine pistes, 98 marked pistes (60 green, 18 blue, 16 red, 4 black), 34 ski lifts. Green and blue runs dominate: terrain suited to beginners and families.
La Garde belongs to the linked Alpe d'Huez Grand Domaine Ski area: one lift pass covers the neighbouring resorts.
Measured on the OpenStreetMap map: the longest piste runs 8 km (Sarenne) and the highest lift tops out at 3,304 m.
Access: 58 min by road from Grenoble and 40 min from Jarrie - Vizille railway station.
1 official webcam shows the pistes live (on the French page).
Seven criteria rated from 1 to 5 stars, in half-stars, from this page's sourced data. A rating is a rank among the 322 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
Top of the ski area: 2,112 m · Bottom of the pistes: 1,810 m · Days above 30 cm per winter, measured: 34 days · Days above 30 cm, December to March, model: 68%
- Ski areaIs there enough to ski all week?3.5 / 5
Km of pistes at the resort: 72 km · Km of pistes across the linked area: 136 km · Lifts: 34 · Balance between piste levels: 75%
- ValueIs the lift pass reasonable for what you get?n/a
Not rated: “adult day pass” is missing from this page.
- Families and beginnersIs it right for children and beginners?3.5 / 5
Share of green and blue pistes: 80% · Magic carpets: 11 · Sledging runs: 0 · ESF ski school · Ice rink, pool, rail sledge…: 3
- AccessIs it easy to get to?3 / 5
Average drive time from 20 major cities: 4 hr 22 · Nearest railway station: 40 min · Station-to-resort shuttles per day: 0 · Nearest airport: 1 hr 24
- Atmosphere and après-skiIs there life in the evening and off the slopes?2.5 / 5
Bars and pubs: 2 · Nightclubs: 0 · Restaurants: 12 · 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: 0% · Spas and saunas: 0 · Jewellers, watchmakers, fashion boutiques: 2 — 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 (OpenStreetMap, Wikidata), snow depth observed at the Météo-France station, ERA5-Land model) ; ski area (OpenStreetMap pistes and lifts, linked area (Wikidata)) ; 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).
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 ALPE-D'HUEZ station (1,860 m)
Avalanche danger
7-day forecast
Village 715 m · top 2,112 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.
Average snow depth by month
Snow cover varies from one winter to the next.
☀️ Average daily sunshine : Nov 6.4 h · Dec 5.8 h · Jan 6.1 h · Feb 7.5 h · Mar 8.7 h · Apr 10.1 h — 26 bright days in April (Open-Meteo estimate, 2015-2025).
- November—no record
- December40 cmVariable · 59%
- January46 cmVariable · 74%
- February51 cmVariable · 76%
- March45 cmVariable · 64%
- April20 cmInsufficient · 24%
- May—no record
30 cm on the ground: the benchmark for groomed-piste skiing. Bar = monthly average depth; percentage = share of time above 30 cm.
- Good skiing: 30 cm on more than 8 days in 10
- Variable: 30 cm on 5 to 8 days in 10
- Insufficient: 30 cm less than one day in two
Snow actually measured, winter by winter
49 complete winters measured, from 1964-1965 to 2017-2018 — on average 34 days a winter with at least 30 cm on the ground.
- 1-15 Dec12 cmInsufficient · 14 %
- 16-31 Dec15 cmInsufficient · 21 %
- 1-15 Jan22 cmInsufficient · 30 %
- 16-31 Jan27 cmInsufficient · 32 %
- 1-15 Feb28 cmInsufficient · 35 %
- 16-29 Feb29 cmInsufficient · 38 %
- 1-15 Mar24 cmInsufficient · 32 %
- 16-31 Mar13 cmInsufficient · 19 %
- 1-15 Apr6 cmInsufficient · 8 %
- Best winter of the series
- 1980-1981 — 115 days at 30 cm or more
- Worst winter of the series
- 1988-1989 — 0 day at 30 cm or more
How much snow actually falls — 214 cm a winter on average, spread over 27 days of snowfall. Measured over 60 complete winters, from 1959-1960 to 2020-2021.
- Biggest 24-hour snowfall
- 52 cm — 2012-2013
- Snowiest winter
- 1969-1970 — 481 cm
- Leanest winter
- 1992-1993 — 53 cm
The ski area
Compare with another resort →98 pistes, by level — 72 km
- Skiable vertical
- 302 m (1,810 m → 2,112 m)
- Lifts
- 1 funicular, 6 gondolas, 8 chairlifts, 9 drag lifts, 11 magic carpets
- Cross-country skiing
- 1 named trail — 2.1 km of marked loops, 2.3 km from the resortOpenStreetMap, lengths measured on the geometry, surveyed on 12 September 2026. A trail with no difficulty tag is shown as "n/a" — never guessed.
