Orelle
Off season · opens 21 November 20261,731 mBottom of the pistes
3,242 mTop of the ski area
5Ski lifts
€84.20Adult day pass · Les 3 Vallées · 2026-2027
Not retained (conflicting sources): km of alpine pistes.
Orelle is a French rural commune located in the département of Savoie in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. Its territory extends in Moyenne Maurienne from the massif de la Vanoise and its national park in the north to the massif des Cerces-Thabor in the south. It constitutes the summit of the winter and summer sports resorts that make up Les Trois Vallées, the largest ski area in the world.
Live webcams
All webcams (8) →Cime CaronSkaping
ProsneigeVal Thorens
Funitel ThorensVal Thorens
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. 4 more cameras on the webcam page. Checked on 16 October 2026.
Snow, opening and weather
Snow report →The domain is due to open on 21 November 2026 and close on 2 May 2027. Open pistes and lifts will appear here as soon as the resort publishes its daily report.
Avalanche danger
Good snow from early February to mid-March. 78 days a winter at 30 cm or more on average, and 336 cm of fresh snow, measured over 31 winters at the Météo-France “ALBIEZ” station. Fortnight by fortnight, over 31 measured winters →
3-day forecast
Village 1,731 m · top 3,242 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?4 / 5
Top of the ski area: 3,242 m · Bottom of the pistes: 1,731 m · Days above 30 cm per winter, measured: 78 days · Days above 30 cm, December to March, model: 99%
- Ski areaIs there enough to ski all week?3.5 / 5
Km skiable from the resort, linked area included: 600 km · Lifts: 5
- ValueIs the lift pass reasonable for what you get?2.5 / 5
Adult day pass: €84.20 · Day pass price per km of pistes: €0.14/km · Adult 6-day pass: €421 · Price read at a neighbouring resort of the same area
- Families and beginnersIs it right for children and beginners?2 / 5
Share of green and blue pistes: 56% · Magic carpets: 0 · ESF ski school · Ice rink, pool, rail sledge…: 2
- AccessIs it easy to get to?3.5 / 5
Average drive time from 20 major cities: 4 hr 29 · Nearest railway station: 9 min · Station-to-resort shuttles per day: 0 · Nearest airport: 1 hr 18
- Atmosphere and après-skiIs there life in the evening and off the slopes?2 / 5
Bars and pubs: 1 · Nightclubs: 0 · Restaurants: 2 · Upcoming events: 0 · Collective tourist beds: 388 — 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 · Spas and saunas: 0 · Jewellers, watchmakers, fashion boutiques: 0 · Adult day pass: €84.20 — 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 2026-2027
All prices (child, family, season) →€421 6 days
Read on the official price list, full price, excluding promotions. Les 3 Vallées pass, covering the whole linked area, read on the list of Les Menuires. 2026-2027 season. Official price list ↗
- Skiable vertical
- 1,511 m
- Cross-country skiing
- 1 named trail — 0.8 km of marked loops, 4.9 km from the resort
Ski-area figures — bottom: OpenStreetMap (1 Oct); top, 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 7 October 20264 kmLongest piste — Mauriennaise (red), 625 m of vertical
846 mBiggest vertical without changing piste — 3,172 → 2,327 m, 4 km
3,242 mHighest lift top — Bouchet (chairlift), national lift register
9,976Total lift capacity, people per hour — 5 installations: 2 gondolas, 3 chairlifts
12 yrsAverage age of the lift fleet — oldest 2001, newest 2021
2,476Biggest lift, people per hour — Rosael (detachable chairlift, 2009)
40 kmTotal length of lifts — 22 lifts mapped
15,583 haSki area boundary (OSM)
324Inhabitants — Orelle (INSEE 73194)
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 Orelle only (“ORELLE”), magic carpets included.
Staying and hiring gear in Orelle
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
388 bed spaces in tourist residences, holiday villages and hostels
- 2 tourist residences and apartment hotels · 388 bed spaces
- 1 campsite · 19 pitches
Commune: Orelle · 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.
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 Orelle
Ice rink
- Patinoire d'Orelle · 0.8 km away · OpenStreetMap
Swimming pool
- Piscine de Valloire · Valloire · 9.5 km away
- SPA des Eaux d'Orelle · 1.2 km away · OpenStreetMap
Dog sledding
- MUSHING SPIRIT · Valloire · 9.8 km away
Paragliding
- Envergure - Parapente · Valmeinier · 5.2 km away
- Lenvair Parapente · Valloire · 7.6 km away
Museum
- Espace Alu · Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne · 5.1 km away
- Muséobar - Musée de la Frontière · Modane · 9.6 km away
Cinema
- Cinéma de Valmeinier · Valmeinier · 5 km away
- Cinéma L'Embellie · Fourneaux · 8.9 km away
- Cinéma · Valloire · 9.9 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. 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 Orelle
7 instructors
🇬🇧 2 English-speaking instructors — lessons in English available
🗓️ This school sells its lessons online — book ↗
Source: esf.net
Tourist office
Office de tourisme d'Orelle
📍 810 Route de Francoz, 73140 Orelle
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.
