It may not have the most well-known name for such a huge ski resort, but after years of driving past it in the Maurienne valley, we finally visited in the dry, warm month of February 2025, and just to add to the level of difficulty, during the notoriously busy French school holidays. Galibier Thabor is better known by the monikers of its two main villages - Valloire & Valmeinier - and following a less than stellar visit to the nearby Les Sybelles, expectations were kept very low. Suffice to say we were very pleasantly surprised by this expansive ski area.

The most pleasing aspect of the entire ski area is for beginner-intermediates sliding down the long, long pistes to all points of the compass. Multiple uninterrupted (up to) 8km long runs can be strung together in a day – a joyous experience for most skiers. Whilst the total vertical of 1,320m cannot be skied in one hit, one can easily achieve descents of 1,220m vertical into Valmeinier, and 1,100m into Valloire or Arméra.

On a powder day there is a mass of high-alpine terrain to exploit, the best of which to our eye were the steeps off the top of the Cornafond chair, and the interesting backside off Grand Plateau and the Le Crey du Quart peak, where one can easily return via the blue trails that ring the base of the area. Short skins up valley open up a huge area of sidecountry terrain (like beyond Petit Fourchon) with lines that would remain unsullied for days or even weeks in the right conditions. There is a whole lot of adventure here awaiting anyone with the right gear and fitness. Being up valley, all the terrain exits back toward the ski resort trails, allowing for easy returns and multiple runs without too much exertion.

The visit coincided with the recent opening of the long awaited new Setaz gondola providing improved, modern uphill access from the main village of Valloire.

Having just completed an incredibly disappointing tour of a desolate Les Sybelles (similar location and aspect to Galibier Thabor) and a surprisingly good tour of a snowy Valmorel St Francois Longchamp (on the opposite side of the Maurienne valley), we were a little anxious as to what the snow conditions would present. Turns out we need not have worried.

The original village of Valmeinier has very little to offer an international visitor and whilst connected into the ski area via two (very slow) chairlifts (including the cross-valley, 40-year-old Arméra chair), is a poor choice of location to stay. The resort village of Valmeinier 1800 is ’cookie cutter’ typical of so many ski area developments in France. The village is far from the worst in the French Alps, being highly practical without being particularly attractive. For ski-in ski-out it is exceptional though.

Valloire presents a far more interesting base. A real town with history, ski lifts extend directly from the fringes of town, and ski runs return back all the way in. A pleasing variety of shops, hotels, restaurants and bars line Valloire’s streets. As the lifts close a bustling vibrance was evident in the town centre.

Up the valley from Valloire, the hamlet of Les Verneys is a quieter alternative. Spread out along the valley between the Benjamin & Verneys chairlifts, it has stellar access to the ski terrain in the morning and is within walking distance of Valloire’s lively town centre (plus is connected by regular local buses). There is a local bakery, several bars & restaurants and a distinctly less frantic, more relaxed ambiance. Snow covered mountains rising either side of the valley provide exactly what we are looking for in a place to stay.

We booked last minute during the French ‘mid-term’ school holidays and so had little choice and ended up in Les Verneys. A room in the casual Le Relais du Galibier was well-priced for the time of winter, and perfectly adequate without being exceptional in any way. Whoever designed the bathroom in our particular room should be counselled though, as the toilet was so constricted the lid rested on one’s back whilst sitting on the throne and my knees were up against the wall! Other rooms may have had a better designed ‘business office’. Located directly across from the Verneys chairlift and a few steps from a good local bakery, it certainly has its pluses, but it strikes us as a good hotel for just a night or two, and not necessarily a week-long prospect. A better option is a little way down valley in La Ruaz at the Hôtel du Crêt Rond.

Ski buses in the region have an interesting notion of requiring payment, but not to the driver. A daily rate of €2 or €7/week for adults 18 years + (free for u/18yr) , seems fine, but why isn’t it free like just about everywhere else? For what it’s worth, we used the bus only once and never paid for a bus pass.

For mountain dining, the restaurant Le Chalet des Mérégers has one of the greatest lunch locations in the region. Food is pretty good too! The ski-in ski-out deck on a sunny day is sublime, providing a vista of craggy peaks up to the Aiguille Noire, & a beautiful snow-covered alpine valley with no visible ski resort infrastructure. Feels like a backcountry lodge location but it is on one of the best meandering piste trails in the ski area - the super 8km long Selles piste.

In Valloire the best bar is right at the foot of the Sétaz gondola. A happy, smiling, friendly crew run ‘Refuge’. Prop yourself on a stool next to a fire and get stuck in for the night with drinks and snacks. Avoid the bar in the prominently located Christiania Hotel. We won’t go into why, just avoid it, there are plenty of better options.

The planned replacement of the Grand Plateau J-bar tow with a quad will shorten one of the resort’s longest lift lines (it’s not THAT long!) but won’t change the hill much other than to perhaps increase traffic heading upward to this stellar zone. There are long on piste & freeride descents from the top of the lift either side of the ridgeline that are amongst the resort’s best.

I haven’t mentioned that a couple of things went very wrong on this visit and its almost funny that I am still so positive about the ski resort. But things can go wrong at any ski hill (including being seriously taken out by an out-of-control snowboarder whilst I was standing in the Grand Plateau lift line!), so my memories of sliding here will continue to be ……. pleasant! The powder-paws scoring possibly highlights it as being rather much better than pleasant though.

Multiple descents of over 1,000m vertical and lengths of 4 to 8km are what gives this ski resort a big tick. The potential of the vast off-piste & sidecountry are what would get us to come back.

See our thoughts on the pros and cons of this ski resort via our Galibier Thabor overview page.
See our video here