See the trails(1)
Trail Level Length Boucle rochette n/a 2.1 km - Night skiing
- 1 floodlit pistes (OSM)
- Without skis
- 1 km of snowshoe and walking trails
- Piste aspect
- N 23% · E 18% · S 30% · W 28% (descent direction of 84 OSM pistes, terrain model)
- Mountain restaurants
- Le 2000 (1854 m) · O'Baroudeur (1850 m) · Au Dahu Grillé (1831 m) · Le 37 (1828 m) · L'Authentique (1821 m) · La pomme de pin (1817 m) · L'1 Près Vue (1816 m) · La Petite Taverne (1815 m)
Pistes and lifts surveyed on OpenStreetMap within 4 km of the resort — for a resort in a linked area, the figure may include neighbouring pistes.
Lift passes detail →
The price list for this resort is being collected: most resorts publish winter prices between September and November.
The ski area in figures
Measured on 9 September 2026Measured 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.
Staying and hiring gear in La Garde
We compare the partners that cover this resort. Some links earn us a commission — never at the expense of the price or of the data.
Stay & accommodation
Live webcams
All webcams (8) →Official players of the resort, live image. Checked on 12 September 2026.
Piste map
Open on OpenSnowMap ↗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 La Garde
From Paris: 6 hr 47 (626 km) by road.
By road
- From Grenoble: 58 min · 54 km
- From Chambéry: 1 hr 37 · 112 km
- From Valence: 1 hr 54 · 143 km
- From Annecy: 2 hr 06 · 160 km
- From Lyon: 2 hr 10 · 156 km
From other major cities (15)
- From Genève: 2 hr 35 · 197 km
- From Saint-Étienne: 2 hr 43 · 205 km
- From Marseille: 3 hr 58 · 280 km
- From Montpellier: 4 hr 01 · 347 km
- From Dijon: 4 hr 02 · 357 km
- From Clermont-Ferrand: 4 hr 03 · 324 km
- From Besançon: 4 hr 21 · 386 km
- From Nice: 5 hr 17 · 389 km · avoids Col de Restefond, closed in winter
- From Perpignan: 5 hr 23 · 495 km
- From Nancy: 6 hr 09 · 568 km
- From Toulouse: 6 hr 19 · 581 km
- From Strasbourg: 6 hr 44 · 624 km
- From Paris: 6 hr 47 · 626 km
- From Bordeaux: 8 hr 01 · 711 km
- From Pau: 8 hr 13 · 771 km
Excluding traffic and winter conditions; passes closed in winter are avoided.
By train
Jarrie - Vizille station
halt · then 40 min drive (39 km)
Nearest main station: Grenoble, 58 min by road.
No direct bus line from the station to the resort appears in the open-data timetables (checked on 13 September 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
- Grenoble-Alpes-Isère (GNB): 1 hr 24 by road · 96 km
- Chambéry-Savoie (CMF): 1 hr 48 by road · 120 km
Take me there
These links open the app with La Garde as the destination. Your starting point is never sent by us — the app asks you for it, if you agree.
Charging an electric car
7 charging stations within 2 km
18 charging points · up to 400 kW
- HUEZ - Parking Huez Village · EASYCHARGE · 2 points · 22 kW · 1.7 km
- LE BOURG D'OISANS - Rue Des Colporteurs · EASYCHARGE · 3 points · 50 kW · 1.7 km
- RENAULT - Bourg dOisans · Sowatt Solutions · 5 points · 400 kW · 1.9 km
- ABB 400 RENAULT BOURG D'OISANS A · SOWATT SOLUTIONS · 2 points · 400 kW · 1.9 km
- ABB 400 RENAULT BOURG D'OISANS B · SOWATT SOLUTIONS · 2 points · 400 kW · 1.9 km
Freely accessible charge points read from the French national EV charging database (data.gouv.fr ↗, operators’ own declarations), checked on 9 September 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.
Ski touring routes described
Resorts for ski touring →12 ski touring routes documented within 10 km of La Garde — up to 1,463 m of climb.
