Val Cenis
The Maurienne's best-kept secret, where the pistes end at a national park.
Difficulty mix
On the mountain
- Night skiing — 6 floodlit runs
- 2 snowparks / fun zones
Bonvo Score breakdown
Computed from mapped terrain data — no editorial opinion, no pay-to-rank. How the score works
Skiing Val Cenis, told properly
Val Cenis is what the French Alps felt like before the mega-resorts arrived. Strung along the old villages of Lanslebourg and Lanslevillard in the Haute Maurienne, it climbs from larch forest to the open bowls beneath the Col du Mont Cenis — the pass Hannibal is said to have crossed with his elephants. Stone barns, baroque chapels and a genuine year-round community give the place a texture that purpose-built stations can't imitate.
The skiing runs from around 1,300 m to 2,800 m, with the Vanoise National Park brushing the area's edge, and it stays refreshingly uncrowded even in French school holidays. This is a mountain for families and skiers who measure a day in long, flowing descents rather than lift-line sprints. The signature Escargot run coils gently down the closed pass road for kilometre after kilometre — beginners can ski a proper top-to-bottom mountain journey on their very first week.
Signature runs
L'Escargot
A roughly 10 km green that snakes down the Mont Cenis pass road — often billed as Europe's longest green run, and a rite of passage for first-week skiers.
La Met
The area's high point serves up wide red cruising with views across to the Vanoise glaciers and the Italian border ridge.
Solert
Rolling terrain above Lanslevillard that catches morning sun and grooms beautifully — classic warm-up territory.
Local tips
- Ski the Escargot early on a quiet morning; by afternoon it doubles as the resort's main homebound artery.
- The Terres Froides sector holds cold, chalky snow long after sunny slopes have softened.
- Lanslevillard's fromageries sell Beaufort made in the valley — bring some home instead of resort-shop souvenirs.
- Clear day? Ride to the top just for the view over the frozen Mont Cenis lake plateau.
Good to know
- The Col du Mont Cenis road beneath the pistes was for centuries a principal route between France and Italy — Napoleon had it upgraded into a carriage road.
- Val Cenis borders the Vanoise, France's first national park, created in 1963 largely to protect the Alpine ibex.
Slope-by-slope analysis
Every run measured from elevation-aware map geometry: true length, vertical drop, average gradient and a 0–10 slope score that rewards long, sustained descents.
| Run | Difficulty | Length | Vertical | Avg grade | Slope score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Escargot | Beginner | 8.8 km | 632 m | 7.1% | 6.8 |
| Traverse | Easy | 4.1 km | 404 m | 9.8% | 5.5 |
| Bleue du Lac | Easy | 2.6 km | 355 m | 13.7% | 4.3 |
| Flambeau | Easy | 2.5 km | 375 m | 14.8% | 4.4 |
| L'Arcelle | Intermediate | 2.5 km | 694 m | 27.6% | 6.5 |
| La Forestière | Easy | 2.4 km | 294 m | 12% | 3.9 |
| Tetras | Easy | 2.3 km | 258 m | 11.2% | 3.6 |
| Familiale | Easy | 2.2 km | 564 m | 25.8% | 5.6 |
| Chamois | Easy | 1.9 km | 402 m | 21% | 4.4 |
| Rhodos | Easy | 1.8 km | 193 m | 10.5% | 2.9 |
| Les Cupules | Easy | 1.7 km | 408 m | 23.8% | 4.5 |
| Le lac | Freeride | 1.7 km | 547 m | 31.9% | 5.5 |
| Madeleine | Easy | 1.6 km | 364 m | 22.7% | 4.2 |
| Le Petit Bonheur | Easy | 1.5 km | 97 m | 6.5% | 2.0 |
| Bois des coqs | Intermediate | 1.4 km | 527 m | 38.7% | 5.6 |
| Petite combe | Intermediate | 1.4 km | 343 m | 25.3% | 4.1 |
| Mont Cenis | Easy | 1.3 km | 279 m | 20.9% | 3.5 |
| Bois des coqs | Intermediate | 1.3 km | 373 m | 28.1% | 4.3 |
| Ramasse | Intermediate | 1.3 km | 408 m | 31% | 4.6 |
| Termignon | Beginner | 1.2 km | 117 m | 9.4% | 2.1 |
