The 34 ski resorts located in the French Pyrenees :
| Ski resort | Location | Department | Average altitude of the ski area ( in m) |
Number of ski runs | Number of lifts | KLM downhill ski slopes | KLM of the cross-country ski trails | Connected ski area | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Artouste | Laruns | Pyrénées-Atlantique | 1750 | 18 | 11 | 27 | 0 | No | |
| Ascou Pailhères | Ascou | Ariege | 1800 | 17 | 7 | 15 | 0 | No | |
| Ax 3 Domains | Ax-les-Thermes | Ariege | 1900 | 36 | 20 | 80 | 0 | No | |
| Barèges | Barèges | Hautes-Pyrénées | 1950 | 58 | 27 | 40 | 0 | La Mongie | |
| Beille | Tarascon-sur-Ariège | Ariege | 1900 | 17 | 2 | 4 | 55 | No | |
| Cambre d’Aze | Eyne | Eastern Pyrenees | 2020 | 23 | 13 | 22 | 0 | Saint-Pierre, Eyne | |
| Camurac | Camurac | Aude | 1650 | 11 | 5 | 15 | 0 | No | |
| Cauterets | Cauterets | Hautes-Pyrénées | 2090 | 23 | 15 | 36 | 36 | No | |
| Pond of Lers | Aulus-les-Bains | Ariege | 1435 | 4 | 0 | 25 | 24 | No | |
| Font-Romeu – Bolquère – Pyrenees 2000 | Bolquère | Eastern Pyrenees | 1932 | 41 | 23 | 41 | 111 | Font-Romeu – Bolquère – Pyrénnées 2000 | |
| Formiguères | Formiguères | Eastern Pyrenees | 2050 | 19 | 7 | 25 | 110 | No | |
| Gavarnie Gèdre | Gavarnie Gèdre | Hautes-Pyrénées | 2125 | 29 | 8 | 40 | 8 | No | |
| Goulier | Goulier | Ariege | 1675 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 0 | No | |
| Gourette | Eaux-Bonnes | Pyrénées-Atlantique | 1900 | 39 | 14 | 35 | 3 | No | |
| Guzet | Ustou | Ariege | 1600 | 29 | 15 | 40 | 3 | No | |
| Hautacam | Beaucens | Hautes-Pyrénées | 1657 | 16 | 7 | 20 | 15 | No | |
| La Mongie | Campan | Hautes-Pyrénées | 1950 | 58 | 28 | 60 | 3 | Barèges | |
| La Pierre St Martin | Arette | Pyrénées-Atlantique | 1840 | 29 | 13 | 29 | 23 | No | |
| The Chioula | Ignaux | Ariege | 1483 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 48 | No | |
| Le Mourtis | Boutx | Haute-Garonne | 1605 | 19 | 10 | 23 | 15 | No | |
| Les Agudes | Gouaux-de-Larboust | Haute-Garonne | 2000 | 49 | 18 | 60 | 10 | Les Agudes – Peyresourde – Loudenvieille | |
| Les Angles | Les Angles | Eastern Pyrenees | 2025 | 45 | 23 | 55 | 43 | No | |
| The Olmes Mountains | Montferrier | Ariege | 1700 | 21 | 11 | 15 | 0 | No | |
| Luchon Superbagnères | Saint-Aventin | Haute-Garonne | 1794 | 28 | 13 | 32 | 4 | No | |
| Luz Ardiden | Luz-Saint-Sauveur | Hautes-Pyrénées | 2090 | 29 | 9 | 60 | 5 | Aulian – Bederet | |
| Mijanès – Donezan | Mijanès | Ariege | 1765 | 15 | 6 | 12 | 15 | No | |
| Nistos | Nistos | Hautes-Pyrénées | 1744 | 8 | 0 | 43 | 55 | No | |
| Peyresourde | Gouaux-de-Larboust | Hautes-Pyrénées | 2000 | 49 | 18 | 60 | 10 | Les Agudes – Peyresourde – Loudenvieille | |
| Piau Engaly | Aragnouet | Hautes-Pyrénées | 2010 | 41 | 11 | 65 | 25 | No | |
| Puymorens litter | Porté Puymorens | Eastern Pyrenees | 2050 | 35 | 10 | 50 | 35 | No | |
| Puyvalador | Puyvalador | Eastern Pyrenees | 1760 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 0 | No | |
| Saint Lary Soulan | Saint-Lary-Soulan | Hautes-Pyrénées | 2100 | 56 | 28 | 102 | 3 | No | |
| Val d’Azun | Arrens-Marsous | Hautes-Pyrénées | 1475 | 9 | 2 | 5 | 90 | No | |
| Val Louron | Génos | Hautes-Pyrénées | 1783 | 20 | 10 | 20 | 0 | No |
The Pyrenees Mountains
The range Pyrenean is a natural border connecting the Atlantic to the Mediterranean, which extends over 420 km and offers beautiful landscapes and wild. The resorts of the massif offer you a unique relaxing stay with multiple qualities, combining for several of them the pleasures of snow with those of fitness.
Indeed, the Pyrenees The Pyrenees are less high than their Alpine cousins, but they offer an exceptional flora and fauna. The massif covers various departments French departments: Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Hautes-Pyrénées, Haute-Garonne, Ariège, Aude and Pyrénées Orientales unevenly and partially. The peak of Aneto, located on the Spanish side of the Pyrenees, culminates at 3 404 meters.
Others mountains and famous summits such as the Corbières massif which culminates at 1,230 meters with notably the Pic du Midi de Bigorre (2,877 m) and the Ossau (2,885 m) also exist. The Pyrenees have a number of ski resorts of varying degrees of importance or height. Many of them are resorts The resort has nearly 100 km of slopes and reaches an altitude of 2,500 meters.
