“It’s important that families can come”, the cheapest ski resort in Europe unearthed in the Hautes-Alpes

With an average daily price of 44.5 euros, Réallon is the cheapest ski resort in Europe, according to the ranking of an online reservation site, Holidu.

Skiing, an activity reserved for the richest? This is not what the team at the Réallon estate, in the Southern Alps, thinks. It has just been ranked the cheapest ski resort in Europe at the end of 2024 by the online booking site Holidu. “In a context of unprecedented purchasing power crisis, it is important that families can come” says the director of the structure, Kevin Thirion. After Réallon in the Hautes-Alpes, and Mount Parnassos in Greece, another Paca area comes in third position in this top 10: Roubion-les-Buisses, in the Alpes-Maritime .

Located between 1560 and 2115 meters above sea level, the ski area of Réallon is spread over 30 kilometers of slopes and has six ski lifts. uA day on the slopes costs 44.5 euros per person on average. 3.5 euros less than in Roubion-les-Buisses, again according to the latest Holidu study. “It's a ranking that we very much welcome.” says the director of the structure. He took over the estate a year earlier. In comparison, in the most expensive area, it costs between 200 and 360 euros per day.

Under the system of public management, the station assumes its almost “social” role, “it is important that families can access skiing, because it is an activity in the heart of nature“. For locals, a “primeur” package is available for 220 euros per year.

Kevin Thirion insists on it: “here, parking is free and this is not likely to change. We also have an accessible entrance mat to allow you to create memories without spending“. The goal, of course, is to then take vacationers and locals to the paid slopes.

Also read: MAP. Find all the opening dates of the ski resorts in the Alpes-Maritimes, Hautes-Alpes, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence and Vaucluse

Among the 3,500 beds accessible to Réallon, only 400 are available for rental through a hotel or holiday center. For the rest, they are mainly second homes.

With this kind of ranking visible on the internet and social networks, the popularity of the domain could lead the structure to push its walls. “Which could lead to the creation of jobs which will not be directly on the slopes, but necessary for stays“.

From the weekend of December 14 and 15, it will be possible to come to the resort, the area will be open every day from the 21st.We know that we mainly have a local clientele so we focus a lot on weekends and Wednesdays“, underlines the director.

Kevin Thirion knows it, we will have to adapt to climate change: “this is already the logic towards which we are going“. The resort diversifies its activities, with sledding, but also mountain karting and even climbing. Enough to keep Réallon going all year round. Summer already represents 15% of the area's turnover. “On the other hand, a resort cannot survive without skiing, without winter“, he emphasizes.

In this logic of adaptation, the mid-mountain area has already increased its distance of slopes to reach 40km this year.with natural circuits, which lent themselves to exploitation without many transformations. Arrivals and departures only have been adapted“. All with a stated idea: to be part of nature, without destroying it.

With an opening 170 working days per year Kevin Thirion claims to be “on a balanced budget”. He relies on investments, but not too much, to avoid finding himself “stuck in the middle“When large sums have to be repaid, prices inevitably increase.