44.9295, 6.7182
006°43'09"E | 44°55'77"N
Montgenèvre,
Hautes-Alpes,
France.
Altitude: 1860 - 3130m
Downhill ski terrain: 100km
Montgenèvre - Mont de la Lune
86 downhill pistes:
7 Green | 24 Blue | 40 Red | 15 Black
1 freeride zone | 1 half-pipe.
35 Lifts:
2 Télémix Gondola/Chairlifts
13 Draglifts | 17 Chairlifts
1 Gondola | 2 magic-carpets
Beginners/Families
Intermediates- Advanced/Expert
There are also 17km of groomed cross-country pistes, with a further 65km nearby.
- Value
- Accommodation
Dining Out- Nightlife
- • Cross-border, linked-domain experience amid stunning scenery.
- • New changes to make better beginners' area in the heart of the village
- • Terrain for everyone, including the bravest free-riders.
- • Accommodation for most budgets, with more on the way.
- • Dependable snow record.
- • Solid value, without compromises on the ski experience.
- • Short transfers from Turin flights or TGV rail connection in Oulx.
- • Long distances for those driving from the UK.
- • Those venturing further than Clavière, might consider driving to Cesana, for faster access, more ski time and a more carefree return.
A dramatic gateway to a whole new
world of possibilities.
At nightfall the heart of
the historic village
is
illuminated.
- Seen, tried and tested.
Résidence MMV
Le Hameau des Airelles
Hameau de l’Obélisque
05100 Montgenèvre
These chalet-style apartments enjoy a privileged piste-side position which is effectively ski-in/ski-out. Facilities include swimming pool, Jacuzzi, sauna, hammam, etc. Very well-equipped and comfortable, the résidence also offers secure underground parking (extra charge). Free wifi available in reception area.
It's a short walk into the village and there is a convenient delicatessen which does a take-out meal service, boulangerie/café and equipment hire nearby.
Enquiries and bookings:
Peak Retreats
0844 576 0170 (UK)
or +44 23 9283 9310
reservations@peakretreats.co.uk
Le Chalet Blanc Hotel
La Table Blanche
Hameau de l’Obélisque
05100 Montgenèvre
+33 (0)4 92 44 27 02
www.hotellechaletblanc.com
Prestige contemporary style hotel offering guests spectacular rooms, concierge service and the latest in spa facilities. The gourmet restaurant La Table Blanche offers sophisticated and multicultural cuisine created by the talented couple Sharon and Jimmy Frannais.
Baita La Coche
Clavière
Tel: 0122 87 86 29
Set at almost 2000m this mountain refuge style family restaurant serves freshly prepared Italian favourites for all tastes including vegetarians. Set price evening meals (reservations required) include return transport in a sled towed by snowmobile.
Le Graal Café
Montgenèvre
Tel: +33 (0)4 92 21 86 35
A friendly bar/restaurant with a laid-back style (and free WIFI internet access) make this a popular rendezvous. Sited opposite the slopes, the Graal is also the start-point for the legendary One-Piece Wednesdays, whose participants are encouraged to wear their most embarrassing retro-kitsch ski-gear.
IN THE SOUTHERN FRENCH ALPS close to Briançon, Serre-Chevalier and beside the border with Italy, Montgenèvre offers good-value, quality skiing for all levels, plus an infectious cosmopolitan vibe. Mile-hungry skiers can explore over 400km of groomed pistes with the Vialattea [Milky Way] lift-pass, which adds the ski terrain of Clavière, Cesana, Sansicario, Sestrière and Sauze d’Oulx. Off-piste potential is thus near-limitless. Montgenèvre’s own skiing is both varied and extensive, and the village itself has a friendly ambiance. It is also successfully transforming its image and its fortunes, with massive investment in accommodation and ski infrastructure. Impressive. 
Somehow the Col du Lauteret has escaped the previous days’ heavy snowfalls, making the often demanding drive from Grenoble a pleasure. When we reach Montgenèvre it’s immediately obvious where the snow-clouds had been targeting; simply getting to our accommodation, between high walls of freshly-bulldozed snow, requires the hasty fitting of snow-chains.
From Le Chalvet (2630m) Briançon appears far below, dwarfed still further by the dramatic backdrop of les Briançonnais mountains.
The sun is also sinking slowly, with the promise of fine weather for the coming week. Sure enough, the following morning finds us schussing off from the newly-developed Hameau de l’Obelisque area of the village down to the Serre Thibaud lift in still-freezing temperatures, beneath a steely blue sky. The new high-speed ‘télémix’ lift, one of a pair added for the 2008/9 season, combines six-seater chairs with gondola-style cabins [which we’ll come to favour during chillier periods] and has opened up some very worthwhile new terrain. It will become even more so as the plan to extend the terrain into nearby Mont Chaberton advances during the next few years.
