Notre-Dame des Neiges

Visit a chapel overlooking Briançon, offering remarkable views of the Durance valley.

Details

n°36296

Creation:
10 Jul 2013

Last update:
26 Aug 2020

Last review:
28 Aug 2025

Activity: Walking
Distance: 7.48 km
Average duration: 4h 15
Difficulty: Moderate
Back to start: Yes
Ascent: + 739 m
Descent: - 739 m
Highest point: 2,291 m
Lowest point: 1,552 m

Country: France
Areas: Alps, Ecrins, Dauphiné
District: Puy-Saint-Pierre (05100)
Start/End: N 44.892643° / E 6.618112°
IGN map(s): Ref. 3536OT, 3536OTR
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Description of the walk

Park in the car park at Puy-Saint-Pierre church.

(S/E) Cross the road and take the road opposite that leads to the large communal sheepfold before the Prorel intermediate station. You will reach the trail junction (sign) before this station.

(1) Before this station, take the wide track that branches off to the left and is marked^PR® (yellow).
Cross the ski slopes three times to reach the Marcellin Martin oratory.

(2) Turn right onto the path which, on a fairly flat section, reaches a new ski slope. Stay on this slope, which is actually a wide path, and leave it about 500m higher up to take the^PR® marked path on the left, indicated by a sign.
Stay on this path to reach the vast Lauzet mountain pasture (sign).

(3) Climb a few dozen metres to reach an oratory. The path then branches off to the left and, after a steep climb, joins another oratory at the foot of the final ascent.
Zigzag up the four hairpin bends before arriving at Notre-Dame des Neiges.

(4) Descend via the same path to the Lauzet sign.

(3) Take the track on the right (leaving the path you took on the way up on your left). Pass two oratories.

(5) Stay on the track to reach Marcellin Martin.

(2) Finish the descent via the path you took on the way up to return to the car park (S/E).

Waypoints

S/E : km 0 - alt. 1,552 m - Car park at the church in Puy Saint Pierre
1 : km 0.6 - alt. 1,612 m - Crossroads of the oratories
2 : km 1.38 - alt. 1,799 m - Marcellin Martin Oratory
3 : km 2.58 - alt. 1,994 m - Crossroads at the Lauzet mountain pasture
4 : km 3.87 - alt. 2,291 m - Notre Dame des Neiges. View of the valley - La Durance
5 : km 5.53 - alt. 1,934 m - Oratories near the ski lift
S/E : km 7.48 - alt. 1,552 m - Car park at the church in Puy Saint Pierre

Notes

There is a water source at the Saint-Hubert oratory.
No special equipment is required for this hike, which can be done in a good pair of trainers.

Sommet du Prorel (optional route): absolutely remarkable view from this (relatively) small summit, which offers a 360° panorama with remarkable peaks such as: La Barre des Ecrins, Pelvoux, Galibier, Aiguilles d'Arves, Mont Thabor, Chaberton, Mont Viso, Brec du Chambeyron, Font Sancte and, if you have a good map, you will be able to identify many others.

Interesting alternative

(4) Continue along the yellow marked trail to the upper station of the Prorel cable car. Keep heading north on the well-marked yellow trail, which winds its way to the summit of Prorel. Return to Notre-Dame des Neiges via the same route. Allow for an additional 260 metres of elevation gain.

Worth a visit

Briançon below, of course, with its military forts and town.
The Parc des Ecrins is nearby.

Reviews and comments

4.8 / 5

Based on 11 reviews

Reliability of the description
4.8 / 5

Ease of following the route
4.7 / 5

Route interest
4.7 / 5

andemie

28 Aug 2025 at 15:55 7200

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 28, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

very beautiful hike despite the view of the ski lifts. At the top, there is a beautiful chapel and a beautiful panorama. Very nice picnic area with a plancha grill and looked after by a very welcoming person... no difficulties.

