Mountain·France

Ailefroide

3,954m

Original uploader was Eltouristo at fr.wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Elevation: 3,954m
Prominence: 762m
Isolation: 4.1km
Relief: 2,165mabove the lowest point within 5 km
Steepest slope: 71°within 1 km of the summit
Snow at the summit: All yearSee month by month ↓
Summit: 44.8850°N, 6.3561°E

Mountain in France

Ailefroide is a mountain in France. Its summit stands 3,954 m above sea level. Its prominence — how far it rises above the highest saddle linking it to a taller summit — is 762 m, and the nearest higher ground is 4.1 km away.

From the lowest point within 5 km (1,789 m), it rises 2,165 m. The steepest side is the north-west face: 50° on average over the first kilometre. In places the ground near the top reaches 71° — terrain for climbers, not walkers.

The nearest town is Le Monêtier-les-Bains, 16 km away at 1,488 m: 2,466 m below the summit.

Ailefroide for skiers and climbers

Two scores out of 10, built only from open data — every part is shown. They describe what the mountain offers, not how safe it is.

Hiking & mountaineering

9.0/10

Difficulty to the top

Alpine climb

Most path sections around the top are T4 on the SAC hiking scale. Glaciers around the top.

Indicative only — never a safety assessment. Conditions change: ask local guides and check the forecast.

2.1/2.511 waymarked routes and 67 path sections nearby
1.5/1.518 huts and shelters
2.0/22,466 m of ascent from the valley
1.2/1.5762 m of prominence
1.5/1.56 months with summit afternoons above −5 °C
0.6/1via ferratas, climbing and glaciers

Ski score

7.5/10

3.3/4114 km of downhill runs
1.2/1.531 ski lifts
0.0/1.5lift station heights not mapped
3.0/37 months of snow at about 1,988 m

Runs by difficulty

Beginner 12 km
Easy 46 km
Intermediate 36 km
Difficult 18 km

Snow season on the slopes (estimate)

Around 1,988 m, in the middle of the ski area: snow from November to May.

Snow on the ground all month
Snow some of the time
No snow
This month

31 lifts · 28 km cross-country

How these scores are made

Ski (where OpenStreetMap has skiing within 12 km): up to 4 points for the length of downhill runs (300 km or more = 4), 1.5 for the number of lifts (40+), 1.5 for the vertical between lift stations (1,500 m) and 3 for the snow season — a month counts when the estimated mean temperature at the height of the ski area is −1 °C or lower and snow falls or lies there (NASA POWER, 2001–2020). Hiking & mountaineering: up to 2.5 for waymarked routes and paths, 1.5 for huts, 2 for the ascent from the valley (2,000 m), 1.5 for prominence (3,000 m), 1.5 for the season (months with summit afternoons above −5 °C) and 1 for via ferratas, climbing and glaciers. OpenStreetMap is built by volunteers: where few things are mapped, a score can be lower than reality.

Plan your visit

Stay, climb and get there

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Snow

When there is snow on Ailefroide

At the summit, snow all year round. Month by month below, at different heights on the way up.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Summit3,954 msnow all year round	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month
Halfway up2,721 msnow from October to June	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	No snow	No snow	No snow	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month
Le Monêtier-les-Bains1,488 msnow from December to April (some years from November to April)	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	No snow	No snow	No snow	No snow	No snow	No snow	Snow some of the time	Snow on the ground all month

Snow on the ground all month
Snow some of the time
No snow
This month

Estimate for a normal year: average temperature and precipitation from NASA POWER, carried to each height, in a simple model of snow building up and melting. In a given year snow can come earlier or stay longer. It does not replace the local snow and avalanche bulletin.

Summit weather

Ailefroide, month by month

Not a forecast: long-term averages (1991–2020), carried up to the summit. The orange line is where an average afternoon reaches 0 °C; above the dashed blue line it freezes even at dawn.

On an average July afternoon the summit reaches about 5 °C; on February nights it falls to about -25 °C. In 8 months of the year it stays below freezing at the top even in the afternoon. In July the 0 °C line climbs to about 4,690 m, above the summit: the top thaws on an average afternoon. Across the region, February is the driest month (54 mm) and May the wettest (90 mm).

0 °C on an average afternoon 0 °C at dawn the summit

Month	Summit high °C	Summit low °C	Le Monêtier-les-Bains high °C	0 °C line (m)	Rain & snow (mm)	Wet days	Sun h/day
January	-16	-25	0	1,490	69	11	4.0
February	-16	-25	0	1,570	54	10	4.6
March	-12	-20	4	2,120	67	11	5.4
April	-7	-16	9	2,920	61	13	5.9
May	-2	-12	14	3,610	90	16	6.6
June	2	-8	18	4,320	71	14	8.7
July	5	-6	21	4,690	58	11	9.5
August	5	-6	21	4,690	59	11	8.5
September	1	-10	17	4,090	59	11	7.1
October	-4	-14	12	3,380	75	12	5.2
November	-10	-18	6	2,340	88	13	3.5
December	-15	-23	1	1,710	79	12	3.5

Estimate: the NASA POWER climate of a ~55 km cell (average height 1,937 m), adjusted to the summit by −6.5 °C per 1,000 m. Rain, wet days and sunshine are those of the region. Mountain weather changes fast — always check a local forecast. ★ = mildest months at the top.