Other large and medium-sized resorts make up the massif such as Les Angles, Luz-Ardiden, Peyragudes, Piau-Engaly, Font-Romeu or Ax-3 domaines. For snow lovers, the Pic du Midi is an unbeatable meeting point with an exceptional and unique fall in the Pyrenees.
The most popular ski resorts
The most popular ski resorts frequented of the French Pyrenees are Ax 3 Domaines, Saint Lary, Cauterets, Le Grand Tourmalet and Font Romeu. The most visited resorts in this region are Toulouse (Hautefeuille – Skilou), Barcelonnette (Ciboure), Peyragudes and Aire-Naval (Val d’Azun).
The largest ski area in the Pyrenees
The Grand Tourmalet, with its 70 ski runs from 1400 to 2500 meters of altitude, is one of the largest ski areas in the Pyrenees. It has 100 kilometers of tracks that can be skied from La Mongie to Barèges.
The resort of the Pyrenees offers the largest vertical drop in skiing
The resort of Piau Engaly, according to the table, offers the most important skiable gradient. It is possible to ski in Piau Engaly on 1180 meters of negative slope (from the crest of the area to the bottom of the Hourc chairlift located at 1420 m), when the snow conditions are optimal.
The fastest ski resorts in the Pyrenees from Toulouse and Perpignan
Several ski areas are located at a distance of 120 to 150 kilometers from Toulouse (1h30 to 2h drive): Le Mourtis and Ax 3 Domaines are probably the quickest to access, but Saint Lary is not very far. To reach the ski slopes of Puyvalador, Formiguères, Les Angles or Font-Romeu Pyrénées 2000, you will need about 2 hours from Perpignan.
Start of the ski season in the Pyrenees
A dozen resorts in the Pyrenees are making every effort to be operational as soon as possible after the cold weather. Their goal is to meet their first skiers of the season during the Immaculada weekend in early December. Weather permitting, the resort of Porte Puymorens is often the quickest to partially open its ski area, which frequently happens in mid-November.
End of the ski season in the Pyrenees
Even if the opening dates of the ski resorts seem to be dictated by snow conditions and the Easter school vacations calendar, it is generally possible to enjoy skiing until mid-April in most of the resorts in the Pyrenees (Cauterets, Piau Engaly and Gourette are often those that close the winter season).
Key figures for skiing in the Pyrenees
36 alpine ski areas – 371 ski lifts – 854 runs (194 green, 279 blue, 264 red, and 117 black) – 1,510 meters (the highest is Gavarnie Gèdre installed at 1850 m, while the lowest resorts are at 1350 m) 685 m Average vertical drop.
According to Skidata.io, the best station in the Pyrenees is Saint-Lary Soulan, with a average score of 7.92 out of 10, through an evaluation on 7 criteria.
For skiing, the Alps offer the largest resorts, with a higher altitude. Nevertheless, the Pyrenees have the advantage of being much cheaper, for such beautiful landscapes. So, if you can be satisfied with a ski area of less than 80klm, the Pyrenees will allow you to spend a pleasant ski holiday.
The resorts where to go in priorities in the Pyrenees are Saint-Lary, Font-Romeu, Les Angles, Ax 3 Domaines, and la Mongie. These are the 5 ski resorts that have the best ratings, according to skidata.io, and for which you are most likely to be satisfied with your stay.
The ski area of the Grand Tourmalet, with La Mongie and Barèges two linked resorts, which has 100klm of ski runs, is the largest resort in the French Pyrenees. Nevertheless, there is a station in Andorra, Grand Valira, which is the largest of the Pyrenees, and which counts 210klm of ski slopesclose to the French border.
The closest ski resort to Montpellier is Alti Aigoual, in the Cevennes, 96klm from Montpellier. In the Pyrenees, it is the station of Les Angles, which is 275klm from Montpellier.
The closest ski resort to Toulouse is Le Mourtis, located 115klmor 1H30 by car. Then, there is the Plateau de Beille (rather for cross-country skiing) at 130klm of road, and then Ax 3 Domainesand Guzetwhich are both 140klm away.
The closest ski resort to Bordeaux is Iraty263klm of cars, but it is only a Nordic area. Then, there is the station of Gourette at 267 klm of road, and finally, there is La Pierre Saint-Martinin a real ski resort, at 288klm of distance.
The resorts in the Pyrenees closest to the ski slopes are Gourette, La Mongie, Les Angles, Piau-Engaly, or La Pierre Saint-Martin.
Saint-Lary authorizes dogs to go up in the cable car, until the Pla d’Adetif they are kept on a leash. This way, you will be able to walk around, but not on the ski slopes, where their presence is forbidden.
If you have a baby, it’s better to choose a low altitude resort, such as Saint-Lary, Gourette, Barèges, or Luchon. Thus, it is possible to ski, while a person takes care of your baby, at a altitude reasonable for his body.
There are 34 ski resorts in the Pyrenees. It is the second largest massif of France, in number of ski runs, after the Alps.
The resort of Piau-Engaly, which is also the highest at 2600m, is famous for to be the best snowed in the Pyrenees. Thanks to its geographical position, which covers it from the wind and from the thaw.
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Translated from the french original version : https://skidata.io/station-de-ski/massif/pyrenees/?rand=9113
Fondateur de Skidata.io, j’ai une passion pour le ski, la randonnée en montagne, ainsi que la data.
Mon objectif est de vous aider à comparer factuellement les domaines skiables et villages de montagne.