Méribel Altiport: altitude, skiing, golf and chalets

Above the centre of Méribel, the road climbs through the forest and comes to a halt on a sunny shelf at around 1700m: this is the Altiport. It is a neighbourhood apart, among the fir trees, where a short airstrip runs through the forest, golf takes over in summer and a chairlift heads off towards Courchevel. Beginners learn to ski here, cross-country skiers find the resort’s main Nordic area, and families come for the quiet. Here is what to know before you unpack.

Where Méribel Altiport is, and how high

The Altiport is part of the Méribel centre sector, but the setting is quite different: a neighbourhood in the middle of the forest at around 1700m, while the centre sits at 1450m and Méribel-Mottaret at 1750m. The free shuttle bus climbs up in about twenty minutes from La Chaudanne, by way of Morel, the Rond-Point des Pistes and the Belvédère; the Altiport is the end of the line. On foot, the waymarked route from the centre via Morel is 3.4km with 285m of ascent.

One detail matters when you book: the route de l’Altiport starts in the centre. Residences and hotels much further down the road, from the edge of the centre onwards, share the address without belonging to the neighbourhood. So a “route de l’Altiport” address is no guarantee that you are staying at the Altiport: check the map.

Méribel’s altiport: a 406m runway in the forest

The neighbourhood takes its name from one of the very first altiports in the Alps, opened in the early 1960s and now named after the pilot Robert Merloz. Its paved runway measures 406m by 15m, lying between 1691m and 1719m, with a gradient of up to 11% on its central section. Aircraft always land in one direction and take off in the other. There is no runway lighting, flying is by day only, and the runway is not cleared of snow in winter.

This is not a way in for holidaymakers: commercial air transport is banned here, apart from discovery flights, and only pilots holding the mountain rating, or a specific authorisation for this altiport, may land a plane. There is a helicopter parking area near the tower. The flying club, founded in 1964, trains pilots here and offers discovery flights of fifteen to thirty minutes over Méribel, Courchevel and Les 3 Vallées, from mid-June to October and from mid-December to the end of April. If you want to arrive by air, see our page on the Courchevel altiport instead, which is cleared of snow all winter.

Skiing from the Altiport

The company that runs the Méribel-Mottaret lifts calls the Altiport “the go-to area for young skiers”: wide green and blue pistes, skiing through the forest and sunshine from 10am to 4pm at least. The Altiport chairlift serves the Inuits and Animaux pistes, two playful greens that wind through the fir trees. One ski school runs its children’s area here, from age 4, on a small piste set aside for beginners. From Méribel Village, the Golf chairlift climbs up to the neighbourhood, and the Lapin blue piste runs back down.

For good skiers, the Altiport is above all a gateway to Courchevel: the Loze chairlift leaves from the neighbourhood and climbs to the Col de la Loze at 2304m, where you drop over towards La Tania and Courchevel 1850. On the way back, the Pic Bleu (blue) and Tétras (black) pistes cross the Altiport sector deep among the fir trees. The Rhodos gondola, whose top station is being refurbished this winter to complete its renovation, also links the neighbourhood with the Rond-Point des Pistes and La Chaudanne. There are two lift pass machines at the foot of the pistes, and a ski hire shop is open in the neighbourhood.

Cross-country skiing, walks and sledging at the Altiport

The Altiport is Méribel’s main Nordic area: according to the tourist office, around 25km of groomed trails through the forest, linked to the Courchevel cross-country area. Walkers have waymarked paths starting from the shuttle bus stop: the Sentier des Animaux, a 2.8km round trip, the Forêt du Fontany trail, a 5.1km loop, or the climb to the Pic Noir. Little ones have a safe, free sledging area, and horse-drawn sleigh rides take you through the forest in winter. Everything else the season offers, from biathlon to ski touring, is covered in our guide to what to do in Méribel in winter.

The Méribel golf course in summer

In the warmer months, the neighbourhood takes on a different face. The Méribel golf course, 18 holes and par 71 over 5538m, runs alongside the altiport from Les Rhodos to Chantemouche, with more than 250m of height difference, between 1565m and 1850m. It began in 1966 with four holes, the idea of Peter Lindsay, one of the founding fathers of the resort, and the tourist office presents it as the first course in France laid out above 1500m. It opens from June to September, weather permitting, a licence is compulsory on the course, and there are lessons for children from age 3. In summer, people also picnic along the airstrip, and you can walk up to the Col de la Loze.

Méribel Altiport shuttle bus: getting to the centre

Line C of the free Méribus shuttle buses is the only one that serves the Altiport. It leaves from La Chaudanne, in the centre, and climbs via Méribel centre, Morel, Altitude 1600, the Plateau du Morel, the Rond-Point des Pistes, the Belvédère and Le Blanchot. In its last published winter timetable, it mostly ran every 15 to 20 minutes during the day, from 8am to 11.30pm from the Altiport; last summer, about once an hour. This winter’s timetable is not online yet: check it when the season opens on 5 December 2026.

Altiport webcam and weather

There is no official webcam at the Altiport. Of the tourist office webcams, the one at the Col de la Loze, at 2304m, shows the top of the sector; the one at La Chaudanne shows the centre, at 1450m. The resort’s official forecasts are given for 1450m and for the top of the ski area: at the Altiport, 250m above the centre, expect snow that is often colder, which cross-country skiers appreciate.

AEC tip. The Altiport suits families of beginners and anyone who values peace and quiet: the green pistes are right at the foot of the neighbourhood, and the Loze chairlift takes you to Courchevel. If you want to go out in the centre in the evening, check the time of the last shuttle bus, or aim for a chalet closer to the Rond-Point.

Renting a chalet at Méribel Altiport

The neighbourhood mixes chalets and apartments in the forest, some with direct access to the pistes, along with a few restaurants and a bar with a terrace. Our Méribel chalets are gathered on a single page, and our ski-in ski-out chalets in Méribel in a dedicated selection. To compare neighbourhoods, see our guide Méribel Mottaret or Méribel centre, and to choose between resorts, our guide to Les 3 Vallées.

The simplest way is to write to us: tell us your dates and the number of guests, and our agents will suggest chalets in the neighbourhood or close by.

And at the end of the day, when the sun leaves the airstrip, the Altiport sinks back into the silence of the forest, above the lights of Méribel.