Les Houches

Off season
Northern Alps Linked area Houches / Saint Gervais Updated on 23 September 2026
1,000 mVillage altitude
1,900 mTop of the ski area
54 kmLinked pistes · Mont-Blanc unlimited
19Ski lifts
€59Adult day pass

Les Houches is a ski resort in the Northern Alps (Haute-Savoie). The village sits at 1,000 m and the ski area rises to 1,900 m, a skiable vertical of 900 m.

Les Houches — view of the resort
Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Live webcams

All webcams (3) →
Tramway du Mont BlancSkaping
▶ Watch at the operator ↗
Webcam site internet Les Houchespanoramic

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 25 September 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 CHAMONIX station (1,042 m)

Source: Météo-France, CHAMONIX weather station, 7.6 km away. Hourly measurement — not the resort’s own snow report.

Snow cover varies from one winter to the next — the best time runs from mid-January to late February. 48 days a winter at 30 cm or more on average, and 302 cm of fresh snow, measured over 63 winters at the Météo-France “CONTAMINES MJ” station. Fortnight by fortnight, over 63 measured winters →

3-day forecast

Village 1,000 m · top 1,900 m

Loading…

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.

7-day forecast →

SkiRadar ratings

How ratings are computed →Computed on 24 September 2026

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.

  1. SnowCan you count on the snow?
    2 / 5

    Top of the ski area: 1,900 m · Bottom of the pistes: 1,000 m · Days above 30 cm per winter, measured: 48 days · Days above 30 cm, December to March, model: 23%

  2. Ski areaIs there enough to ski all week?
    3.5 / 5

    Km skiable from the resort, linked area included: 54 km · Lifts: 19

  3. ValueIs the lift pass reasonable for what you get?
    2.5 / 5

    Adult day pass: €59

  4. Families and beginnersIs it right for children and beginners?
    3 / 5

    Share of green and blue pistes: 44% · Magic carpets: 2 · ESF ski school · Ice rink, pool, rail sledge…: 2 · Famille Plus label

  5. AccessIs it easy to get to?
    4 / 5

    Average drive time from 20 major cities: 4 hr 29 · Nearest railway station: 2 min · Nearest airport: 1 hr 21

  6. Atmosphere and après-skiIs there life in the evening and off the slopes?
    3.5 / 5

    Bars and pubs: 5 · Nightclubs: 0 · Restaurants: 10 · Upcoming events: 3 · Collective tourist beds: 735 — index: what the map and the listings publish

  7. 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: 0 · Adult day pass: €59 — 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).

Price declared by the resort to ANMSM (the French ski resorts’ mayors association) — not the official price list, which prevails. Season not stated by the resort. ANMSM ↗

Skiable vertical
900 m
Snowpark
1 mapped zone, 2.7 km from the resort — Snowpark
Cross-country skiing
3 km of nordic trails

Ski-area figures — village, bottom, top, km of the linked area: ANMSM — figures declared by the resort (25 Sept); lifts: STRMTG — French national lift register (1 Jan) . In a linked ski area the map cannot tell where the resort ends: its own km stay “n/a” until the resort declares them.

The ski area in figures

Measured on 9 September 2026
2 kmLongest piste — Les Aillouds Supérieur Col de Voza (blue), 282 m of vertical
349 mBiggest vertical without changing piste — 1,643 → 1,294 m, 2 km
1,892 mHighest lift top — TS du Crozat (chairlift), national lift register
22,556Total lift capacity, people per hour — 19 installations: 1 aerial tramway, 1 gondola, 8 chairlifts, 7 drag lifts, 2 magic carpets
29 yrsAverage age of the lift fleet — oldest 1936, newest 2022
2,100Biggest lift, people per hour — TS du Crozat (chairlift, 1994)
10 kmTotal length of lifts — 13 lifts mapped
753 haSki area boundary (OSM)
3,515Inhabitants — Les Houches (INSEE 74143)

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 Les Houches only (“HOUCHES (LES)”), magic carpets included.

