Valmorel Piste Map: Sectors, Lifts and Connections

What the Valmorel Piste Map Actually Covers

Valmorel Le Grand Domaine describes Le Grand Domaine as linking Valmorel, Doucy, Combelouvière and Saint-François-Longchamp across 165 km of slopes served by 46 ski lifts, with 17 play areas scattered through the terrain. A third-party resort guide puts the marked-piste count at 101, which is a useful sense of scale when you are working out how much of the map is realistic in a week. Treat the Valmorel Le Grand Domaine figures as the reference and the run count as a helpful approximation.

The practical consequence is that the map is wide rather than tall: the area stretches from the Valmorel village side across to Saint-François-Longchamp, so a full traverse in one direction already fills a morning. Plan loops within one sector and save the cross-area link for a day when you start early and the weather is clear. Once you know Le Grand Domaine well, the map becomes a timing tool rather than a puzzle.

Start by finding the village and the Planchamp gondola, then trace the ridge line that separates the two main faces. Everything else on the map hangs off those two landmarks, which makes orientation far faster than trying to memorise run names before you arrive.

Two Faces: Shady Valmorel Versus Sunny Saint-François-Longchamp

Valmorel Le Grand Domaine is explicit about the contrast: Valmorel's slopes face north-east and hold snow well through the day, while the Saint-François-Longchamp side faces south and catches the sun. On a cold January morning the Valmorel face is the better bet for firm, grippy pistes; in March the sunny side softens earlier and rewards an early start.

Use that difference deliberately. If you are skiing with a mixed group, keep beginners on the shaded village side in the morning when the snow is slow and forgiving, then move across after lunch when the south-facing pistes have softened. Strong skiers can invert the plan and chase the sun from the first lift.

Aspect also decides where the map's lower runs stay skiable late in the season. The 2026–27 winter is published as running from 18 December 2026 to 10 April 2027, and the closing weeks are exactly when the north-east orientation earns its keep.

Sector by Sector: Reading the Map

Valmorel village and Planchamp form the natural base sector, with the Planchamp gondola giving the main way up from the village and the Pierrafort gondola serving the same side. Above them the terrain fans out into the wide, forgiving pistes that suit most intermediate skiers, and the village sits right at the foot of the slopes, so you can click in at your door.

Doucy-Combelouvière is the middle sector, reached by the Combelouvière gondola, and it is where the map starts to link the village area to the outer reaches of the domain. Celliers adds another gondola and a quieter feel, while Le Pré provides a further access point on the Valmorel side. These sectors are where the Valmorel-only pass and the full domain pass overlap, so check which lifts your ticket covers before committing to a long traverse.

The Saint-François-Longchamp side is the far end of the map and the reason many skiers buy the full Grand Domaine product at all: it opens up a genuinely different, sunny landscape rather than a repeat of the village slopes. If a full traverse is the goal, treat it as an out-and-back day rather than a quick detour, and plan your return before mid-afternoon.

Getting onto the Map: The Five Entry Points

Valmorel Le Grand Domaine lists five entry points into the ski area: Crève-Cœur, Le Bourg, Le Pré, Doucy and Celliers. Which one you use depends entirely on where you are staying, so match your accommodation to the lift you want first, not to the resort name. Parking at one entry point and skiing back to another is rarely practical without a car shuttle.

Passes bought through skipass.valmorel.com grant access only via Valmorel, from the Planchamp, Doucy Combelouvière, Celliers, Lanchettes, Le Rocher and Pierrafort lift departure points. If you plan to start from Le Pré or Crève-Cœur, buy at a ticket office or express point instead. That single detail prevents a frustrating first morning at the wrong lift base.

Le Bourg and Crève-Cœur both host express sales points, which makes them sensible choices if you are collecting rather than reloading a pass. Le Pré is the quieter option for anyone staying on that side of the village.

Beginner Zones Marked on the Map

Two lifts at Bois de la Croix and Cheval-Blanc are free to use, which means a complete beginner can take a first lesson without buying a lift pass at all. The Bois de la Croix carpet lift and the Cheval Blanc draglift sit in the gentlest ground on the village side, so start there and only move up the mountain once basic turns are reliable.

Beyond the free zone, the beginner area pass covers three distinct learning areas on the map: Malatrai–Roches-Blanches, served by the Pierrafort gondola, the Roches Blanches carpet and the Malatrai draglift; Pécy, reached by the Combelouvière and Celliers gondolas and the Pécy draglift; and Alpage, via the Planchamp gondola and the Beaudin carpet. Knowing which lifts sit in each zone lets you pick the area closest to your accommodation rather than defaulting to the busiest one.

A valid pass is still required to use the marked beginner areas and family zones, so the free lifts are the only truly no-ticket option. If you are booking instruction, valmorel ski lessons are organised by the resort's ski schools around these same zones, and grouping your accommodation close to the relevant gondola saves a lot of carrying of skis.

Which Sectors Suit Which Ability

First-timers belong at Bois de la Croix and Cheval-Blanc, then progress to the beginner areas at Malatrai–Roches-Blanches, Pécy or Alpage. Intermediates will find the widest choice on the Valmorel village side, where the north-east aspect keeps snow consistent and the pistes are described as wide and accessible. Valmorel Le Grand Domaine also notes that the area carries a reasonable capacity, so lift queues are shorter than the kilometre count might suggest, even in school holidays.

