Vallorcine
Vallorcine is a ski resort in the Northern Alps (Haute-Savoie). The village sits at 1,264 m and the ski area rises to 2,254 m, a skiable vertical of 992 m.
The area offers 58 km of alpine pistes, 52 marked pistes (6 green, 23 blue, 20 red, 3 black), 18 ski lifts, plus a snowpark.
Measured on the OpenStreetMap map: the longest piste runs 4 km (Belle Place Bas) and the highest lift tops out at 2,253 m.
The resort holds the Flocon Vert label.
Access: 1 h 23 by road from Genève and 1 min from Vallorcine railway station.
1 official webcam shows the pistes live (on the French page).
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?3 / 5
Top of the ski area: 2,254 m · Bottom of the pistes: 1,262 m · Days above 30 cm per winter, measured: 111 days · Days above 30 cm, December to March, model: 71%
- Ski areaIs there enough to ski all week?3.5 / 5
Km of pistes at the resort: 58 km · Km of pistes across the linked area: 58 km · Lifts: 18 · Balance between piste levels: 82%
- 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: 56% · Magic carpets: 0 · Sledging runs: 0 · ESF ski school · Ice rink, pool, rail sledge…: 1
- AccessIs it easy to get to?3.5 / 5
Average drive time from 20 major cities: 4 hr 49 · Nearest railway station: 1 min · Nearest airport: 1 hr 48
- Atmosphere and après-skiIs there life in the evening and off the slopes?2.5 / 5
Bars and pubs: 1 · Nightclubs: 0 · Restaurants: 9 · Upcoming events: 0 · Collective tourist beds: 435 — 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 — 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.
Right now at the AIGUILLES ROUGES-NIVOSE station (2,365 m)
Avalanche danger
7-day forecast
Village 1,264 m · top 2,254 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.
Average snow depth by month
Good snow from January to March.
☀️ Average daily sunshine : Nov 6.4 h · Dec 5.7 h · Jan 6.1 h · Feb 7.4 h · Mar 8.6 h · Apr 10.3 h — 26 bright days in April (Open-Meteo estimate, 2015-2025).
- November—no record
- December—no record
- January84 cmGood skiing · 97%
- February93 cmGood skiing · 100%
- March98 cmGood skiing · 85%
- April—no record
- 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
Snow actually measured, winter by winter
16 complete winters measured, from 2010-2011 to 2025-2026 — on average 111 days a winter with at least 30 cm on the ground.
- 1-15 Dec39 cmVariable · 50 %
- 16-31 Dec58 cmVariable · 71 %
- 1-15 Jan71 cmGood skiing · 90 %
- 16-31 Jan95 cmGood skiing · 100 %
- 1-15 Feb105 cmGood skiing · 100 %
- 16-29 Feb107 cmGood skiing · 100 %
- 1-15 Mar103 cmGood skiing · 96 %
- 16-31 Mar78 cmGood skiing · 81 %
- 1-15 Apr44 cmInsufficient · 47 %
- Best winter of the series
- 2025-2026 — 134 days at 30 cm or more
- Worst winter of the series
- 2016-2017 — 74 days at 30 cm or more
Snowfall: no long enough record of fresh snow at this station. Rather than an estimate, we show nothing.
The ski area
Compare with another resort →52 pistes, by level — 58 km
- Skiable vertical
- 992 m (1,262 m → 2,254 m)
- Lifts
- 1 cable car, 14 funiculars, 2 gondolas, 2 chairlifts, 13 drag lifts
- Cross-country skiing
- 4 named trails — 15 km of marked loops (6.4 km of distinct track: the loops overlap), right by 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.
See the trails(4)
Trail Level Length Les Mayens n/a 6.5 km La Courzille n/a 6.5 km Liaison n/a 1.2 km Le Mermy n/a 0.8 km - Snowpark
- Yes
- Without skis
- 2 km of snowshoe and walking trails
- Piste aspect
- N 18% · E 8% · S 26% · W 49% (descent direction of 37 OSM pistes, terrain model)
- Mountain restaurants
- Alpage de Balme (1983 m) · Les Ecuries de Charamillon (1911 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 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 Vallorcine only (“VALLORCINE”), magic carpets included.
Staying and hiring gear in Vallorcine
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 (1) →Vallorcine broadcasts its images on its own page: the link takes you there. Checked on 12 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 Vallorcine
From Paris: 6 hr 50 (632 km) by road.
By road
- From Genève: 1 hr 23 · 98 km
- From Annecy: 1 hr 35 · 122 km
- From Chambéry: 2 hr 03 · 163 km
- From Grenoble: 2 hr 25 · 165 km
- From Lyon: 2 hr 58 · 241 km
From other major cities (15)
- From Besançon: 3 hr 06 · 219 km
- From Valence: 3 hr 28 · 257 km
- From Saint-Étienne: 3 hr 35 · 299 km
- From Dijon: 3 hr 58 · 295 km
- From Strasbourg: 4 hr 32 · 393 km
- From Clermont-Ferrand: 4 hr 40 · 411 km
- From Montpellier: 5 hr 35 · 462 km
- From Marseille: 5 hr 40 · 471 km
- From Nancy: 5 hr 41 · 467 km
- From Nice: 5 hr 43 · 474 km
- From Paris: 6 hr 50 · 632 km
- From Perpignan: 6 hr 57 · 610 km
- From Toulouse: 7 hr 53 · 696 km
- From Bordeaux: 8 hr 39 · 798 km
- From Pau: 9 hr 47 · 886 km
Excluding traffic and winter conditions; passes closed in winter are avoided.