| Familiale | Easy | 1.2 km | 215 m | 17.7% | 3.0 |
| Le Mollard | Beginner | 1.2 km | 157 m | 13.5% | 2.4 |
| Girarde | Easy | 1.2 km | 210 m | 18.2% | 2.9 |
| Arcelle | Intermediate | 1.1 km | 240 m | 21.1% | 3.2 |
| Les Terres Grasses | Beginner | 1.1 km | 148 m | 13.1% | 2.3 |
| Miaille | Easy | 1.1 km | 212 m | 19.2% | 3.0 |
| MJ St.Genix | Intermediate | 1.1 km | 340 m | 31.5% | 4.2 |
| Michèle Jacot de la Met | Advanced | 1.1 km | 358 m | 33.7% | 4.4 |
| Cembros | Intermediate | 1.0 km | 232 m | 22.7% | 3.2 |
| La Forestière | Easy | 1.0 km | 125 m | 12.3% | 2.1 |
| vers la berche | Intermediate | 999 m | 111 m | 11.1% | 2.0 |
| La Forestière | Easy | 996 m | 113 m | 11.3% | 2.0 |
| Nunda | Easy | 964 m | 230 m | 23.9% | 3.2 |
| Relais | Intermediate | 912 m | 154 m | 16.9% | 2.4 |
| Grande Combe | Intermediate | 889 m | 239 m | 26.9% | 3.4 |
| Nunda | Easy | 874 m | 127 m | 14.5% | 2.1 |
| Bec rouge | Intermediate | 873 m | 267 m | 30.6% | 3.7 |
| Petits Loups | Beginner | 864 m | 153 m | 17.7% | 2.4 |
| Met | Intermediate | 857 m | 255 m | 29.8% | 3.6 |
| Tomba | Intermediate | 856 m | 275 m | 32.1% | 3.9 |
+ 99 more mapped runs and connectors — all of them in the free 3D map in the Bonvo Ski app.
Lift network
33 mapped lifts, moving up to 26,660 skiers per hour.
| Lift | Type | Capacity/h | Ride time | Length | Vertical |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arcellins | Chairlift | 2,500 | 6 min | 1.8 km | 636 m |
| Val Cenis le Haut | Gondola | 2,400 | 3 min | 645 m | 145 m |
| Met | Chairlift | 2,400 | 9 min | 1.1 km | 394 m |
| Vieux Moulin(bubble)(heated) | Gondola | 2,200 | 6 min | 2.1 km | 635 m |
| Arcelle | Chairlift | 2,000 | — | 1.8 km | 694 m |
| Ramasse | Chairlift | 2,000 | — | 2.2 km | 631 m |
| Turra | Chairlift | 2,000 | — | 1.6 km | 506 m |
| Sources | Chairlift | 2,000 | — | 890 m | 382 m |
| Colomba | Chairlift | 2,000 | 4 min | 1.1 km | 155 m |
| Pré Novel | Chairlift | 1,800 | 4 min | 498 m | 127 m |
| Plan Cardinal | Chairlift | 1,200 | 7 min | 1.0 km | 406 m |
| Grand Coin | Platter lift | 900 | 8 min | 1.5 km | 359 m |
| Lac | Platter lift | 900 | 7 min | 1.4 km | 359 m |
| Plan des Champs | Platter lift | 900 | 3 min | 446 m | 64 m |
| Féma | Platter lift | 810 | 4 min | 683 m | 242 m |
| Pont Noir | Platter lift | 650 | 1 min | 181 m | 38 m |
| Mont Cenis | Platter lift | — | — | 1.2 km | 278 m |
| Saint-Pierre | Platter lift | — | — | 362 m | 54 m |
| Solert | Chairlift | — | — | 1.2 km | 475 m |
| Roches Blanches | Chairlift | — | — | 1.4 km | 536 m |
| Madeleine | Platter lift | — | — | 166 m | 2 m |
| Girarde | Chairlift | — | — | 1.3 km | 258 m |
| Pont des Chèvres | Chairlift | — | — | 981 m | 244 m |
| Essarts | Platter lift | — | — | 453 m | 132 m |
| Buffa | Platter lift | — | — | 263 m | 19 m |
| Tannes | Platter lift | — | — | 880 m | 167 m |
| École | Magic carpet | — | — | 32 m | 1 m |
| Marmottons | Platter lift | — | — | 190 m | 13 m |
| Piou Piou | Magic carpet | — | — | 26 m | 3 m |
| Terres Grasses | Platter lift | — | — | 150 m | 16 m |
Val Cenis — quick answers
How many ski runs does Val Cenis have?
Val Cenis has 139 mapped downhill runs totalling about 94.1 km of pistes, with the longest single run measuring 8.8 km.
What is the vertical drop at Val Cenis?
The mapped skiable terrain spans 1437 m of vertical, from 1301 m at the base to 2738 m at the top.
How many lifts does Val Cenis have?
Val Cenis operates 33 mapped lifts moving up to 26,660 skiers per hour.
Ski Val Cenis with the map in your pocket
Every run and lift on this page, rendered in interactive 3D — and it keeps working in airplane mode at the top of the mountain. Free on the App Store.
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