SkiRadar FR

Plaine Joux

Northern Alps Checked on 18 September 2026
1,360 mVillage altitude
—Top of the ski area
11 kmAlpine pistes
7Ski lifts
€25.50Adult day pass · 2025-2026

Plaine Joux is a locality in France situated in Haute-Savoie, in the commune of Passy, above Plateau d'Assy and the hamlet of Joux which gave it its name. Accessible by the departmental road 43 which ends there, it is home to the Passy Plaine-Joux winter sports resort for the practice of alpine and Nordic skiing, a free flight take-off area, climbing sites, a panorama over the Arve valley and the massif du Mont-Blanc, holiday camp centres in Guébriant, or even restaurants. The site can be reached on a hike from the bottom of the valley via various routes and it is one of the stages of the GRP Tour du Pays du Mont-Blanc and Tour des Fiz trail.

Flocon Vert Full page in French →
Plaine Joux — view of the resort
Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Translated from the French Wikipedia article (CC BY-SA), machine translation.

SkiRadar ratings

How ratings are computed →Computed on 18 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 322 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?
    n/a

    Not rated: “top of the ski area” is missing from this page.

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

    Km of pistes at the resort: 11 km · Km of pistes across the linked area: 11 km · Lifts: 7 · Balance between piste levels: 86%

  3. ValueIs the lift pass reasonable for what you get?
    3.5 / 5

    Adult day pass: €25.5 · Day pass price per km of pistes: €2.32/km · Adult 6-day pass: €121

  4. Families and beginnersIs it right for children and beginners?
    3.5 / 5

    Share of green and blue pistes: 75% · Magic carpets: 2 · Sledging runs: 1 · Special prices out of 4 (beginner, child, family, free age): 3 · ESF ski school · Ice rink, pool, rail sledge…: 1

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

    Average drive time from 20 major cities: 4 hr 40 · Nearest railway station: 20 min · Station-to-resort shuttles per day: 10 · Nearest airport: 1 hr 31

  6. Atmosphere and après-skiIs there life in the evening and off the slopes?
    2 / 5

    Bars and pubs: 0 · Nightclubs: 0 · Restaurants: 5 · Upcoming events: 5 · Collective tourist beds: 540 — 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: 69% · Spas and saunas: 0 · Jewellers, watchmakers, fashion boutiques: 0 · Adult day pass: €25.5 — 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).

Snow and opening

7-day forecast → Snow report →
Status unknown

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 1,360 m

Loading the forecast…

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.

Average snow depth by month

Good snow from January to March.

Météo-France measurements · 9 winters (2016-2025)

☀️ Average daily sunshine : Nov 6.2 h · Dec 5.6 h · Jan 5.9 h · Feb 7.2 h · Mar 8.5 h · Apr 10.2 h — 26 bright days in April (Open-Meteo estimate, 2015-2025).

  1. November—no record
  2. December54 cmVariable · 77%
  3. January77 cmGood skiing · 87%
  4. February94 cmGood skiing · 98%
  5. March101 cmGood skiing · 91%
  6. April61 cmVariable · 64%
  7. May—no record

30 cm on the ground: the benchmark for groomed-piste skiing. Bar = monthly average depth; percentage = share of time above 30 cm.

  • Good skiing: 30 cm on more than 8 days in 10
  • Variable: 30 cm on 5 to 8 days in 10
  • Insufficient: 30 cm less than one day in two
Météo-France snow observation network (poste nivo « Flaine » (1620 m, à 6.7 km)) — total snow depth recorded by the resort observers, open archive. During the season the daily report prevails. The percentage is the share of readings with at least 30 cm on the ground; “—”: month without readings.

Snow actually measured, winter by winter

17 complete winters measured, from 1995-1996 to 2021-2022 — on average 74 days a winter with at least 30 cm on the ground.

Météo-France — “VALLORCINE_PLAN-DROIT” station (1326 m, 15.9 km away) · 12 Sept 2026
  1. 1-15 Dec23 cmInsufficient · 32 %
  2. 16-31 Dec32 cmInsufficient · 44 %
  3. 1-15 Jan38 cmVariable · 56 %
  4. 16-31 Jan51 cmVariable · 68 %
  5. 1-15 Feb62 cmGood skiing · 82 %
  6. 16-29 Feb59 cmVariable · 79 %
  7. 1-15 Mar52 cmVariable · 74 %
  8. 16-31 Mar27 cmInsufficient · 39 %
  9. 1-15 Apr10 cmInsufficient · 15 %
Best winter of the series
2012-2013 — 133 days at 30 cm or more
Worst winter of the series
2021-2022 — 26 days at 30 cm or more

How much snow actually falls — 334 cm a winter on average, spread over 27 days of snowfall. Measured over 18 complete winters.

