Pelvoux and Vallouise are two Hautes-Alpes villages at the gates of the Ecrins National Park, with a modest local ski area and a wall of serious mountains behind. The scene is honest backcountry country, not Serre Chevalier polish. The Pelvoux peak rises to 3,946 m and is one of France's highest summits outside the Mont Blanc range.
Run counts and piste kilometres are indicative. Green runs only exist in France, Spain, Andorra and Germany; Italy, Austria, Switzerland and Germany start at blue. Indicative average snow depth near the top of the resort, in cm.
A handful of well-rated hotels in and around the resort. Pick one, then compare live prices across Booking, Expedia and Hotels.com.
Very good · 715 reviews
A long-standing favourite in Pelvoux-Vallouise, trusted by thousands of guests before you.
Guests rate this hotel as very good (4.3/5 from 715 reviews). It sits about 500 m from the slopes. A mid-range option for Pelvoux-Vallouise, with live nightly rates shown for your exact dates so you always see the best price.
Ratings from Google, prices indicative per night. Live availability and rates via our booking partners.
There is almost no genuine ski-in/ski-out lodging in Pelvoux-Vallouise: most hotels and gites sit in the valley villages, with a five to fifteen minute drive or shuttle to the Pré de Madame Carle lift base. A handful of small chalets near the lift station are the exception.
The lift-served piste is small: 24 km on seven lifts above the hamlet of Pré de Madame Carle, ranging from gentle greens at the base to four black runs cut between the larches. The reach for most visitors here is not the piste count but everything around it: ski touring into the Ecrins, ice climbing in the Vallouise gorge, snowshoe trails into the national park and a deep silence rare elsewhere in the Alps. Vallouise itself is a stone-built valley village with a square, a fountain and a few cafes; Pelvoux clusters along the road higher up. The crowd is locals, climbers and families who want winter without the lift queues and the apres-ski theatrics. Serre Chevalier is one valley over for a change of scene, but most guests come precisely to avoid it.
Hotels and apartments around the lifts. Compare prices on Booking, Expedia and Hotels.com.
Pelvoux-Vallouise offers 24 km of pistes across 7 lifts, from 1,250 m to 2,300 m. Whether it suits beginners depends on the dedicated learner zones at the base of the slopes, so check the local ski-school options for green and blue run access.
The season runs from Dec 14 to Apr 7, with a snow score of 74/100. The best conditions are usually from late January through February, while spring skiing in March and April brings longer days and softer afternoons.
There is almost no genuine ski-in/ski-out lodging in Pelvoux-Vallouise: most hotels and gites sit in the valley villages, with a five to fifteen minute drive or shuttle to the Pré de Madame Carle lift base. A handful of small chalets near the lift station are the exception.
Pelvoux-Vallouise has 24 km of marked pistes served by 7 lifts, between 1,250 m and 2,300 m of altitude.
Pelvoux-Vallouise counts about 32 marked runs in total. The colour breakdown above shows how they split by difficulty, a good guide to whether the resort fits your level.
Similar style, different mountain.
French Alps
French Alps
French Alps
French Alps