Cross-country skiing, or the (re)discovery of the mountain and its sumptuous landscapes.
Whether in "classic" ("alternative step" in the parallel tracks) or in "skating", this Nordic discipline is accessible in all the French massifs, where the offer is multiple and financially accessible: count from 6.80 to 10 euros for an adult day pass in all resorts, with a marked craze since last winter.
French people deprived of alpine skiing had happily rediscovered Nordic skiing, which is seeing its number of practitioners soar in this winter of 2021/2022.
Read alsoOur 2022 ranking of French ski resorts
In each mountainous department, resorts have stood out by capitalizing on their differences while relying on their stories.
From the Vosges to the Pyrenees, via the Jura and the Alps, here is our selection.
The Glières plateau (Haute-Savoie)
On this plateau located at an altitude of 1450 metres, 8 runs of all levels offer panoramic skiing.
It is also a high place of the Resistance (here the national monument).
HSN
High place of the Resistance, the Glières plateau does not only appear in the history books.
Located at 1450 m and very close to Annecy (35 km), it is also known to all cross-country skiers.
The station is only oriented towards the North, and its tracks have the particularity of being all traced in the hollows and foothills of plateaus open to the neighboring massifs.
Green, blue, red and black… in classic or skate… the offer of the Haute-Savoie resort is varied.
Our advices
Jean-Marc Gaillard, double Olympic medalist in cross-country skiing at the 2014 and 2018 cross-country skiing Olympics, trains in winter on the Glières plateau.
On the “Montée des Mouilles” (black run), 1.7 km long and with 120 m of elevation gain, he has established a reference time (5'40) against which the more adventurous can measure themselves.
The plateau also offers a specific pedestrian/snowshoe route of 17 km.
Night Nordic skiing sessions resumed on January 6, 2022 and will be held until March 23, from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., for headlamp skiing on a 12 km track.
Free access for holders of a Glières, Haute-Savoie or National Nordic Season Pass.
Free access for children under 16 and adult evening access at €5.
domainenordiquedesglieres.com
Read alsoHaute-Savoie: these family hotels to feel “at home” in winter
Autrans-Méaudre (Isère)
The Vercors area has 180 km of slopes.
Vincent Juraszek
Since the Grenoble Olympics in 1968, the Autrans-Méaudre area, in the Vercors, has been one of the hotspots of French Nordic skiing.
Renowned for its know-how, the resort, located 45 minutes by car from the capital of the Alps, offers more than 180 km of slopes in scenery where plains and forests, ridges and plateaus alternate.
Open from the first cold days thanks to its 18 snow guns, the area has 180 km of slopes for all levels (green, blue, red, black slopes).
Our advices
The
"Panoramic" run
(red), accessible from the Gève plateau (25 km) or the summit of the Sure alpine domain by the Quoi chairlift, offers a panoramic view from the Molière plateau over the Belledonne range. and the Mont-Blanc and Chartreuse massifs.
Located in the Nordic area of Gève, 3 km from Autrans, the
Refuge de Gève
is the ideal place for a break between two sliding loops.
Useful website: autrans-meaudre.com
Read alsoFrom Vercors to Chamonix, our favorite restaurants in the Alps
Les Rousses (Jura)
26 runs over more than 183 km: Les Rousses, crossing point of the Grande Traversée du Jura, is one of the temples of the Nordic world.
Its 6 green runs also make it accessible to all levels.
Stephane Buisson
The Jura is a northern territory par excellence.
In Prémanon, one of the four villages that make up the resort of Les Rousses, is the national training center, which trains the Nordic ski champions of tomorrow (biathlon, Nordic combined, cross-country skiing and special jumping).
You can also trace on the neighboring areas of Hautes Combes and Bellefontaine.
And slide - as a general rule - to neighboring French-speaking Switzerland using only the strength of your legs and arms.
Here, we forget time, we forget the world.
There is something for all tastes, all levels and all ages.
Our advices
180 km long, the GTJ (Grande Traversée du Jura) connects Villiers le Lac to Giron via, among other places, Métabief (Doubs), Bois-d'Amont and Les Rousses (Jura).