Relief

The mountain in profile

Two cuts through the summit, 16 km long, from the 30 m Copernicus elevation model. True scale: no vertical exaggeration.

West – east

South – north

Steepness by direction

Average slope of the first kilometre from the summit. The orange petal is the steepest side.

Around the mountain

Huts, lifts and trails around Ailefroide

Counted around the summit in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit. The satellite plate shows 14 × 14 km.

N 5 km

Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 14 × 14 km, north up. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.

18mountain huts and shelters
Chalet Refuge du Pré de Madame Carle, Gîte Lei Meidi, Refuge du Glacier Blanc (2,542 m), Chalet Alpin de la Bérarde (1,740 m) and 14 more
—cable cars, gondolas, chairlifts and rack railways
3ski areas
Puy-Saint-Vincent, Pelvoux-Vallouise
11waymarked hiking routes
Tour de l'Oisans et Écrins, Tour du Chaillol, Eldorado ! Le col de Vallonpierre, Boucle du Pigeonnier dans le cirque du Gioberney and 7 more
—via ferratas
34climbing crags and routes
Sous la Fissure, Escalades Gde Aiguille, École d'escalade Maye, Les Petites Dalles and 30 more
69named glaciers
Glacier de l'Encoula, Glacier de la Plate des Agneaux, Glacier d'Alvau, Glacier des Agneaux and 65 more
7viewpoints
Col de la Temple, Belvédère des 3 refuges, Belvédère du glacier blanc and 4 more
4campsites
bivouac du glacier blanc, bivouac du sélé, Camping d'Ailefroide
7hotels, B&Bs and chalets
Chalet Hôtel d'Ailefroide, Hôtel Engilberge, Auberge de la Meije, Les clouzis and 3 more
11restaurants and cafés

How hard are the paths?

67 path sections within 5 km, by SAC hiking scale (T1 easy walk … T6 difficult alpine).

T1T2T3T4T5T6

T1 hiking
T2 mountain hiking
T3 demanding mountain hiking
T4 alpine hiking
T5 demanding alpine hiking
T6 difficult alpine hiking

Towns at the foot

Le Monêtier-les-Bains16 km · 1,488 m
Villeneuve18 km · 1,395 m
Saint-Martin-de-Queyrières19 km · 1,224 m
Saint-Chaffrey20 km · 1,354 m
Villar-Saint-Pancrace21 km · 1,236 m
Briançon23 km · 1,301 m
Les Deux Alpes23 km · 1,650 m
Mont-de-Lans24 km · 1,269 m

Car hire at GNB airport (Grenoble)Discover Cars · Affiliate link

OpenStreetMap is built by volunteers: a low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. Places © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).

Photos

Seen by climbers and visitors

Ailefroide @ Crête de Puy Salié — Rémih · CC BY-SA 4.0

Ailefroide mit Glacier Noir — Günter Seggebäing, Coesfeld, Germany · CC BY-SA 3.0

Recent years

How each month compared at the summit

Afternoon high at the summit (estimate). The first row is the reference, the 1991–2020 average in °C; the years show only the difference.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
1991–2020 average	-16	-16	-12	-7	-2	2	5	5	1	-4	-10	-15
2020	+1.7	+2.2	±0.0	+2.6	+1.9	−2.1	+0.6	+0.7	+0.5	−2.9	+3.0	−0.8
2021	−1.6	+2.4	+0.4	−1.3	−2.8	+0.6	−0.9	−0.9	+0.8	−0.2	±0.0	+1.2
2022	+1.1	+1.5	+1.9	+0.8	+3.0	+2.9	+4.5	+2.9	−0.6	+3.4	+1.2	+1.2
2023	+1.0	+4.9	+3.0	−0.8	+0.1	+0.7	+1.0	+1.3	+4.1	+2.9	−0.7	+1.5
2024	+2.4	+4.7	+2.3	−0.1	−0.8	−0.4	+1.5	+3.0	−1.9	+1.0	+2.1	+1.1
2025	+2.3	+3.2	+2.6	+2.4	+0.7	+4.0	+0.3	+2.3	+0.4	+0.2	+0.5	+2.9

+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual

Nearby

More mountains nearby

4,102 mBarre des Écrins

2,789 mGrande Tête de l'Obiou

France43 km away

3,841 mViso

Italy63 km away

About these numbers

Names, elevation, prominence	Wikidata (Q1813437) · CC0
Relief, 3D view, profiles	Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
Climate	NASA POWER, 1991–2020 · CC BY 4.0
Around the mountain	© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
Images	EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons

Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.

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