Plan your visit
Season Planner
South-facing and high, the resort keeps two quite different characters through the year. Here's what each season is for — and when to come for the mountain you want.
Two mountains, one address
Winter or summer?
Cold season · snow
Winter at the resort
180 km of linked pistes across Le Grand Domaine, wide and quiet, on the sunniest side of the Maurienne. Best for confident cruisers, families finding their feet, and long refuge lunches in the sun.
- Signature · La Madeleine red, top to village
- The skiing · wide, quiet, ski-in ski-out
- Where to eat · refuge lunches & Savoyard tables
Warm season · green
Summer at the resort
Once the snow melts, the slopes turn to wildflower and the great road over the Col de la Madeleine opens to cyclists. Best for walkers, riders and anyone chasing quiet high country.
- Signature climb · Col de la Madeleine · 2 000 m
- On foot & wheels · trails & MTB from the village
- Where to eat · refuge terraces & farm cheese
Side by side
What changes with the season
| Winter | Summer | |
|---|---|---|
| Altitude | 1 450 – 2 550 m | 1 450 – 2 550 m |
| The draw | 180 km of linked pistes, wide and quiet | Cols, singletrack and high wildflower meadows |
| Signature | La Madeleine red, top to village | Col de la Madeleine climb to 2 000 m |
| What you do | Ski & snowboard, ski touring, refuge lunches | Walk, mountain-bike, road-climb the cols |
| Where to eat | Refuge lunches & Savoyard tables | Refuge terraces & farm cheese |
| Getting there | ≈1 hr 15 from Chambéry | ≈2 hrs from Chambéry |
The shape of the year
How the mountain turns
- Deep winterReliable cover and the full ski area open; short days, cold mornings, sun on the terraces by noon.
- Late-winter sunLonger days and softening afternoons — spring skiing on the south face, and the best light of the season.
- Snowmelt & shoulderThe lifts wind down, the valley greens, and the mountain has a quiet in-between all to itself.
- Early summerMeadows come into flower and the Col de la Madeleine road opens to cyclists once the snow is cleared.
- High summerWalking, mountain biking and the great road climbs; long light and warm refuge terraces.
- Autumn quietCool, clear air and empty trails — the last rides and last cheese runs before the snow returns.
We keep this evergreen on purpose — mountain seasons shift year to year. Check the lift and road status before you travel; snow clearance decides the exact edges.
Whatever the season
Getting here doesn't change
The way up is the same in ski boots or on a bike — an hour or two from the valley cities, then the last climb over the hairpins.
Good any time of year
The valley & the table
Some of the best of the Maurienne keeps no season at all — the stone hamlets, the larch forest, the great cheeses of the valley and a proper Savoyard dinner in the village.