Confident skiers should plan at least one day crossing to Saint-François-Longchamp, and can add the marked freeride areas and the Pirates snowpark to the itinerary. The Le Mottet sector gives access to the pedestrian lifts and is a useful landmark when you are matching the map to the lifts you can actually see. Ski tourers have a separate offering: the Toboggan trail runs 3,600 m with 522 m of ascent, open between 9:00 and 19:00.

Fun Features to Locate on the Map

The map marks a cluster of free-to-enter features that all require a valid lift pass: the Pirates Village play area, the Pirates snowpark, the Pirates slope, the boardercross, sled runs, picnic areas, photo points and a dedicated avalanche transceiver training park. Snowtubing runs from Wednesday to Sunday between 11:00 and 16:00 at the top of the Planchamp gondola, with two tracks and a minimum height of 1.25 m.

These features matter for group planning because they give non-skiing hours a purpose without leaving the ski area. A family can split between the boardercross and the picnic areas without anyone needing to ride a different lift network, and the photo points at Mont Blanc and Lauzière viewpoints make a natural meeting spot.

Lift-Pass Choices That Match the Map

Three products map onto three different footprints. The Grand Domaine pass covers Valmorel and Saint-François-Longchamp, the Valmorel pass covers Valmorel, Doucy, Celliers and Le Pré, and the beginner area pass covers the learning zones. For 2026–27 skipass.valmorel.com publishes a one-day adult Grand Domaine pass at €59.70, a six-day at €299.90, and a seven-day at €338.10; child and senior rates sit below those figures and proof of age is required. All prices exclude a refundable €3 rechargeable card.

The Valmorel-only pass is cheaper still: a full day costs €56.10 for an adult and a four-consecutive-hour pass costs €49.00, which suits a late arrival or a short ski morning. The beginner area pass is cheaper again at €37.70 for a full day, and free for children under five and seniors over 75. If you only ski the village side, buying the full domain is money spent on terrain you will not reach.

Groups of three or more skiing six days or more on the same dates get a ten per cent reduction through the Tribe-family product, and weekend web deals cut Saturday prices in selected weeks. The full valmorel ski pass breakdown covers season passes and the weekend mechanics in more detail than the map alone can.

Season Dates and Pass Collection

The whole Valmorel–Le Grand Domaine area is scheduled to open on 18 December 2026 and close on 10 April 2027. Passes can be bought online, at ticket offices, and at express sales points at Le Bourg and Crève-Cœur, with the €3 card deposit refundable at ticket offices or partner shops in the resort at the end of your stay. Online pass purchases are refundable without reason up to the day before your first ski day.

Children under five and seniors over 75 ski free, but those passes must be collected at a lift ticket office with proof of age and identity, and a child's pass expires the day before their fifth birthday. That makes an early visit to the ticket office worth planning into arrival day rather than leaving for the first morning rush.

If you are hiring equipment as well as collecting passes, valmorel ski hire shops cluster around the village and the entry points, so combining both errands in one walk is straightforward on arrival afternoon.

Using the Map With Live Tools

A printed map shows the layout but not the current state of it, so pair it with the live resources on skipass.valmorel.com. Waiting times for individual lifts are published for smartphone checking, which lets you decide between the Planchamp and Pierrafort gondolas based on real queues rather than habit. Road conditions are also published separately and are worth a look before any drive up from the valley.

Webcams and the online slope map complete the picture: check the cloud line and the state of the south-facing pistes before committing to a traverse to Saint-François-Longchamp. If visibility is poor on the far side, stay in the shaded village sectors where the tree line gives definition. If you are used to other map conventions, the Alpe d Huez piste map guide explains how different resorts present similar information.

Practical Layout: Ski-in, Ski-out and the Télébourg

Valmorel is genuinely ski-in/ski-out, with the village sitting directly below the slopes and the Planchamp gondola rising from the base. That layout makes the map easier to use than in resorts where you commute to a lift station: you can return to your accommodation mid-day and rejoin without losing an hour.

The Télébourg links the lower village levels and runs daily from 08:30 to 23:30, with maintenance closures on Tuesdays between 10:00 and 12:00 and between 14:30 and 16:30. It is free on Fridays from 16:00 and all day Saturday, and a single ride costs €2.20. Pedestrian and snowshoe passes give access to the Planchamp, Pierrafort, Lanchettes, Combelouvière, Celliers and Mottet lifts, with the last ascent 45 minutes before closing.

Dogs are allowed only on the pedestrian-accessible lifts, from Lanchettes, Mottet, Pierrafort, Planchamp, Celliers and Combelouvière, and must wear a harness, so plan non-skiing days around those nodes. Sleds, shovel-sleds and strollers are prohibited on the ski area, so the marked sled runs are the place for sliding rather than improvised slopes.

Where to Get the Valmorel Piste Map

Use the operator's slope map page on the resort website rather than a third-party PDF, which can lag behind lift changes and sector renumbering. Printed versions are handed out at lift ticket offices and express sales points, and the village map covers the pedestrian routes that fall outside the ski plan. Reading it by sector and aspect before you travel is the single most useful preparation you can do.

If you are comparing resorts before booking, the Avoriaz piste map guide shows how a different French area presents its linked terrain. For Valmorel itself, start with the main Valmorel skiing guide and work outwards from there.