A rare experience over several days for experienced athletes.
Every Wednesday (outside school holidays), access to the Nordic area is at the single price of €5.40 for everyone.
Useful website: lesrousses.com/
Read alsoCross-country skiing, snowshoeing... The Jura, temple of Nordic activities
La Feclaz (Savoy)
The Nordic area of La Féclaz alternates tracks in the undergrowth and in the heart of clearings, from where you can sometimes see Mont-Blanc.
OT La Feclaz
Located on the Revard plateau in the foothills of the Bauges, which dominate Chambéry, La Féclaz has three gateways: Féclaz, Revard-Crolles and Saint-François-de-Sales.
The Savoyard resort remains one of the most technically accessible Nordic areas in France.
Mostly located in the forest, the trails invite you to reconnect with the very essence of Nordic skiing, a return to nature and calm.
Our advices
After each snowfall, starting from La Féclaz or Porte de Crolles, a simple track in classic style (as opposed to skating or no skater) weaving through the woods for 12 km is groomed.
It reconnects with the pioneering spirit of cross-country skiing.
Until March 31, 2022, the resort offers ski-joëring, a Nordic discipline where the skier is towed by a horse.
Guaranteed sensations.
Useful website: savoiegrandrevard.com
Read alsoHolidays in Savoie, five “refuge values” hotels that do good
White Lake (Vosges)
The 13 slopes (including 2 green) of this family resort take you on a gentle terrain, between 900 and 1200 m.
Lac Blanc tourist office
Located at 1000 m in the heart of the Vosges mountains less than an hour from Colmar, in the Grand Est region, the Alsatian resort of Lac Blanc is above all family-friendly.
Planted in the preserved environment of the Ballons des Vosges Natural Park, it offers 67 km of groomed trails for both skating and classic.
Unlike the Alps, the Lac Blanc ski area is located away from the resort's accommodation.
Our advices
For the more seasoned and athletic, the black run
"La Roche du Corbeau"
, 8.7 km long, allows you to go around the area.
When the snow is there, the resort has a Nordic Park where you can learn about different Nordic practices (skating, biathlon, etc.).
In general, it is open every day from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. during school holidays (except Saturdays from 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m.);
and Wednesdays and Saturdays (1.30 p.m. - 4 p.m.) and Sunday (10 a.m. - 4 p.m.) outside school holidays.
A valid Nordic pass is required to access the Nordic Park.
Useful website: lac-blanc.com
Read alsoFrom the Jura to the Vosges mountains: ten small hotels to enjoy the great outdoors
Les Estables (Haute-Loire)
The Nordic areas of Mézenc and Meygal offer a series of trails in the undergrowth, between 1250 and 1500 m.
Elyas Saens
It is probably one of the most unknown sites in France.
And yet one of the most beautiful.
Located at an altitude of 1,500 m in the heart of the Mézenc massif (Mont Mézenc, 1753 m, is the 4th summit of the central massif), the Estables Nordic area, the Mézenc, is a series of undergrowth trails in the purest Nordic tradition.
At the turn of a clearing, you can sometimes admire the chain of the Alps or the reliefs of the Massif Central.
More than 54 km of trails for all types of practitioners are offered.
Our advices
The red slope of
the Stables area
, rated difficult, allows you to escape for a few hours and discover all the corners of the Nordic site of Haute-Loire.
Located near the Mézenc, the other Nordic area, that of
Meygal
, is less frequented.
It is also a paradise for cross-country skiers.
Oscillating between 1200 and 1450 meters above sea level, 44 km criss-cross the national forest.
Useful website: mezencloiresauvage.com
Read alsoIn Lozère, four family resorts where cross-country skiing and snowshoeing are kings
Les Seizures (Savoie)
The Nordic domain (120 km of slopes for all levels) was that of the Olympic Games in Albertville.
Its altitude (from 1650 m) gives it good snow cover.
Thuria skating
The resort of Les Saisies is that of the (alpine) skier Franck Piccard, the first Olympic Super-G champion at the Calgary Games (1988).
But it is also that of the cross-country skiing and biathlon events at the Olympic Games in Albertville in 1992. This is what made the reputation of the Nordic Savoyard area.