Biggest 24-hour snowfall
90 cm — 1998-1999
Snowiest winter
1998-1999 — 572 cm
Leanest winter
2010-2011 — 137 cm
Total snow depth on the ground measured at 06:00 at the Météo-France “VALLORCINE_PLAN-DROIT” station (1326 m, 15.9 km away), from the open “Daily climatological data” dataset (Open Licence 2.0). The season is counted from 1 December to 15 April; only winters with at least 95 % of those 136 days measured are kept, so no figure here rests on a handful of readings. The reading is taken at 1326 m. In season, the resort’s daily report prevails. Snowfall figures are the fresh snow depth over 24 hours recorded at the same station (the HNEIGEF column): a day of snowfall is a day with 1 cm or more, and only winters measured 95 % of the time on that column are counted — which is why the record can be longer or shorter than the one for snow on the ground. More snow always falls than remains: some melts, settles or blows away.

The ski area

Compare with another resort →

20 pistes, by level — 11 km

9 green6 blue4 red1 black
Lifts
1 chairlift, 4 drag lifts, 2 magic carpets
Cross-country skiing
3 km of nordic trails
Snowpark
Yes
Without skis
1 sledging run
Piste aspect
N 20% · E 4% · S 49% · W 27% (descent direction of 21 OSM pistes, terrain model)
Mountain restaurants
Le désert blanc (2475 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 (2025-2026) detail →

Adult passPrice
1 day€25.50
6 days€121
Season€222
Child, 1 day€22.50
Beginner, 1 day€10.50
FreeFree under 5 · free from 80 years

Read on the official price list, full price, excluding promotions. Official price list ↗

Official piste map

Open the piste map (PDF, 1.7 MB) ↗

Published by Passy Mont-Blanc · file dated 18 December 2025 · link checked on 12 September 2026 · official page

Link to the resort’s own file — a piste map is a copyrighted artwork, we host no copy.

Staying and hiring gear in Plaine Joux

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

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
VVF
Family holiday villages, kids’ clubs included.
See offers

Ski hire

Sport 2000 Location
Skis, boots and helmets booked online, collected in a resort shop.
Book
Skiset
Network of ski-hire shops in the resorts.
Book

Live webcams

All webcams (2) →
Barmus Open at the operator ↗
▶ Watch live
StationSkaping

Official players of the resort, live image.

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 Plaine Joux

From Paris: 6 hr 33 (608 km) by road.

By road

  • From Genève: 1 hr 06 · 73 km
  • From Annecy: 1 hr 19 · 97 km
  • From Chambéry: 1 hr 46 · 138 km
  • From Grenoble: 2 hr 06 · 141 km
  • From Lyon: 2 hr 41 · 216 km
From other major cities (15)
  • From Valence: 3 hr 10 · 234 km
  • From Saint-Étienne: 3 hr 18 · 275 km
  • From Besançon: 3 hr 35 · 247 km
  • From Dijon: 3 hr 41 · 329 km
  • From Clermont-Ferrand: 4 hr 23 · 386 km
  • From Montpellier: 5 hr 17 · 439 km
  • From Marseille: 5 hr 22 · 448 km
  • From Strasbourg: 5 hr 27 · 436 km
  • From Nancy: 5 hr 44 · 532 km
  • From Nice: 5 hr 52 · 480 km
  • From Paris: 6 hr 33 · 608 km
  • From Perpignan: 6 hr 38 · 586 km
  • From Toulouse: 7 hr 34 · 673 km
  • From Bordeaux: 8 hr 22 · 773 km
  • From Pau: 9 hr 29 · 863 km

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

By train

Chedde station

halt · then 20 min drive (11 km)

Nearest main station: Annecy, 1 hr 17 by road.

  • From Chedde station (stop “Prés Moulin”): line Y85 — SALLANCHES → PASSY (REGION - cars Région Haute-Savoie), 40 min to the “Guébriant” stop — 10 departures a day on weekdays, 8 a day at weekends · first 06:27, last 19:17 · timetable from 15 December 2026 to 15 April 2027 · official timetable ↗

Direct journeys read from the official timetable files published on transport.data.gouv.fr — no connections.

By plane

  • Genève (GVA): 1 hr 31 by road · 81 km
  • Chambéry-Savoie (CMF): 1 hr 50 by road · 137 km

Take me there

These links open the app with Plaine Joux 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.

Off-piste & ski touring

The resorts for off-piste skiing →
4 Marked off-piste itineraries · 2 km
— Ski touring routes
— Skiable vertical

Named itineraries: Dérochoir

Safety. Off-piste terrain is neither marked nor made safe by the resort: a transceiver, a shovel, a probe and reading the avalanche bulletin are the minimum — and going with a mountain guide is better still. Today's avalanche risk (Météo-France scale of 1 to 5) will appear here during the season.

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

Resorts for ski touring →

12 ski touring routes documented within 10 km of Plaine Joux — up to 1,945 m of climb.

