Chamrousse is a ski resort in Southeastern France, in the Belledonne mountain range near Grenoble in the Isère department. It is located in a commune of the same name and is situated on the Recoin at 1650 m and the Roche Béranger at 1750 m. The ski-lifts reach the Cross of Chamrousse at 2253 m.

Population

Olympics

Chamrousse hosted the six alpine skiing events of the 1968 Winter Olympics, where Jean-Claude Killy of France won three gold medals in the men's events. All women's events took place at Recoin de Chamrousse, located 2 km away.

Skiing at Chamrousse

There are more than 90 km of downhill runs at Chamrousse and 24 ski lifts. There are also 37 km of trails for cross-country skiing. Cross-country skiing can be practised from the opening of the resort to early or mid-April.

Cycle racing

Details of the climb

The road to the ski station starts at Uriage-les-Bains from where the climb is 19 km long, gaining 1235 m in elevation, at an average gradient of 6.5%. There are several sections in excess off 11% in the early stages of the climb. For the Tour de France, the summit is at an elevation of 1730 m. The ski station can also be reached by a more northerly route, from Uriage-les-Bains via Saint-Martin-d'Uriage. This climb is 18.2 km gaining 1315 m in elevation, at an average gradient of 7.2%.

Tour de France

The climb of Chamrousse was used in the mountain time-trial in the 2001 Tour de France. Lance Armstrong won the stage (#11) on 18 July 2001, when he took just over an hour to complete the hors catégorie climb from Grenoble to the ski resort. In 2012, Armstrong was disqualified from winning this stage, following the Lance Armstrong doping case. The ski station was re-visited by the race on 18 July 2014. The winner of the 197 km stage 13 from Saint-Étienne was the Italian Vincenzo Nibali who increased his lead over his nearest rivals, with Richie Porte, who began the day second overall, losing nine minutes on the climb.

Climate

On average, Chamrousse experiences 135.8 days per year with a minimum temperature below 0 C, 15.3 days per year with a minimum temperature below -10 C, 44.8 days per year with a maximum temperature below 0 C, and no days per year with a maximum temperature above 30 C. The record high temperature was 28.6 C on 18 July 2023, while the record low temperature was -23.3 C on 5 February 2012.