| Summit and route | Ski grade | Climb | Altitude | Aspect | From resort |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Signal de l'Homme · Combes SE | 1.3 · E1 · F+ | 650 m | 1,530 → 2,176 m | SE | 4.3 km |
| Les Grandes Buffes · Versant SW | 1.2 · E1 · F | 630 m | 1,530 → 2,164 m | S | 5 km |
| Les Grandes Buffes · Couloir NW | 4.1 · E1 · AD | 515 m | 1,649 → 2,164 m | NW | 5.4 km |
| La Croix du Carrelet · Depuis Villard Notre Dame | 2.1 · E1 · F | 482 m | 1,576 → 2,058 m | E | 5.4 km |
| Croupe de l'Herpie : Point 3060 m · Cheminée S de Mâcle (ou Mascle) | 5.1 · E3 | 290 m | 2,770 → 3,060 m | W | 5.6 km |
| Crête de Croix de la Garde · Couloirs NW en boucle | 3.2 · E1 · AD | 800 m | 1,600 → 2,400 m | NW | 5.9 km |
| Grand Galbert · Versant E | 3.1 · E2 · AD- | 1,160 m | 1,400 → 2,561 m | E | 6.1 km |
| Pic du Lac Blanc · Versant S par le Glacier des Rousses | 2.2 · E1 · PD | 1,463 m | 1,860 → 3,323 m | W | 6.2 km |
| Croix de Cassini · Face SW | 4.3 · E2 · D+ | 1,060 m | 1,310 → 2,373 m | SW | 6.2 km |
| Cime de Cornillon · Coronillon Virus | 5.2 · E3 · TD- | 1,100 m | 720 → 2,475 m | E | 6.4 km |
| Petit Renaud · Versant N, par la Combe du Grand Renaud | 4.1 · E1 · D- | 1,000 m | 1,600 → 2,606 m | N | 6.4 km |
| Croix de Cassini · Versant W | 2.3 · E1 · PD+ | 900 m | 1,530 → 2,373 m | SW | 6.4 km |
Source: Camptocamp.org topo guide (CC BY-SA), routes starting within 10 km, read on 13 September 2026. Descriptions and photos are on Camptocamp; an empty cell is a field nobody has filled in. Camptocamp ski touring routes ↗
Beyond skiing at La Garde
Ice rink
- Patinoire à ciel ouvert · Huez · 3 km away
- Patinoire des Deux Alpes · Les Deux Alpes · 9 km away
Swimming pool
- Piscine couverte · Huez · 3 km away
- Piscine de plein air chauffée · Huez · 3.1 km away
- Piscine des 2 Alpes · Les Deux Alpes · 9 km away
Paragliding
- Ecole de Parapente - Air Ailes Parapente · Les Deux Alpes · 9 km away
- Ecole de Parapente - Air 2 Alpes · Les Deux Alpes · 9.6 km away
- Ecole de Parapente - 2 Alpes Parapente · Les Deux Alpes · 9.9 km away
Museum
- GALTA la Galerie des Trésors Alpins · Le Bourg-d'Oisans · 2.3 km away
- Musée d'histoire et d'archéologie de l'Alpe d'Huez · Huez · 3 km away
- Eco musée des Cours - Musée rural "Alice" · Auris · 3.6 km away
- Maison Départementale des Alpages de l'Isère · Besse · 9.9 km away
Cinema
- Cinéma Les Ecrins · Le Bourg-d'Oisans · 1.9 km away
- Cinéma L'AgorAlp · Huez · 3 km away
- Cinéma des 2 Alpes - Le Slalom · Les Deux Alpes · 9.2 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.
Practical information
Collective accommodation
- 1 hotel · 8 rooms
Commune: La Garde · INSEE tourist accommodation survey, 2026, read on 12 September 2026. Collective accommodation only — privately let flats and second homes are not counted. INSEE dataset ↗
Tourist office
Office de Tourisme
Ski school
ESF L'Alpe D'Huez
367 instructors
🇬🇧 277 English-speaking instructors — lessons in English available
🗓️ This school sells its lessons online — book ↗
Source: esf.net
Days without skiing
- Cinema · Cinéma Les Écrins
- Cinema · Le Signal
- Cinema · Cinéma des Écrins
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.
Nearby resorts
Frequently asked questions
How high is La Garde?
La Garde sits at 715 m at village level, and its ski area rises to 2,112 m.
How many kilometres of pistes does La Garde have?
La Garde has 72 km of pistes served by 34 lifts, within the linked Alpe d'Huez Grand Domaine Ski area (OpenStreetMap survey).
What is the longest piste in La Garde?
The longest piste is Sarenne: 8 km (black run), for 1,657 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 La Garde?
The highest lift, Pic Blanc 3, tops out at 3,304 m (IGN RGE ALTI terrain model). The 67 lifts mapped on OpenStreetMap total 57 km.
How do I get to La Garde?
By road, La Garde is 58 min from Grenoble (54 km), excluding traffic and winter conditions. By train, the nearest station is Jarrie - Vizille, 40 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 Grenoble-Alpes-Isère, 1 hr 24 away.
How long is the drive from Paris to La Garde?
6 hr 47 for 626 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 La Garde?
It varies from one winter to the next according to twenty winters of Météo-France measurements; in season the daily report prevails.
Is La Garde good for beginners and families?
80% of the pistes are green or blue: a very accessible area.
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