Staying and hiring gear in Les Houches

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

735 bed spaces in tourist residences, holiday villages and hostels

  • 8 hotels · 352 rooms (7 × 3★, 1 × 2★)
  • 1 holiday village or family centre · 120 bed spaces
  • 2 tourist residences and apartment hotels · 527 bed spaces
  • 1 youth hostel or sports centre · 88 bed spaces
  • 1 campsite · 20 pitches

Commune: Les Houches · 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.
See offers
Ski Planet
Self-catering flats and all-inclusive ski holidays at the foot of the slopes, since 1999.
See offers
Montagne Vacances
Flats and chalets in the resort, at direct prices.
See offers

Ski hire

Skiset UK
Skiset’s UK site: ski hire in the resort shops, booked in English, paid in pounds.
Book

Gear & equipment

Absolute Snow
UK ski and snowboard shop — delivers to UK addresses only.
Browse the shop
Hardloop
Mountain gear shop: ski touring, avalanche safety, winter clothing.
Browse the shop
Picture
Ski and snowboard jackets, pants and accessories — a French brand.
Browse the shop

All about staying in Les Houches →

Beyond skiing at Les Houches

Without skis on — 3 km of snowshoe and walking trails · 4 sledging runs

Ice rink

Swimming pool

  • Piscine de Saint-Gervais · Saint-Gervais-les-Bains · 6.5 km away
  • Piscine de Marlioz · Passy · 8.4 km away

Spa and thermal baths

Dog sledding

Paragliding

Museum

Cinema

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. Lines marked OpenStreetMap come from the map, within 3 km — opening times on site. Opening times and prices are the operator’s — check before you go.

Ski schools and practical information

Ski school

ESF Les Houches

📞 04 50 54 48 79

🌐 esf-leshouches.com

111 instructors

🇬🇧 79 English-speaking instructors — lessons in English available

🗓️ This school sells its lessons online — book ↗

Source: esf.net

All about the ski school in Les Houches →

Resort contacts and documents

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.

Resort data: declared by Office de tourisme des Houches and distributed by ANMSM · read on 25 September

Off the pistes: off-piste and ski touring

The resorts for off-piste skiing →
0 Marked off-piste itineraries
4 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 Les Houches — up to 1,790 m of climb.

Summit and routeSki gradeClimbAltitudeAspectFrom resort
Passage des Rognes · Depuis les Houches4.2 · E2 · D1,600 m1,000 → 2,600 mN1.5 km
Mont Lachat · Ravin des Arandellys3.2 · E2 · AD1,130 m1,000 → 2,115 mNE1.5 km
Mont Lachat · Par le Planet descente versant NE3.1 · E1 · AD-1,150 m980 → 2,115 mN · NE2.2 km
Mont Lachat · Par Bellevue2.3 · E1 · PD+1,125 m993 → 2,115 mSW2.2 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 September 2026. Descriptions and photos are on Camptocamp; an empty cell is a field nobody has filled in. Camptocamp ski touring routes ↗

Official piste map

No downloadable piste map published by the resort.

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 Les Houches

From Paris: 6 hr 23 (610 km) by road.

By road

  • From Genève: 56 min · 75 km
  • From Annecy: 1 hr 09 · 99 km
  • From Chambéry: 1 hr 37 · 140 km
  • From Grenoble: 1 hr 59 · 142 km
  • From Lyon: 2 hr 31 · 218 km
From other major cities (15)
  • From Valence: 3 hr 02 · 234 km
  • From Saint-Étienne: 3 hr 09 · 276 km
  • From Besançon: 3 hr 25 · 249 km
  • From Dijon: 3 hr 32 · 331 km
  • From Clermont-Ferrand: 4 hr 14 · 388 km
  • From Strasbourg: 5 hr 00 · 417 km
  • From Montpellier: 5 hr 09 · 439 km
  • From Marseille: 5 hr 14 · 448 km
  • From Nice: 5 hr 25 · 461 km
  • From Nancy: 5 hr 34 · 534 km
  • From Paris: 6 hr 23 · 610 km
  • From Perpignan: 6 hr 30 · 587 km
  • From Toulouse: 7 hr 26 · 673 km
  • From Bordeaux: 8 hr 12 · 775 km
  • From Pau: 9 hr 21 · 863 km

Excluding traffic and winter conditions; passes closed in winter are avoided.

