Mad Dog Ski: Ski Resort guidebooks for Austria, France, Italy and Switzerland

Cauterets - France

Cauterets, both a mountain sports playground and historic thermal spa town, is a relatively unknown jewel in the heart of the French Pyrenees. It offers a very different ski experience to the more commercial resorts in the Alps with uncrowded slopes, a genuine friendly French feel to the town and ‘more for your money’ prices making it an ideal location for a great value skiing holiday.


The resort is easily accessible via budget airlines to Pau and Toulouse airports and once there the town has everything you need for a great skiing holiday so no need to hire a car. Cauterets is an all year round town, rather than just a winter resort and this means it tends to have more of a family friendly atmosphere than a traditional après-ski party resort.

Recent investment into Cauterets has given the resort a high speed cable car (univerally just known as 'the télécabine') linking the town centre with the slopes as well as better snow making facilities and improved piste signage and information. The main ski area is based in the Cirque du Lys, a large east facing bowl which retains good snow conditions far longer than the majority of the other surrounding resorts. There are off-piste and ski touring options with guides for the more adventurous.

The ski area is not as extensive as many of the resorts in the Alps but Cauterets still provides plenty of good skiing for beginners and intermediates alike. You'll also find a surprising selection of off-piste skiing to keep more advanced skiers and snowboarders entertained.  There are two main ski areas; the Cirque du Lys and  then Pont d'Espagne which cater for all types and abilities of both skiing and snowboarding. Although mainly popular amongst the French and Spanish, many of the instructors speak English.

The ski season generally runs December to April, with heavy snow fall in March and April in recent years. 

 

Resort altitudem - 2501m
Highest lift2500m
Lowest lift1300m
Kms of piste110kms
No of lifts17
Black pistes5%
Red pistes40%
Blue pistes40%
Green pistes20%
Snow parks1
GlacierNo
Snowmakingyes

Map of Cauterets - Open

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Planning your trip
Where to stay
Where to stay in Cauterets
On the piste
On the piste
Food and drink
what and where to eat
Other activities
Other things to do when you aren't on the piste.
Families
Family holiday
The list
List of important numbers

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Snow Report:
Cauterets
Report date:7 Jan 2009
Last snowed:6 Jan 2009
Fresh snow:15cm
Lifts open:9 out of 13
Snow depth:
Lower slopes:50cm
Upper slopes:150cm
Piste information:
On-piste:Excellent
Off-piste:Fresh
Resort runs:Fresh
Snow conditions:
Today's fresh powder means fresh tracks!
Weather:
Clear skies providing great views