Hautacam
A family resort on the famous Tour de France climb above Argelès-Gazost; after three snowless winters a prefectural order of November 2025 shut four of its drag lifts, which must now be dismantled within five years.
- Region
- Hautes-Pyrénées
- Country
- France
- Status
- partially abandoned
- Year opened
- 1971
- Year closed
- 2025 (four drag lifts and the main domain)
- Reason for closure
- Three successive winters without enough snow at a resort with no snowmaking, and accumulated deficits of a little under 1.5 million euros. A prefectural order published on 3 November 2025 took four drag lifts out of service; regulation requires them to be removed within five years unless the decision is reversed.
History
Hautacam occupies a broad balcony above the Argelès-Gazost valley in the Hautes-Pyrénées, better known to most people as one of the hardest finishing climbs of the Tour de France than as a ski resort. It opened in December 1971 - some sources give the creation date as 1972 - founded by Jean Labouly, starting with three Poma drag lifts, with a larger lift and a restaurant following in 1973. It was never a high resort: 20 pistes over about 20 km of terrain between a 1,500 m base and a 1,730 m top, 30 per cent green and 45 per cent blue, and no snowmaking anywhere on the hill. Three successive winters without usable snow left accumulated deficits of a little under 1.5 million euros - more than 600,000 in one year, 250,000 in the last - and the managing syndicate decided to stop running four of the drag lifts: Naouit 1, Naouit 2, Trois Seigneurs and Tramassel. The prefectural order was published on 3 November 2025, and under French regulation the suspended installations must be dismantled within five years if the decision stands. A 'Sauvons Hautacam' petition campaigned against it without reversing it, and the syndicate president was blunt about why reopening is unlikely: reduced snow is the forecast, and reopening the lifts would mean returning to deficits the local authorities cannot carry. What remains is a beginner-focused core - the two detachable platters, Isaby of 2008 and Cardouet of 2013, plus a magic carpet - amounting to roughly 4 km of piste, with the site being redeveloped as a year-round leisure destination. Earlier closures are also on the record here: the 1972 Cardouet pair went in 2013 and Moulata in 2023.
Lifts
| Name | Type | Manufacturer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Naouit 1 | Platter | Poma | Taken out of service by the prefectural order of 3 November 2025 and due for removal within five years |
| Naouit 2 | Platter | Poma | Built 1975 alongside Naouit 1. Taken out of service in 2025 and due for removal within five years |
| Trois Seigneurs | Platter | Poma | Built 1975. Taken out of service in 2025 and due for removal within five years |
| Tramassel | Platter | Montaz-Mautino | Built 1983. Taken out of service in 2025 and due for removal within five years |
| Moulata | Platter | Poma | Built 1972 with the resort; closed in 2023, before the main retreat |
| Cardouet 1 and 2 | Platter | Poma | Built 1972 with the resort; closed in 2013 and replaced the same year by the Cardouet detachable platter |
| Isaby | Platter | Doppelmayr | Detachable platter built 2008. Still operating as part of the reduced beginner domain |
| Cardouet | Platter | LST | Detachable platter built 2013 to replace the two 1972 Cardouet lifts. Still operating as part of the reduced beginner domain |
| Unnamed lift | Surface lift | A magic carpet on the front de neige, still operating. The resort also used fil-neige rope lifts |
Sources and further reading
- https://www.remontees-mecaniques.net/bdd/station-hautacam-709.html
- https://www.lasemainedespyrenees.fr/hautacam-quatre-teleskis-suspendus-les-precisions-du-president/
- https://france3-regions.franceinfo.fr/occitanie/hautes-pyrenees/tarbes/victime-du-rechauffement-climatique-une-station-familiale-des-pyrenees-contrainte-d-abandonner-la-pratique-du-ski-3139607.html
- https://www.mon-sejour-en-montagne.com/actualites/face-au-changement-climatique-hautacam-se-reinvente-une-reouverture-partielle-centree-sur-les-debutants/
- https://www.skiinfo.fr/pyrenees/hautacam/station-de-ski
More in France
Location
42.9705, -0.0050