Aillons-Margériaz 1000
The lower half of a Bauges family station, sitting at just 945 metres and rated one of the most climate-vulnerable ski areas in France; its last lifts stopped on 5 March 2025 after years of barely opening.
- Region
- Savoie
- Country
- France
- Status
- closed
- Year opened
- 1964
- Year closed
- 2025
- Reason for closure
- Altitude. Aillon-Station sits at 945 m and had become one of the most snow-vulnerable ski areas in the country, carrying a vulnerability index of 22. Between 2019 and 2025 the Rochettes chairlift managed only about a dozen days of winter operation and the beginner area around 90 days in total. On 5 March 2025 the Syndicat Mixte des stations des Bauges decided to close the 1000 sector permanently and concentrate alpine skiing on the higher Aillons-Margériaz 1400.
History
Aillons-Margériaz is a two-part station in the Massif des Bauges in the Savoie: Aillon-Station, the village site known as 1000, and the higher Margériaz sector between 1,400 m and 1,850 m. Skiing at Aillon-Station began in 1964 with two rope tows and grew through the Montagner and Montaz-Mautino drag-lift era of the 1960s to the 1980s, with a Poma triple chair to the Rochettes added in 1985. Its problem was that it never rose much above the village: at 945 m it ended up carrying a climate vulnerability index of 22, among the worst in France. The numbers at the end are stark - between 2019 and 2025 the Rochettes chair opened for roughly a dozen days a winter and the beginner area for about 90 days in total across those six seasons. On 5 March 2025 the Syndicat Mixte des stations des Bauges closed the 1000 sector's lifts for good and concentrated alpine skiing on Margériaz 1400, which continues to operate. This is a managed retreat rather than an abandonment: the village keeps its accommodation and services, a diversification programme launched in summer 2025 around cross-country skiing on 31 km of trails, snowshoeing, zip-lining and green-season activities, and management passed to the Grand Chambéry agglomeration in 2018. The first winter without lifts was hard on the village's shopkeepers. A caution on the lift list: the fullest published inventory covers the whole Aillons-Margériaz domain without separating the 1000 and 1400 sectors, so only the installations that news reporting or closure dates tie directly to Aillon-Station are given here.
Lifts
| Name | Type | Manufacturer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rochettes | Chairlift - Triple - Fixed | Poma | 974 m long with 218 m of vertical, installed 1985. Managed only around a dozen days of operation per winter between 2019 and 2025 and was withdrawn before the final closure |
| Croes | Platter | Poma | 132 m detachable drag lift with 16 m of vertical, installed 2007; one of the last two lifts running at the 1000 sector until March 2025 |
| Poussins | Surface lift | Sunkid | 56 m conveyor on the beginner area with 4 m of vertical, installed 2014; ran until March 2025 |
| Croisette | Platter | 420 m with 95 m of vertical; one of the two original 1964 drag lifts at Aillon-Station, out of use by 2004 | |
| Ginets | Surface lift | 240 m with 50 m of vertical; began as a rope tow at the 1964 opening and was later replaced by a drag lift, out of use by 2004 |
Sources and further reading
- https://stationsfantomes.wordpress.com/2026/02/14/aillons-margeriaz-1000/
- https://radiomontblanc.fr/article/massif-des-bauges-la-station-des-aillons-margeriaz-1000-ferme-definitivement-54144
- https://www.francebleu.fr/infos/environnement/savoie-aux-aillons-1000-les-remontees-mecaniques-s-arretent-definitivement-6369575
- https://www.savoie-news.fr/reportages/economie/article/fin-du-ski-alpin-place-a-une-nouvelle-dynamique
- https://www.francebleu.fr/emissions/l-info-d-ici-7h30-ici-pays-de-savoie/la-station-aillon-1000-passe-son-premier-hiver-sans-remontees-mecaniques-les-commercants-sont-en-difficultees-8055194
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Location
45.6192, 6.0803