The highest ski resorts in France
Every week Loyal Transfers transports skiers to the highest French ski resorts. But which is the highest of them all, and what exactly are we measuring?
You might think there’s no argument over which is the highest ski resort in France. But according to WhatSkiResort.com – Independent Ski Resort Reviews, it depends on what measurement you use.
Is it the French ski resort with the highest village in which you can stay? Or the French ski resort with the highest ski lift? Or the French ski resort with the highest pistes? Because these three questions all have different answers.
©andyparant.com-Tignes OT
The highest ski resort village in France
‘At 2300m above sea level, Val Thorens is the highest ski resort village in which you can stay, not only in France, but also in Western Europe,’ says Will Micklethwait, the editor of WhatSki Resort. ‘The only dispute is over who comes second.’
‘In France, it’s probably a three-way tie between Arc 2000, Plagne Aime 2000 and Tignes 2100 (the collective name for Tignes Val Claret, Tignes le Lac and Tignes le Lavachet).’
But surely Tignes 2100 is 100 metres above Arc 2000 and Plagne Aime 2000?
Not according to WhatSkiResort.com. ‘Arc 2000 and Plagne Aime 2000 are both misnomers. They and both located at 2,100m above sea level, as is Tignes 2100.’
Val Thorens (c) S.BERTHON – OT Val Thorens
The highest ski lift in France
‘The highest French ski lift is the Aiguille du Midi cable car in Chamonix-Mont-Blanc’, says Will. ‘It reaches 3,842m asl. Although if you want to be really accurate you could knock more than 50m off the official elevation, because you have to climb down a lot of steps before you reach any snow that you can ski on. But even allowing for that, there’s no higher ski lift in France.’
So why isn’t Chamonix also the ski resort with highest pistes in France?
According to WhatSkiResort.com: ‘The Aiguille du Midi cable car accesses only freeride terrain which is neither groomed nor avalanche-secured and is only safe to ski with a guide. It’s definitely not a piste. Chamonix ski resort does have pistes but they are much lower.’
The highest piste in France
‘The highest altitude piste in France is the blue Lauze ski run in Les 2 Alpes that starts from the Dome de la Lauze at 3568m, above sea level’ says WhatSkiResort’s editor. ‘It’s also the start of the continuous groomed ski slope with the largest vertical drop in the world, as you can ski all the way down to Mont de Lans at 1300m asl without stopping.’
©Les2Alpes – luka leroy
The award of the highest ski resort in France goes to…
So if Val Thorens has the highest village, Chamonix has the highest ski lift and Les 2 Alpes has the highest piste, which of them has the best claim to being the highest ski resort in France?
The answer, according to WhatSkiResort.com, is none of them.
Combined altitude: the best way to measure ski resort elevation
WhatSkiResort.com believes the best way to measure ski resort elevation is Combined Altitude, because it reflects the reality of a ski holiday where you spend time both at resort level and at the top of the ski resort.
You calculate Combined Altitude by adding the altitude of the highest ski lift to the altitude of the village in which you stay, although are a few important qualifications.
The ski lift must be lift-linked to the resort village and within easy day-trip range for an intermediate-level skier. It must also access avalanche-secured slopes (sorry Chamonix!). And the village must have a wide range of accommodation, including hotels and apartments.
The highest ski resort in France measured by Combined Altitude
Based on Combined Altitude, the highest ski resort in France is Tignes. Tignes 2100 has a combined altitude score of 5556m, which is higher than any other French ski resort.
So there you have it: Val Thorens has higher accommodation; Chamonix has a higher ski lift and Les 2 Alpes has a higher piste, but overall Tignes is the highest ski resort in France, at least according to WhatSkiResort.com.
And even if you disagree, the good news is that Loyal Transfers provides private transfers to all these ski resorts and all the other high-altitude ski resorts in France as well.
Europe’s highest ski resorts
You can read the full article on ‘Europe’s highest ski resorts and ski areas’ on the WhatSkiResort.com website where you can also find independent reviews of all the top ski resorts.
