Les Houches
1,000 mVillage altitude
1,900 mTop of the ski area
31 kmAlpine pistes · 54 km across Mont-Blanc unlimited
19Ski lifts
€59Adult day pass
Les Houches are a French commune located in the département of Haute-Savoie, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region.
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 16 October 2026.
Snow, opening and weather
Snow report →0 of 60 pistes open · 2 of 29 lifts · recorded on 15 October at 11:23, official source
Counter from the official report; our OpenStreetMap survey finds 26 pistes at Les Houches — the report covers a wider linked area.
0 cmSnow at the bottom
0 cmSnow at the top
31 March 2026Last snowfall
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.
Avalanche danger
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
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?2.5 / 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: 99%
- Ski areaIs there enough to ski all week?3.5 / 5
Km of pistes at the resort: 31 km · Km skiable from the resort, linked area included: 54 km · Lifts: 19 · Balance between piste levels: 82%
- ValueIs the lift pass reasonable for what you get?2 / 5
Adult day pass: €59 · Day pass price per km of pistes: €1.9/km
- Families and beginnersIs it right for children and beginners?3 / 5
Share of green and blue pistes: 38% · Magic carpets: 2 · Sledging runs: 4 · ESF ski school · Ice rink, pool, rail sledge…: 2 · Famille Plus label
- 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
- 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: 4 · Collective tourist beds: 735 — 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 · 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).
Lift passes
All prices (child, family, season) →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 ↗
26 pistes, by level
3 green7 blue14 red2 black
- 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 pistes, km of the linked area, pistes by level: ANMSM — figures declared by the resort (16 Oct); lifts: STRMTG — French national lift register (1 Jan) .
The ski area in figures
Measured on 7 October 20262 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.
Ski Planet
Self-catering flats and all-inclusive ski holidays at the foot of the slopes, since 1999.
Montagne Vacances
Flats and chalets in the resort, at direct prices.
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.
Beyond skiing at Les Houches
Without skis on — 3 km of snowshoe and walking trails · 4 sledging runs
Ice rink
- Patinoire des Houches · Les Houches · 0.3 km away
- Patinoire de Saint-Gervais · Saint-Gervais-les-Bains · 6.6 km away
- Patinoire R. Bozon · Chamonix-Mont-Blanc · 7.1 km away
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
- Les Thermes de Saint-Gervais - Les cures thermales · Saint-Gervais-les-Bains · 7.2 km away
- QC Terme Spas and Resorts · Chamonix-Mont-Blanc · 7.4 km away
Dog sledding
- Huskydalen - Chiens de traineaux · Chamonix-Mont-Blanc · 6.6 km away
Paragliding
- Fly Mont-Blanc - Parapente · Les Houches · 4.8 km away
- Absolute Chamonix Parapente · Chamonix-Mont-Blanc · 6.3 km away
- AA haut vol parapente · Chamonix-Mont-Blanc · 6.4 km away
- Itinér’Air Parapente · Saint-Gervais-les-Bains · 6.5 km away
Museum
- Musée Montagnard · Les Houches · 0.1 km away
- Usine et Espace Héritage de Simond · Chamonix-Mont-Blanc · 5 km away
- Maison du Lieutenant · Servoz · 6 km away
- 2KM3 Acte II · Saint-Gervais-les-Bains · 6.5 km away
Cinema
- Espace Animation · Les Houches · 0 km away
- Cinéma immersif 4D · Chamonix-Mont-Blanc · 6.4 km away
- Cinéma Vox · Chamonix-Mont-Blanc · 6.6 km away
- Cinéma La Caméra · Passy · 8.9 km away
- Cinébus · OpenStreetMap
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
111 instructors
🇬🇧 79 English-speaking instructors — lessons in English available
🗓️ This school sells its lessons online — book ↗
Source: esf.net
Resort contacts and documents
- Tourist office
- Office de tourisme des Houches · BP 9 - Place de la Mairie, 74310 · 0450555062 · info@leshouches.com (declared by the resort, ANMSM)
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 16 October
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 route | Ski grade | Climb | Altitude | Aspect | From resort |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Passage des Rognes · Depuis les Houches | 4.2 · E2 · D | 1,600 m | 1,000 → 2,600 m | N | 1.5 km |
| Mont Lachat · Ravin des Arandellys | 3.2 · E2 · AD | 1,130 m | 1,000 → 2,115 m | NE | 1.5 km |
| Mont Lachat · Par le Planet descente versant NE | 3.1 · E1 · AD- | 1,150 m | 980 → 2,115 m | N · NE | 2.2 km |
| Mont Lachat · Par Bellevue | 2.3 · E1 · PD+ | 1,125 m | 993 → 2,115 m | SW | 2.2 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 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 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 · 385 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 24 · 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 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 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?
Les Houches has 31 km of slopes (54 km 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 08:45 to 16:30 (Du 19/12/2026 au 05/02/2027), according to the official website (read on 29 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?
38% of the pistes are green or blue: a rather technical area. 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 →
Every figure carries its source and date; a missing figure shows as “—”, never estimated. Embed this widget on your site