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Kooalia

24 May 2024 at 11:41 7200

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Apr 14, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

An interesting hike, requiring considerable physical effort (more than advertised), especially in the higher elevations towards the end of the route.

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SOTO

09 Aug 2023 at 11:35 7200

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 09, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A pleasant hike with the chapel in sight.
The interior of the first oratories is not visible, which is a shame.
However, some of the downhill sections are difficult to negotiate (lots of stones).

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Matthieu H

05 Aug 2022 at 11:46 7200

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 31, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A beautiful hike, climbing to the summit of Prorel is a must to round off this hike, with views over the Serre Che valley, the Durance river and Briançon.

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eliane74

06 Aug 2021 at 20:25 7200

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 06, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A very beautiful, uncrowded route, with slightly more people at the summit as there is a cable car from Briançon.
This isn't too much of a problem as few people climb to the summit of Prorel, but the 380° view is definitely worth it.
A hike worth doing.

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Claudelion

26 Sep 2019 at 14:06 7200

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Sep 26, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

Nice hike; the alternative route to reach the summit of Prorel is interesting and not too difficult.

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clairechaboud

21 Jul 2018 at 11:08 7200

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 21, 2018
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

An ideal hike to start your stay in the Ecrins.

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Raymond Porcher

01 Sep 2017 at 21:49 7200

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 22, 2017
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

Thank you for this beautiful hike, including the variant that climbs to the summit of Prorel, offering a superb 360° view of Briançon, Montgenèvre, Les Ecrins, etc., after a good 1,000 metres of elevation gain. If you want to descend quickly, you can take the Prorel cable car to the Prorel intermediate station, very close to the starting point.

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gazok54

18 May 2016 at 19:27 7200

Thank you Britanicus100 and well done on your video, which leaves us dreaming. However, next year, choose a day when the sky is blue, it will be even more beautiful.

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Britanicus100

18 May 2016 at 16:08 7200 • Edited: 14 Jan 2022 at 12:52 3600

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : May 18, 2016
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

This is the classic hike in Briançon that we enjoy doing every year.

Here is a short video to give you a feel for the atmosphere of this route, which is well described by Bernardino.

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nathom

08 Apr 2016 at 20:06 7200

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 20, 2015
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

Hello everyone,

If I may, I'd like to share a way to hike Notre Dame des Neiges.

I took the Prorel cable car and went as high as I could, then had a picnic on the large wooden terrace, which had just been built at the time. After spending some time relaxing on the wooden deckchairs and admiring the view, I decided to head back down the marked path, and we quickly arrived at the Notre Dame des Neiges chapel. We then continued on our way down to Briançon.

This hike offers a sublime view of the town of Briançon.

For those who find it too long, you can take the Prorel cable car down from the restaurant.

This can cut the hike in half and allow you to do the second section later.

I should point out that I hike with my family, including a 5-year-old child, which changes things a bit in terms of the length of the hikes we can do.

If other families with children are hesitant, they can venture out without any problems. You can do the entire descent in one go or split it in two and finish with the cable car. Or you can take the cable car up, stop at the first section for a picnic in the small area provided for this purpose, and walk back down.

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visorando

10 Oct 2015 at 09:55 7200

There you go, it's corrected.

Arnaud

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slinky

07 Oct 2015 at 18:20 7200

Good evening, osiris130,

Thank you for reporting this.
Indeed, there must have been a problem with the automatic detection of the municipality.
Arnaud will fix this for us very quickly.

Have a good evening.

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osiris130

07 Oct 2015 at 18:12 7200

Hello,

It seems to me that the location of this hike on the map of France is incorrect. It is marked as being in Tourette-Levens, near Nice in the Alpes-Maritimes!

I realised this when I was looking for a hike in the Nice area!

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MH13

10 Sep 2015 at 19:50 7200

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Sep 06, 2015
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

Steep slope but magnificent views over Briançon, Montgenèvre, the forts, the Durance valley and a charming chapel where you can even attend mass in summer.

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Author

bernardino
511 Walks

Visorando member

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