Laye
Laye is a ski resort in the Southern Alps (Hautes-Alpes). The village sits at 976 m and the ski area rises to 1,868 m, a skiable vertical of 557 m.
The area offers 9 km of alpine pistes, 16 marked pistes (2 green, 2 blue, 10 red, 2 black), 7 ski lifts.
Measured on the OpenStreetMap map: the longest piste runs 1 km (Le ruisseau) and the highest lift tops out at 1,840 m.
Access: 1 h 38 by road from Grenoble and 14 min from Gap railway station.
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?2.5 / 5
Top of the ski area: 1,868 m · Bottom of the pistes: 1,311 m · Days above 30 cm per winter, measured: 48 days · Days above 30 cm, December to March, model: 36%
- Ski areaIs there enough to ski all week?2 / 5
Km of pistes at the resort: 9 km · Km of pistes across the linked area: 9 km · Lifts: 7 · Balance between piste levels: 77%
- 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?1.5 / 5
Share of green and blue pistes: 25% · Magic carpets: 1 · Sledging runs: 0 · Ice rink, pool, rail sledge…: 3
- AccessIs it easy to get to?3.5 / 5
Average drive time from 20 major cities: 4 hr 36 · Nearest railway station: 14 min · Station-to-resort shuttles per day: 11 · Nearest airport: 2 hr 04
- Atmosphere and après-skiIs there life in the evening and off the slopes?2 / 5
Bars and pubs: 1 · Nightclubs: 0 · Restaurants: 9 · 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 (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 ST JEAN-ST-NICOLAS station (1,210 m)
Avalanche danger
7-day forecast
Village 976 m · top 1,868 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.
Snow actually measured, winter by winter
12 complete winters measured, from 1992-1993 to 2018-2019 — on average 48 days a winter with at least 30 cm on the ground.
- 1-15 Dec9 cmInsufficient · 11 %
- 16-31 Dec15 cmInsufficient · 27 %
- 1-15 Jan22 cmInsufficient · 31 %
- 16-31 Jan30 cmInsufficient · 48 %
- 1-15 Feb43 cmVariable · 69 %
- 16-29 Feb37 cmVariable · 60 %
- 1-15 Mar30 cmInsufficient · 48 %
- 16-31 Mar15 cmInsufficient · 23 %
- 1-15 Apr4 cmInsufficient · 3 %
- Best winter of the series
- 2017-2018 — 115 days at 30 cm or more
- Worst winter of the series
- 1992-1993 — 0 day at 30 cm or more
How much snow actually falls — 197 cm a winter on average, spread over 22 days of snowfall. Measured over 14 complete winters.
- Biggest 24-hour snowfall
- 60 cm — 2014-2015
- Snowiest winter
- 2017-2018 — 348 cm
- Leanest winter
- 1992-1993 — 42 cm
The ski area
Compare with another resort →16 pistes, by level — 9 km
- Skiable vertical
- 557 m (1,311 m → 1,868 m)
- Lifts
- 6 drag lifts, 1 magic carpet
- Cross-country skiing
- 4 named trails — 62 km of marked loops (27 km of distinct track: the loops overlap), 3.3 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(4)
Trail Level Length Le Saint-Laurent red 42 km Les Sâgnes blue 8 km 1316 black 7.1 km La Golf blue 5.1 km - Piste aspect
- N 30% · E 64% · S 6% · W 0% (descent direction of 12 OSM pistes, terrain model)
- Mountain restaurants
- Le Petit Renard (1310 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.
Source: national register of mechanical lifts (STRMTG, CAIRN), fleet as of 1 January 2025 — lifts attributed to Laye only (“LAYE”), magic carpets included.
Staying and hiring gear in Laye
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
Laye publishes no public webcam (checked on 12 September 2026 on its website, its tourist office and the operators’ directories). Know of one? Tell us.
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 Laye
From Paris: 7 hr 27 (662 km) by road.
By road
- From Grenoble: 1 hr 38 · 89 km
- From Chambéry: 2 hr 17 · 148 km
- From Marseille: 2 hr 23 · 194 km
- From Valence: 2 hr 34 · 178 km
- From Annecy: 2 hr 46 · 195 km
From other major cities (15)
- From Lyon: 2 hr 50 · 191 km
- From Genève: 3 hr 16 · 233 km
- From Saint-Étienne: 3 hr 23 · 240 km
- From Nice: 3 hr 42 · 302 km
- From Montpellier: 3 hr 42 · 316 km
- From Dijon: 4 hr 42 · 392 km
- From Clermont-Ferrand: 4 hr 43 · 360 km
- From Besançon: 5 hr 01 · 422 km
- From Perpignan: 5 hr 03 · 464 km
- From Toulouse: 5 hr 59 · 551 km
- From Nancy: 6 hr 49 · 603 km
- From Strasbourg: 7 hr 24 · 660 km
- From Paris: 7 hr 27 · 662 km
- From Pau: 7 hr 54 · 740 km
- From Bordeaux: 8 hr 23 · 793 km
Excluding traffic and winter conditions; passes closed in winter are avoided.
By train
Gap station
regional station · then 14 min drive (13 km)
Nearest main station: Grenoble, 1 hr 38 by road.