Summit and routeSki gradeClimbAltitudeAspectFrom resort
Passage du Dérochoir · Versant S4.3 · E2 · D890 m1,360 → 2,240 mS1 km
Le Tour des Ayères1.3 · E1 · F350 m1,360 → 1,641 mSE1.1 km
Le Motet · Couloir du Gypaète5.2 · E2 · TD810 m1,292 → 2,100 mE1.3 km
Pointe de la Mitraille · Depuis Flaine et retour par le col de Portette2.2 · E1 · PD+1,300 m2,480 → 2,741 mW2.2 km
Pointe Noire de Pormenaz · Par le couloir de la Chorde3.3 · E1 · AD+1,000 m1,360 → 2,323 mW2.2 km
Pointe d'Anterne · Couloir de la Mitraille - depuis Plaine Joux5.1 · E3 · D-1,450 m1,300 → 2,700 mNE2.4 km
Pointe Noire de Pormenaz · Couloir Trappier4.3 · E3 · D+1,000 m1,360 → 2,323 mW2.4 km
Crête des Hippocampes · Par les lapiaz de Sales ou le Dérochoir3.3 · E1 · PD-1,240 m1,180 → 2,420 mNW3 km
Tête de Moëde · Couloir En/a · AD1,300 m1,360 → 2,459 mE3.1 km
Pointe Noire de Pormenaz · Couloir en Y5.1 · E4 · TD-1,000 m1,360 → 2,323 mW3.1 km
Lac de Pormenaz · Depuis Servoz retour par le couloir de la Chorden/a · AD+950 m1,100 → 2,000 mNW3.1 km
Frêtes de Villy · Tête de Moëde > Tête de Villy > Chalets d'Anterne > Col d'Anterne > la Chorden/a · E1 · AD1,945 m1,340 → 2,494 mn/a3.2 km
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 ↗

Beyond skiing at Plaine Joux

Ice rink

  • Patinoire de Saint-Gervais · Saint-Gervais-les-Bains · 7.3 km away
  • Patinoire des Houches · Les Houches · 8 km away

Swimming pool

Spa and thermal baths

Paragliding

Museum

  • Maison du Lieutenant · Servoz · 2.4 km away
  • Archipel Art Contemporain · Saint-Gervais-les-Bains · 6.8 km away
  • Fresque François Durafour · Saint-Gervais-les-Bains · 6.9 km away
  • La Cure · Saint-Gervais-les-Bains · 6.9 km away

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. Opening times and prices are the operator’s — check before you go.

Practical information

Collective accommodation

540 bed spaces in tourist residences, holiday villages and hostels

  • 3 hotels · 54 rooms (1 × 4★, 1 × 2★)
  • 1 holiday village or family centre · 340 bed spaces
  • 1 tourist residence or apartment hotel · 200 bed spaces
  • 4 campsites · 507 pitches

Commune: Passy · INSEE tourist accommodation survey, 2026, read on 12 September 2026. Collective accommodation only — privately let flats and second homes are not counted. INSEE dataset ↗

Tourist office

Maison de la Réserve Naturelle de Passy

📍 321 Chemin des Parchets, 74190 Passy

📞 +33 4 50 66 47 51

🌐 cen-haute-savoie.org/accueil-public/maison-reserve-naturelle-passy

Ski school

ESF Passy Plaine Joux

📞 04 50 58 83 89

🌐 esfpassy.fr/fr

18 instructors

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

🗓️ This school sells its lessons online — book ↗

Source: esf.net

All about the ski school in Plaine Joux →

Days without skiing

  • Cinema · La Caméra

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.

What's on around Plaine Joux

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.

Nearby resorts

Servoz 3 kmSaint-Gervais-les-Bains 7 kmFlaine 7 kmLes Houches 8 kmPlanpraz 9 kmCombloux 10 km

Frequently asked questions

How high is Plaine Joux?

Plaine Joux sits at 1,360 m at village level.

How many kilometres of pistes does Plaine Joux have?

Plaine Joux has 11 km of pistes served by 7 lifts (OpenStreetMap survey).

How much is a lift pass in Plaine Joux?

The adult day pass costs €25.50 and the 6-day pass €121 (2025-2026, read on the official price list).

How do I get to Plaine Joux?

By road, Plaine Joux is 1 hr 06 from Genève (73 km), excluding traffic and winter conditions. By train, the nearest station is Chedde, 20 min by road from the resort. From Chedde station, line Y85 — SALLANCHES → PASSY (REGION - cars Région Haute-Savoie) reaches the “Guébriant” stop in 40 min, 10 departures a day on weekdays, 8 a day at weekends. The nearest airport is Genève, 1 hr 31 away.

How long is the drive from Paris to Plaine Joux?

6 hr 33 for 608 km from central Paris, excluding traffic and winter conditions. Computed on the real road network (OpenStreetMap): allow more on a school-holiday Saturday.

Is the snow reliable in Plaine Joux?

Yes: good snow through most of the winter according to twenty winters of Météo-France measurements; in season the daily report prevails.

Is Plaine Joux good for beginners and families?

75% of the pistes are green or blue: a very accessible area.

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. Plaine Joux in French →

Every figure carries its source and date; a missing figure shows as “—”, never estimated. Embed this widget on your site