By train

Les Houches station

halt · then 2 min drive (1 km)

Nearest main station: Annecy, 1 hr 07 by road.

Shuttles and buses from the station: see the resort’s official website.

By plane

  • Genève (GVA): 1 hr 21 by road · 83 km
  • Chambéry-Savoie (CMF): 1 hr 40 by road · 139 km

Take me there

These links open the app with Les Houches as the destination. Your starting point is never sent by us — the app asks you for it, if you agree.

Charging an electric car

5 charging stations within 2 km

18 charging points · up to 300 kW

  • LES HOUCHES - Parking du Fresnay · EASYCHARGE · 2 points · 22 kW · 0.1 km
  • 333 Rue de l'Essert · QOVOLTIS · 4 points · 22 kW · 0.5 km
  • HOTEL ST ANTOINE · CAR2PLUG · 2 points · 22 kW · 0.9 km
  • RELAIS HOUCHES NORD · TotalEnergies Marketing France · 4 points · 300 kW · 1.3 km
  • LES HOUCHES - Base de Loisirs des Chavants · EASYCHARGE · 6 points · 22 kW · 1.4 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.

What's on around Les Houches

All events →

Events published on OpenAgenda by the agendas named above, kept when they take place within 10 km of the resort. We organise nothing: times, prices and cancellations are the organiser's.

The area offers 54 km of alpine pistes across Mont-Blanc unlimited, 19 ski lifts, plus a snowpark.

Les Houches belongs to the linked Houches / Saint Gervais area: one lift pass covers the neighbouring resorts.

Measured on the OpenStreetMap map: the longest piste runs 2 km (Les Aillouds Supérieur Col de Voza) and the highest lift tops out at 1,884 m.

The resort holds the Famille Plus and Flocon Vert and Station classée de tourisme labels.

Access: 56 min by road from Genève and 2 min from Les Houches railway station.

3 official webcams show the pistes live (on the French page).

Frequently asked questions

How high is Les Houches?

Les Houches sits at 1,000 m at village level, and its ski area rises to 1,900 m.

How many kilometres of pistes does Les Houches have?

From Les Houches you can ski 54 km of slopes across Mont-Blanc unlimited, 19 lifts.

What is the longest piste in Les Houches?

The longest piste is Les Aillouds Supérieur Col de Voza: 2 km (blue run), for 282 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 Les Houches?

The highest lift, TS du Crozat (chairlift), tops out at 1,892 m. Source: STRMTG, French national register of mechanical lifts (CAIRN database), file dated 1 January 2025.

How many lifts does Les Houches have, and what is their capacity?

The French national register of mechanical lifts records 19 installations at Les Houches (1 aerial tramway, 1 gondola, 8 chairlifts, 7 drag lifts, 2 magic carpets), for an authorised capacity of 22,556 people per hour, of which 2,100 for TS du Crozat alone. The fleet spans 1936 to 2022, an average age of 29 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 Les Houches?

The adult day pass costs €59 (season not stated by the resort, declared by the resort to ANMSM (the French ski resorts’ mayors association)).

How do I get to Les Houches?

By road, Les Houches is 56 min from Genève (75 km), excluding traffic and winter conditions. By train, the nearest station is Les Houches, 2 min by road from the resort. The nearest airport is Genève, 1 hr 21 away.

How long is the drive from Paris to Les Houches?

6 hr 23 for 610 km from central Paris, excluding traffic and winter conditions. Computed on the real road network (OpenStreetMap): allow more on a school-holiday Saturday.

What time do the lifts open in Les Houches?

Lifts are announced open from 07:30 to 17:30 (saison été 2026 · Du 30/08 au 13/09/2026), according to the official website (read on 9 September 2026).

Is the snow reliable in Les Houches?

Snow cover varies from one winter to the next — the best time runs from mid-January to late February. 48 days a winter at 30 cm or more on average, and 302 cm of fresh snow, measured over 63 winters at the Météo-France “CONTAMINES MJ” station. This verdict rests on 63 winters of Météo-France measurements (1959-2025); in season the daily report prevails.

Is Les Houches good for beginners and families?

The resort holds the Famille Plus family label.

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. Les Houches in French →

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