- From Grenoble station (stop “Gare Routiere”): line T91 — GRENOBLE-GAP (REGION - cars Région Isère), 1 hr 17 to the “Brutinel” stop — 4 departures a day on weekdays, 4 a day at weekends · first 07:10, last 16:25 · timetable from 15 December 2026 to 15 April 2027 · official timetable ↗
- From Gap station (stop “IUT - Pôle d'Échanges Reynier”): line 520 — 520 _ ST BONNET-GAP (ZOU ! Proximité), 17 min to the “Laye Village” stop — 4 departures a day on weekdays, 2 a day at weekends · first 07:15, last 18:15 · timetable from 15 December 2026 to 31 December 2026 · official timetable ↗
- From Gap station (stop “IUT - Pôle d'Échanges Reynier”): line 522 — 522 _ ST FIRMIN-LES COSTES-ST BONNET-GAP (ZOU ! Proximité), 17 min to the “Laye Village” stop — 2 departures a day on weekdays · first 12:15, last 18:15 · timetable from 15 December 2026 to 31 December 2026 · official timetable ↗
- From Gap station (stop “IUT - Pôle d'Échanges Reynier”): line 521 — 521 _ ST FIRMIN-LA GUINGUETTE-ST BONNET-GAP (ZOU ! Proximité), 19 min to the “Laye Village” stop — 1 departure a day on weekdays · first 12:15, last 12:15 · timetable from 15 December 2026 to 31 December 2026 · official timetable ↗
Direct journeys read from the official timetable files published on transport.data.gouv.fr — no connections.
By plane
- Grenoble-Alpes-Isère (GNB): 2 hr 04 by road · 131 km
- Chambéry-Savoie (CMF): 2 hr 28 by road · 155 km
Take me there
These links open the app with Laye 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
3 charging points · up to 50 kW
- LA FARE EN CHAMPSAUR - Esplanade Napoleon · EASYCHARGE · 3 points · 50 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 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 Laye — up to 1,400 m of climb.
| Summit and route | Ski grade | Climb | Altitude | Aspect | From resort |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pic de l'Aiguille · Face E (enneigée) | 5.2 · E3 · TD | 700 m | 1,300 → 2,140 m | E | 3.6 km |
| Pic de l'Aiguille · Versant SE | 2.3 · E1 · PD+ | 900 m | 1,240 → 2,139 m | SE | 3.9 km |
| Pic de Gleize (Aiguille de Gleize) · Versant SE | 2.2 · E1 · PD | 920 m | 1,240 → 2,161 m | SE | 4.6 km |
| Col de Chétive · Versant N | n/a · PD | 720 m | 1,132 → 1,852 m | N | 5.5 km |
| Pic Melette · Face SE en boucle par le Pic de Courmian | 3.3 · E2 · AD | 1,400 m | 1,204 → 2,062 m | SE | 6.8 km |
| Pic Queyrel · Face N en boucle par l'arête SW | n/a · AD+ | 1,070 m | 1,370 → 2,440 m | W | 7 km |
| Pic du Tourond · Versant S | 2.3 · E2 · PD+ | 1,143 m | 1,600 → 2,743 m | S · SW | 7.2 km |
| Le Cuchon de Molines · Face NW | 3.3 · AD+ | 1,230 m | 1,150 → 2,375 m | NW | 7.8 km |
| Pic Queyrel · Face NW | 4.3 · D- | 1,200 m | 1,250 → 2,440 m | NW | 8.3 km |
| Soleil Bœuf · Versant W | 4.1 · E3 · AD | 1,000 m | 1,600 → 2,595 m | W | 8.5 km |
| Clémens ou Pointe N de la Vénasque · Par Font Froide | 3.1 · E2 · AD- | 1,040 m | 1,600 → 2,637 m | SW | 8.6 km |
| Raz de Bec · Par le ravin de Loupon | 3.2 · PD+ | 1,063 m | 1,352 → 2,385 m | SW | 9 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 Laye
Swimming pool
- Centre aquatique du Champsaur · Saint-Bonnet-en-Champsaur · 1.8 km away
Museum
- Maison de la photographie Vivian Maier · Saint-Bonnet-en-Champsaur · 4.8 km away
- Le refuge des animaux · Saint-Léger-les-Mélèzes · 9.3 km away
- Du vent dans les plumes - Le Refuge des animaux · Saint-Léger-les-Mélèzes · 9.3 km away
Cinema
- Cinéma Le Central · Saint-Bonnet-en-Champsaur · 2.4 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.
Practical information
Tourist office
Office de tourisme
Days without skiing
- Swimming pool · MOUNTAIN Wake Park
- Cinema · Central cinéma
- Ice rink · Patinoire
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 Laye?
Laye sits at 976 m at village level, and its ski area rises to 1,868 m.
How many kilometres of pistes does Laye have?
Laye has 9 km of pistes served by 7 lifts (OpenStreetMap survey).
What is the longest piste in Laye?
The longest piste is Le ruisseau: 1 km (green run), for 53 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 Laye?
The highest lift, Grand Clot (platter lift), tops out at 2,240 m. Source: STRMTG, French national register of mechanical lifts (CAIRN database), file dated 1 January 2025.
How many lifts does Laye have, and what is their capacity?
The French national register of mechanical lifts records 8 installations at Laye (6 drag lifts, 2 magic carpets), for an authorised capacity of 3,670 people per hour, of which 720 for Col alone. The fleet spans 1974 to 2012, an average age of 36 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 Laye?
By road, Laye is 1 hr 38 from Grenoble (89 km), excluding traffic and winter conditions. By train, the nearest station is Gap, 14 min by road from the resort. From Grenoble station, line T91 — GRENOBLE-GAP (REGION - cars Région Isère) reaches the “Brutinel” stop in 1 hr 17, 4 departures a day on weekdays, 4 a day at weekends. The nearest airport is Grenoble-Alpes-Isère, 2 hr 04 away.
How long is the drive from Paris to Laye?
7 hr 27 for 662 km from central Paris, excluding traffic and winter conditions. Computed on the real road network (OpenStreetMap): allow more on a school-holiday Saturday.
Is Laye good for beginners and families?
25% of the pistes are green or blue: a rather technical area.
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