A gentle start...
From the top we warm up on Pharo and then Suffin, which between them create a satisfyingly long, gentle descent back to our starting point. Later we’ll discover that the new lift offers back-door access to Clavière via Baïsses, another long, blue cruiser whose graceful plunge through a deep valley after which it is named enters silent woodland trails lower down.
The first few tracks appear on the irresistible fresh snow below the Rocher de l’Aigle, gateway to the Monts de la Lune.
For now, though, we follow the cross-border link indicated on the piste-map, which takes us way, way up to the Rocher de l’Aigle. The climb involves a couple of lift changes, rising through rich forests of pine and larch, then opens onto spectacular wide open powder bowls as-yet tracked by a only very few off-piste skiers. At the top there’s the option of cruising all the way back down to the valley floor but for now we’re in no mood to resist the huge views unfolding before us all the way to Sestrière and beyond.
Into a lunar landscape...
The exhilarating onward plunge takes us into the Monts de la Lune sector, where we’re gliding in a Zen-like state with not another soul in sight. Our passion for skiing is fired by moments like these. After a sudden brief plunge into the tree-line we let the skis run through winding forest tracks, with a final burst to clear a flat area which heralds the drop into La Coche — the perfect Italian lunch-spot.
We emerge an hour later, smiling and fuelled for any challenge, but it takes just a couple of minutes to drop down into the compact but charming ski village of Clavière. From here it’s hard to believe that 
Montgenèvre lies just a kilometre or so up the valley, and as we’ll discover, you can be back across the frontier in no time, with a choice of routes. We decide to take a brief stroll up to Montquitaine, an old two-seater fixed chairlift which drops us neatly onto our old friend Suffin, for a gentle cruise back to the hotel.
This near-perfect circuit will become a favourite during our stay — which isn’t to say that nothing else comes close. Each time we explore a new area we’re simply bowled over. Les Gondrans, for example, begins beside an old Ligne Maginot fort and offers lots of wide open cruising, with a half-pipe for boarders along the way. Le Chalvet, on the other hand, has top-of-the-world panoramic views, with a mountain restaurant at the foot of its steep-and-deep Red and Black pistes.
But heroics aren’t for everyone, and anyway even heroes need to wind down sooner or later. ‘Serene’ probably goes some way to describing the much gentler Sagna Longa area, between La Coche and Cesana — to which we’d have to add ‘desirable’, judging by the array of showpiece chalets sited here in just about the perfect setting.
By now you’ll have guessed the thought which enters our mind repeatedly during our time here: it’s hard to believe the sheer variety of skiing to be enjoyed on the Montgenèvre/Monts de la Lune lift pass [and the Vialattea adds a whole lot more]. Add the perfect combination of a great snow record, high altitude and 300+ days of sunshine annually and you’ll see why we think you’re going to be hearing a lot more about Montgenèvre.
© MountainPassions.com
Watch Video
By car
The classic route is to drive to Grenoble then via the Col du Lauteret to Briançon and up to Montgenèvre - N.B. We advise checking that the roads are clear before taking this route as it is subject to occasional closures while heavy snowfalls are cleared.
A faster, more reliable route is on the autoroute from Chambéry to Modane then the Tunnel du Fréjus briefly into Italy. Follow the N94 back across the French border and into Montgenèvre. It is however more costly: allow around 100 euros for autoroute and tunnel tolls from Calais.
By air
The nearest airport is Turin, within 1½ hrs transfer time. The transfer from Grenoble takes around 2½ hours, but could easily be longer in heavy traffic and bad weather.
By train
There are three direct TGV trains per day from Paris Gare de Lyon to Oulx (Italy) taking around 4½ hours. Regular shuttles take passengers on the 30 minute transfer to and from Montgenèvre.
services from London offer regular services to Paris to pick up your connection.
Take the train...
Rail Europe, the UK subsidiary of SNCF French Railways, provides rail travel right into the heart of the French Alps.
Flights to the Alps
Discover the new and exclusive route to Sion airport in the Swiss Alps.
Ferry Travel
Norfolkline - low prices, quality ferries, convenient schedules
Transfers
Need a lift?
Holiday Taxis offer private transfers from airports to ski resorts in the Alps. Whether it's just you or a bunch of friends, they have transport to suit your needs.
Car Hire
Insurance