By train
Vallorcine station
halt · then 1 min drive
Nearest main station: Annecy, 1 hr 34 by road.
Shuttles and buses from the station: see the resort’s official website.
By plane
- Genève (GVA): 1 hr 48 by road · 106 km
- Chambéry-Savoie (CMF): 2 hr 07 by road · 162 km
Take me there
These links open the app with Vallorcine 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
2 charging points · up to 22 kW
- VALLORCINE - Le Buet · EASYCHARGE · 2 points · 22 kW · 1.9 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.
Off-piste & ski touring
The resorts for off-piste skiing →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 Vallorcine — up to 1,500 m of climb.
| Summit and route | Ski grade | Climb | Altitude | Aspect | From resort |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Refuge de Loriaz · Depuis le Buet ou le Couteray | 2.1 · E1 · PD- | 691 m | 1,329 → 2,020 m | SE | 1.5 km |
| Le Charmoz - pointe 2595 m · Tour par la brèche des Perrons | 3.3 · E2 · AD | 1,500 m | 1,360 → 2,595 m | n/a | 1.7 km |
| Pointe de la Terrasse · Couloir NE | 3.3 · E2 · AD+ | 1,400 m | 1,350 → 2,734 m | SE | 1.9 km |
| Col de la Terrasse · Boucle par le vallon de Tré Les Eaux | 3.1 · E1 · AD- | 1,300 m | 1,350 → 2,648 m | SE | 1.9 km |
| Pointe de la Terrasse · Face SE | 5.1 · E2 · D+ | 1,390 m | 1,350 → 2,734 m | SE | 2 km |
| Pointe de la Terrasse · Par le Col de la Terrasse | 3.2 · E1 · AD | 1,450 m | 1,350 → 2,734 m | E | 2.1 km |
| Cornes de Loriaz · Couloir NE | 4.2 · E3 · D | 1,400 m | 1,340 → 2,726 m | NE | 2.1 km |
| Le Charmoz - pointe 2366 m · Par les chalets de Loriaz | 2.2 · E1 · PD | 1,050 m | 1,350 → 2,366 m | SE | 2.1 km |
| Tête de la Chevrette · Pente S de Loriaz | 3.1 · E1 · AD- | 800 m | 1,350 → 2,150 m | S | 2.2 km |
| Aiguillette des Posettes · Voie normale | 2.2 · E1 · PD | 748 m | 1,453 → 2,201 m | SE | 2.2 km |
| Le Cheval Blanc · Par le Vallon de Tré les Eaux | 3.1 · E1 · AD- | 1,500 m | 1,329 → 2,831 m | SE | 2.4 km |
| Le Charmoz - pointe 2595 m · Couloirs SW ou SE | 3.3 · E2 · AD | 1,255 m | 1,350 → 2,594 m | S | 2.7 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 Vallorcine
Museum
- Musée la Maison de Barberine, musée vallorcin · Vallorcine · 2 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
435 bed spaces in tourist residences, holiday villages and hostels
- 1 hotel · 21 rooms
- 2 tourist residences and apartment hotels · 435 bed spaces
- 1 campsite · 75 pitches
Commune: Vallorcine · 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
Office de tourisme
Ski school
ESF Vallorcine
30 instructors
🇬🇧 32 English-speaking instructors — lessons in English available
🗓️ This school sells its lessons online — book ↗
Source: esf.net
Days without skiing
- Ice rink · Patinoire
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 Vallorcine?
Vallorcine sits at 1,264 m at village level, and its ski area rises to 2,254 m.
How many kilometres of pistes does Vallorcine have?
Vallorcine has 58 km of pistes served by 18 lifts (OpenStreetMap survey).
What is the longest piste in Vallorcine?
The longest piste is Belle Place Bas: 4 km (red run), for 456 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 Vallorcine?
The highest lift, TC de Vallorcine (gondola), tops out at 1,932 m. Source: STRMTG, French national register of mechanical lifts (CAIRN database), file dated 1 January 2025.
How many lifts does Vallorcine have, and what is their capacity?
The French national register of mechanical lifts records 5 installations at Vallorcine (1 gondola, 4 drag lifts), for an authorised capacity of 4,120 people per hour, of which 2,000 for TC de Vallorcine alone. The fleet spans 1962 to 2007, an average age of 37 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 Vallorcine?
By road, Vallorcine is 1 hr 23 from Genève (98 km), excluding traffic and winter conditions. By train, the nearest station is Vallorcine, 1 min by road from the resort. The nearest airport is Genève, 1 hr 48 away.
How long is the drive from Paris to Vallorcine?
6 hr 50 for 632 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 Vallorcine?
Yes: good snow through most of the winter according to twenty winters of Météo-France measurements; in season the daily report prevails.
Is Vallorcine good for beginners and families?
56% of the pistes are green or blue: a rather technical area.
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