But, if some climb to Les Saisies to go back in time, many go there above all for its setting.
Skiing in Les Saisies (120 km of slopes for all levels, between 1650 and 1720 m altitude) means evolving in a postcard setting under the imposing volume of Mont-Blanc that you never take your eyes off.
Our advices
The black run in Les Saisies is named after the local child,
Justine Braisaz
, bronze medalist at the 2019 Biathlon World Championships and World Cup leader a year earlier.
22 km long, it circles the entire Nordic area and sometimes takes portions of the Olympic trails.
The Nordic site, open since December 12, 2021, is generally one of those that closes the latest in the season, in April.
Useful website: lessaisies.com
Read alsoHolidays in Savoie, five “refuge values” hotels that do good
Névache (Hautes-Alpes)
This Nordic site, one of the most beautiful in the Southern Alps, offers more than 45 km of slopes, in the heart of the Clarée valley.
Mathis Moratte
Located in the north of the Hautes-Alpes, about thirty minutes from Briançon, Névache offers a preserved Nordic site in the heart of the wild and gentle Clarée valley.
In a mountainous setting and in the middle of larches - we are in the Southern Alps! - nature offers a privileged playground.
From the resort, you have 45 km of slopes for all levels.
Our advices
The Forestière
black run
(13.7 km) offers a wide discovery of the area and its most beautiful viewpoints in a single loop.
For the record, this is the favorite track of Richard Jouve, bronze medalist in cross-country skiing at the 2018 Olympics. And if you want to get off the beaten track, we recommend two tough routes, which take you to the foothills valley: the
Haute Vallée de la Clarée
(18 km return trip and 400 m of elevation gain) and the
Col de l'Échelle
(10 km return trip and 170 m of elevation gain), where you are 6 barely km from the Italian border.
Useful website: claree-tourisme.fr
Read alsoQueyras: the best kept secret of the Hautes-Alpes
Corrençon-en-Vercors / Villard-de-Lans (Isère)
The Haut Vercors Nordic area offers 148 km of trails 148 km of skating and classic trails.
Stephanie Charles
Known worldwide since basketball player Tony Parker invested in the resort in the fall of 2019, Corrençon-en-Vercors / Villard-de-Lans has a Nordic area with discreet charm and still too little known.
The tracks thread their way through the fir forests and lead from refuge to refuge (Malaterre, Herbouilly, etc.) for a few incursions on the edge of the Hauts Plateaux du Vercors.
A unique site for long-distance and adventurous outings.
Our advices
If you are athletic, the Royale, a 26 km long black run, connects the three gateways to the Nordic area (Villard-de-Lans, Herbouilly, Corrençon-en-Vercors).
Martin Fourcade, five-time Olympic biathlon champion, now retired from competition, lives in Villard-de-Lans.
You can still come across him on the Corrençon-en-Vercors launch pad.
Useful website: villarddelans.com
Read alsoCross-country skiing, snowshoeing... Vercors, our guide to Nordic activities
Font-Romeu (Pyrenees-Orientales)
Font-Romeu offers more than 111 km of marked trails, including the blue of "la Calme", called Martin Fourcade.
The Olympic champion cut his teeth in the Pyrenees.
OT Font-Romeu
The Pyrenees, this wild and discreet massif.
Ingredients dear to Nordic ski enthusiasts.
In Font-Romeu, the resort offers more than 111 km of marked and marked trails (7 green, 10 blue, 5 red) for the most seasoned and novice alike.
In a vegetation different from the alpine massifs, the "Nordic" becomes a unique experience.
Our advices
Don't miss the 2.4 km long Calme blue run, which has been named "Martin Fourcade".
The five-time Olympic biathlon champion, now retired from competition and living in the Vercors, cut his teeth in the Pyrenees.
Read alsoIn the heart of the Pyrenees, five winter experiences in a grandiose and preserved nature
And also:
located near Font-Romeu, the Nordic area of Capcir offers 56 km of cross-country ski trails and 60 km of white routes.
Useful website: altiservice.com
See also
- The first French electric snow scooter to conquer the American market.