Menthières
Menthières is a hamlet of the commune of Chézery-Forens, in the département of Ain, which hosts a ski resort of the Jura massif attached to the ski area of the Monts Jura resort.
Translated from the French Wikipedia article (CC BY-SA), machine translation.
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?n/a
Not rated: “top of the ski area” is missing from this page.
- Ski areaIs there enough to ski all week?1 / 5
Km of pistes at the resort: 2 km · Km of pistes across the linked area: 2 km · Lifts: 4 · Balance between piste levels: 41%
- 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?2 / 5
Share of green and blue pistes: 75% · Magic carpets: 1 · Sledging runs: 0 · Ice rink, pool, rail sledge…: 0
- AccessIs it easy to get to?4 / 5
Average drive time from 20 major cities: 4 hr 06 · Nearest railway station: 18 min · Station-to-resort shuttles per day: 0 · Nearest airport: 1 hr 01
- Atmosphere and après-skiIs there life in the evening and off the slopes?1 / 5
Bars and pubs: 0 · 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 (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.
7-day forecast
Village 1,093 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
46 complete winters measured, from 1964-1965 to 2018-2019 — on average 32 days a winter with at least 30 cm on the ground.
- 1-15 Dec12 cmInsufficient · 17 %
- 16-31 Dec13 cmInsufficient · 18 %
- 1-15 Jan16 cmInsufficient · 21 %
- 16-31 Jan25 cmInsufficient · 32 %
- 1-15 Feb28 cmInsufficient · 34 %
- 16-29 Feb29 cmInsufficient · 43 %
- 1-15 Mar22 cmInsufficient · 32 %
- 16-31 Mar10 cmInsufficient · 13 %
- 1-15 Apr5 cmInsufficient · 5 %
- Best winter of the series
- 1969-1970 — 98 days at 30 cm or more
- Worst winter of the series
- 2000-2001 — 0 day at 30 cm or more
How much snow actually falls — 199 cm a winter on average, spread over 23 days of snowfall. Measured over 29 complete winters, from 1985-1986 to 2019-2020.
- Biggest 24-hour snowfall
- 48 cm — 2018-2019
- Snowiest winter
- 1998-1999 — 449 cm
- Leanest winter
- 2000-2001 — 43 cm
The ski area
Compare with another resort →4 pistes, by level — 2 km
- Lifts
- 1 chairlift, 2 drag lifts, 1 magic carpet
- Cross-country skiing
- 2 named trails — 20 km of marked loops (13 km of distinct track: the loops overlap), 13 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.
- Tourist office
- Office de Tourisme du Pays de Gex · 225 rue des Monts Jura, 01410 · 04.50.42.45.77 · [email protected] (declared by the resort, ANMSM)
- Piste map (PDF)
- Plan des pistes hiver 2023-2024 (declared by the resort, ANMSM)
Resort data: declared by Office de Tourisme du Pays de Gex and distributed by ANMSM · read on 18 September
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 Menthières only (“MENTHIERES”), magic carpets included.
Staying and hiring gear in Menthières
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) →Menthières broadcasts its images on its own page: the link takes you there. Checked on 18 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 Menthières
From Paris: 5 hr 28 (509 km) by road.
By road
- From Genève: 58 min · 58 km
- From Annecy: 1 hr 07 · 58 km
- From Lyon: 1 hr 36 · 118 km
- From Chambéry: 1 hr 37 · 121 km
- From Grenoble: 2 hr 11 · 177 km
From other major cities (15)
- From Saint-Étienne: 2 hr 25 · 177 km
- From Dijon: 2 hr 37 · 230 km
- From Valence: 2 hr 42 · 217 km
- From Besançon: 2 hr 49 · 247 km
- From Clermont-Ferrand: 3 hr 19 · 288 km
- From Nancy: 4 hr 40 · 434 km
- From Montpellier: 4 hr 45 · 418 km
- From Marseille: 4 hr 51 · 428 km
- From Strasbourg: 5 hr 10 · 439 km
- From Paris: 5 hr 28 · 509 km
- From Perpignan: 6 hr 07 · 566 km
- From Nice: 6 hr 28 · 586 km
- From Toulouse: 7 hr 03 · 653 km
- From Bordeaux: 7 hr 17 · 675 km
- From Pau: 8 hr 57 · 842 km
Excluding traffic and winter conditions; passes closed in winter are avoided.
