Hautes-Alpes
- of the Alpine arc
- the world’s most beautiful outdoor spots
- France’s leading organic department
- pioneers in renewable energies
- olympic site in 2030
HEADLINES
More than a website, a manifesto
A step aside, three key ideas
- A focus on current events…
- Original cross navigation…
- A unique digital platform…
One ambition
The Hautes-Alpes Development Agency launches its new digital portal.
Much more than just a website, hautes-alpes.net is a manifesto for a mountain region in the throes of change.
“[…] Stories are powerful levers of emotion and mobilization.”
Greetings from the business world
Here, like nowhere else, the business community is united in its greetings. Hundreds of entrepreneurs and elected representatives gathered in Gap on January 8, 2026 to share a moment of conviviality.
The evening’s theme: Corporate Social Responsibility. On this occasion, some twenty representatives of consular chambers, federations, trade unions and professional bodies in the Hautes-Alpes signed a CSR Charter, under the watchful eye of the Prefect.
A mobilization and a commitment based on a humanist and ecological conscience and an attachment to a territory, with the 2030 Winter Olympics in its sights.
All white
The snowfalls at the start of the year are most welcome, magnifying the Hautes-Alpes and delighting skiers and our economy.
Snow depths in Hautes-Alpes resorts, by massif, mid-January 2026:
Briançonnais: 40-130 cm
Champsaur: 30-90 cm
Dévoluy: 25-60 cm
Embrunais: 35-90 cm
Guillestrois-Queyras: 30-85 cm
Pays des Écrins: 50-140 cm
ICONICS
OLYMPIC GAMES 2030
In the French Alps, the Southern and Northern Alps have joined forces to create an unprecedented fresco for the 2030 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.
At the heart of this alliance, the Hautes-Alpes set the stage for more than twenty freestyle skiing and snowboarding competitions. The venue is Serre Chevalierthe largest resort in the Southern Alps, and in Montgenèvrethe doyenne of French resorts, where riders will take to the skies, their trajectories intersecting against a backdrop of majestic peaks.
Briançona citadel of stone, will be the vibrant epicenter. Its Fort des Têtes, aUNESCO World Heritage site, will be transformed into an Olympic village: a crossroads of cultures, a logistics hub, a forge of energy.
Beyond the light the Games will shed on the department, their legacy is immense. They will leave the Hautes-Alpes with concrete advances in terms of more fluid access and rethought mobility, particularly by rail. Olympism won’t just cross the mountains: it will take root there, making the Hautes-Alpes not just a theater, but the center of the world.
Nature sentinels
From the Écrins National Park to the Queyras and Baronnies Provençales Regional Nature Parks, nature reserves and biodiversity sanctuaries, the Hautes-Alpes is a sentinel of nature in an era of upheaval.
Parks as refuges
The Écrins National Park (925 km²), the Queyras Regional Nature Park (650 km²) and the Baronnies provençales Regional Nature Park (1,560 km²) form a protective belt around exceptional landscapes.
The breath of wild animals
Ibexes, chamois, bearded vultures, black grouse and the Ecrins trout are all part of a resilient yet fragile fauna.
The richness
of mountain flowers
The flora of the Hautes-Alpes is a journey between altitude and the Mediterranean.
Water,
shared treasure
In the Hautes-Alpes, following the river’s course means understanding the intimate link between people and their environment.
SCALES
Clarée ski tour
A gliding itinerary
In the heart of winter, discover the wild Clarée valley, its fauna, flora and magnificent landscapes. Along the way, mountain refuges welcome you for a warm and comforting break.
- Névache → Refuge Buffère
- Refuge Buffère → Refuge du Chardonnet
- Refuge du Chardonnet → Refuge Ricou
- Refuge Ricou → Refuge I Re Magi
- Refuge I Re Magi → Névache
Alpine Terroir Roadtrip
Five days to discover the flavours of the Alps
This roadtrip guides you from producer to producer, from the orchards of the Haute-Durance to the vineyards of the Avance valley, from the alpine pastures of the Dévoluy and the Queyrasto the bocages of Champsaur. In just a few days, you’ll discover all the richness of the Alpine terroir : meats, cured meats, market gardening, cheeses, fruit, wines, beers, liqueurs… on an itinerary through enchanting landscapes.
- Sisteron → Buëch Valley
- Buëch Valley → Dévoluy
- Dévoluy → Champsaur → Gapençais
- Gapençais → Avance Valley
- Avance Valley → Queyras
Lavanderaie des Hautes Baronnies
FAVORITES
White lines
BACKCOUNTRY, the mountain powder side.
Toqués des Hautes-Alpes
Sugar shacks that melt the Alps
Between two bends and a glass of mulled wine, a new ritual has taken hold in Serre Chevalier and Montgenèvre : the sugar break!
(FR)AGILES
Glaciers
On-board listening at 3,200 metres altitude, at the heart of the inner life of the Girose glacier
These men and women, glaciologists, first-aid workers and high-mountain guides, share their experiences of these places and offer some keys to understanding the current landscape transformations linked to global warming. Their stories are interwoven with unheard-of sounds captured by microphones, hydrophones and seismic sensors plunged into the depths of crevasses, glacial torrents and moraine folds.
The glacier moves 35 metres a year
with the voices of Lucas Davaze, glaciologist, and Morgan Barbot, ski patroller at La Grave.
Flying over the glacier
with the voice of David Le Guen, sales and communications manager at the Meije glaciers cable car company
We don’t know when it’s going to fall
with the voices of Erin Smart and Benjamin Ribeyre, high-mountain guides at La Grave
Balance point
The Hautes-Alpes opens a path
From the 50th anniversary of the Ecrins National Park (in 2024), to the Vallouise speech proclaimed by Valéry Giscard d’Estaing in 1977, the Hautes-Alpes is leading the way.
It’s the story of a mountain region aware of its vulnerabilities, seeking to strike a balance between preserving and enhancing the exceptional natural environment that is its greatest asset.
