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.

Cauterets

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. 

 

Key info

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
Cauterets

Why Cauterets for a budget holiday ?

  • wide range of accommodation from budget to top end
  • cheaper and less crowded than the Alps with good special deals on offer
  • new high speed cable car from town centre to slopes and major investment in snowmaking
  • wide range of restaurants serving good local and regional food at reasonable prices
  • just over an hour's easy drive from Pau airport or two hours from Toulouse, served by budget airlines

Cauterets at a glance

  • resident population 1,300
  • town sits at 950m
  • access to over 100km on your ski pass
  • ski area from 1450-2450m on your Cirque du Lys and Pon d'Espagne passes
  • freestyle area for snowboarders

 

At a glance

Nearest airportsType of resortStay inGo for a
Biarritz
Carcassone
Pau
Tolouse
Mountain town
Small alpine village
Chalets
Hostels
Hotels
Self-Catered
Week
Weekend
Good forChildrenFood and drinkOther
Cross-country
Freestyle
Off-piste
Snowboarding
Creches
Babysitting
Ski schools
Apres-ski
Evening drinking
Resort dining
Vegetarian
Family friendly
Live music
Late drinking
Mountain dining
Internet access
Churches
Other activities
Adrenaline fuelled
Sightseeing
Relaxation
Shopping