By train
Bellegarde-sur-Valserine station
main station, high-speed trains · then 18 min drive (15 km)
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
- Genève (GVA): 1 hr 01 by road · 50 km
- Lyon-Saint-Exupéry (LYS): 1 hr 27 by road · 112 km
Take me there
These links open the app with Menthières 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 September 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 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 →9 ski touring routes documented within 10 km of Menthières — up to 1,109 m of climb.
| Summit and route | Ski grade | Climb | Altitude | Aspect | From resort |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Crêt d'eau / Crêt de la Goutte · Depuis Menthières | n/a · F | 550 m | 1,070 → 1,621 m | n/a | 1.5 km |
| Grand Crêt d'eau / Crêt de la Goutte · Depuis le NW | n/a · PD+ | 550 m | 1,076 → 1,621 m | N | 2 km |
| la Poutouille · La poutouille | 3.2 · E1 · PD | 930 m | 500 → 1,446 m | S | 2.2 km |
| Grand Crêt d'eau / Crêt de la Goutte · Face E du Grand Crêt d'Eau | n/a · F | 1,109 m | 512 → 1,621 m | E | 3.2 km |
| Grand Crêt d'eau / Crêt de la Goutte · Versant SW | 3.2 · E1 · PD | 900 m | 721 → 1,621 m | SW | 3.2 km |
| Le Crêt de l'Eguillon · Par la face N | 4.1 · E1 · AD+ | 500 m | 1,045 → 1,549 m | N | 3.2 km |
| Crêt de Chalam · Versant E, par la croupe S | n/a · PD+ | 1,000 m | 602 → 1,545 m | E | 6.4 km |
| Les Avalanches · Couloir de la Pierre de lune ou Couloir de Roche carrée ou Couloir NW ou Couloir Rastar | 4.3 · E2 · D+ | 680 m | 792 → 1,497 m | NW | 7.5 km |
| Crêt de Chalam · Par Combe noire | n/a · PD | 860 m | 685 → 1,545 m | E | 8.1 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 Menthières
Swimming pool
- Centre aquatique ValséO · Valserhône · 7.2 km away
Paragliding
- Site de parapente : le bouant - crête de Charmy pré sud · Confort · 1.9 km away
- Site de parapente : Sorgia - La Charmante · Valserhône · 4.2 km away
- Didier Marinet accompagnateur en montagne et moniteur de parapente · Confort · 6.9 km away
Cinema
- Cinéma Les Variétés · Valserhône · 7.8 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 campsite · 66 pitches
Commune: Chézery-Forens · INSEE tourist accommodation survey, 2026, read on 12 September 2026. Collective accommodation only — privately let flats and second homes are not counted. INSEE dataset ↗
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 Menthières?
Menthières sits at 1,093 m at village level.
How many kilometres of pistes does Menthières have?
Menthières has 2 km of pistes served by 4 lifts, within the linked Station Monts Jura area (OpenStreetMap survey).
What is the longest piste in Menthières?
The longest single descent: 1 km (green run), for 102 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 Menthières?
The highest lift, Les naz (platter lift), tops out at 1,161 m. Source: STRMTG, French national register of mechanical lifts (CAIRN database), file dated 1 January 2025.
How many lifts does Menthières have, and what is their capacity?
The French national register of mechanical lifts records 4 installations at Menthières (3 drag lifts, 1 magic carpet), for an authorised capacity of 3,820 people per hour, of which 2,000 for Le montoiseau alone. The fleet spans 1976 to 2011, an average age of 33 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 Menthières?
By road, Menthières is 58 min from Genève (58 km), excluding traffic and winter conditions. By train, the nearest station is Bellegarde-sur-Valserine (main station, high-speed trains), 18 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 Genève, 1 hr 01 away.
How long is the drive from Paris to Menthières?
5 hr 28 for 509 km from central Paris, excluding traffic and winter conditions. Computed on the real road network (OpenStreetMap): allow more on a school-holiday Saturday.
Is Menthières good for beginners and families?
75% of the pistes are green or blue: a very accessible area.
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