Off the pistes: off-piste and ski touring
The resorts for off-piste skiing → 0 Marked off-piste itineraries
2 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 Orelle — up to 14,000 m of climb.
| Summit and route | Ski grade | Climb | Altitude | Aspect | From resort |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Croix 2220 m Sous le Mont Brequin · Versant W - depuis Beaune | n/a · PD- | 810 m | 1,410 → 2,220 m | W | 4.1 km |
| Pointe du Bouchet · Versant N | n/a · AD | 1,070 m | 2,350 → 3,420 m | N | 4.4 km |
| Col de Rénod · Versant W | n/a · PD+ | 920 m | 2,350 → 3,275 m | W | 4.4 km |
| Pointe du Bouchet · Epaule NW : Couloir du Peyron | n/a · AD- | 1 m | 3,250 → 3,420 m | N | 4.4 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
Open the piste map (PDF, 438 KB) ↗
Link to the resort’s own file — a piste map is a copyrighted artwork, we host no copy.
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 Orelle
From Paris: 6 hr 54 (662 km) by road.
By road
- From Chambéry: 1 hr 07 · 93 km
- From Grenoble: 1 hr 24 · 122 km
- From Annecy: 1 hr 36 · 140 km
- From Genève: 2 hr 06 · 178 km
- From Lyon: 2 hr 17 · 192 km
From other major cities (15)
- From Valence: 2 hr 27 · 215 km
- From Saint-Étienne: 2 hr 51 · 240 km
- From Dijon: 4 hr 10 · 393 km
- From Clermont-Ferrand: 4 hr 10 · 357 km
- From Besançon: 4 hr 26 · 350 km
- From Montpellier: 4 hr 34 · 420 km
- From Marseille: 4 hr 39 · 429 km
- From Nice: 4 hr 45 · 388 km
- From Perpignan: 5 hr 56 · 568 km
- From Nancy: 6 hr 17 · 603 km
- From Strasbourg: 6 hr 21 · 568 km
- From Toulouse: 6 hr 51 · 654 km
- From Paris: 6 hr 54 · 662 km
- From Bordeaux: 8 hr 09 · 747 km
- From Pau: 8 hr 46 · 844 km
Excluding traffic and winter conditions; passes closed in winter are avoided.
By train
Saint-Michel - Valloire station
regional station · then 9 min drive (7 km)
Nearest main station: Chambéry - Challes-les-Eaux, 1 hr 06 by road.
No direct bus line from the station to the resort appears in the open-data timetables (checked on 11 October 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
- Chambéry-Savoie (CMF): 1 hr 18 by road · 101 km
- Turin-Caselle (TRN): 1 hr 47 by road · 127 km
Take me there
These links open the app with Orelle 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
80 charging points · up to 7 kW
- Parking télécabine · Sowatt Solutions · 80 points · 7 kW · 0.6 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 Orelle?
The Orelle pistes start at 1,731 m, and its ski area rises to 3,242 m.
What is the longest piste in Orelle?
The longest piste is Mauriennaise: 4 km (red run), for 625 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 Orelle?
The highest lift, Bouchet (chairlift), tops out at 3,242 m. Source: STRMTG, French national register of mechanical lifts (CAIRN database), file dated 1 January 2025.
How many lifts does Orelle have, and what is their capacity?
The French national register of mechanical lifts records 5 installations at Orelle (2 gondolas, 3 chairlifts), for an authorised capacity of 9,976 people per hour, of which 2,476 for Rosael alone. The fleet spans 2001 to 2021, an average age of 12 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 Orelle?
The adult day pass for the Les 3 Vallées linked area costs €84.20 and the 6-day pass €421 (2026-2027 season, read on the official price list of Les Menuires).
How do I get to Orelle?
By road, Orelle is 1 hr 07 from Chambéry (93 km), excluding traffic and winter conditions. By train, the nearest station is Saint-Michel - Valloire, 9 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 Chambéry-Savoie, 1 hr 18 away.
How long is the drive from Paris to Orelle?
6 hr 54 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.
When does Orelle open?
According to the official website, the resort opens on 21 November 2026 and closes on 2 May 2027 (2026-2027 season).
Is the snow reliable in Orelle?
Good snow from early February to mid-March. 78 days a winter at 30 cm or more on average, and 336 cm of fresh snow, measured over 31 winters at the Météo-France “ALBIEZ” station. This verdict rests on 31 winters of Météo-France measurements (1992-2023); in season the daily report prevails.
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. Orelle in French →
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