Le Markstein () is a winter sports station in the

Vosges mountains The Vosges ( , ; ; Franconian (linguistics), Franconian and ) is a range of medium mountains in Eastern France, near its France–Germany border, border with Germany. Together with the Palatine Forest to the north on the German side of the bor ...

in France situated at an altitude of between and which is located on the

Route des Crêtes Thé Route des Crêtes (; ) is an road in the Vosges Mountains in Eastern France, which passes through the Ballons des Vosges Nature Park, Parc naturel régional des Ballons des Vosges. It connects Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines (north) with Cernay, Hau ...

. It forms a set of cross-country skiing with the Breitfirst ski-station and the

Grand Ballon The Grand Ballon () or Great Belchen ( ; ) is the highest mountain of the Vosges, located northwest of Mulhouse, France. It is also the highest point of the Grand-Est French region. Name ''Grand Ballon'' means "great ound-toppedmountain" ...

. The highest point is the summit of the Jungfraukopf. The station staged

World Cup skiing The FIS Alpine Ski World Cup is the top international circuit of alpine skiing competitions, launched in 1966 by a group of ski racing friends and experts which included French journalist Serge Lang and the alpine ski team directors from France ...

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

and

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

and World Cup Paragliding in 1999. The roads through the station are also used from time to time by the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage cycle sport, bicycle race held primarily in France. It is the oldest and most prestigious of the three Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours, which include the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a ...

cycle race, including twice in

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

and again in

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

Geography

Climate

Le Markstein has a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

''Dfb'') closely bordering on a

subarctic climate The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a continental climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of ...

(''Dfc''). The average annual temperature in Le Markstein is . The average annual rainfall is with December as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around , and lowest in January, at around . The highest temperature ever recorded in Le Markstein was on 7 August 2015; the coldest temperature ever recorded was on 20 December 2009.

Skiing

The Markstein ski station has eight ski lifts.

Tracks

The station has 12 tracks in all including: *4 green runs *4 blue runs *2 red runs *2 black runs

Cycle racing

Prior to 2014, the

cycle race passed through Le Markstein seven times either during the passage over the

Col du Grand Ballon The Col du Grand Ballon (; elevation ) is a mountain pass situated close to the summit of the Grand Ballon () in the Vosges Mountains of France. It connects Cernay (Haut-Rhin) with Le Markstein winter sports station. Details of the climbs Th ...

or in the descent from the Col du Platzerwasel, although it was not categorized for the

Mountains classification The King of the Mountains (KoM) is an award given to the best climbing specialist in a men's cycling road race; in women's cycle racing, Queen of the Mountains (QoM) is used. While the title may be given to the rider who achieves the highest p ...

. The first passage was in

1969 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the ...

and the most recent in

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

Details of the climbs

Starting from

Guebwiller Guebwiller (; Alsatian language, Alsatian: ''Gàwiller'' ; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Haut-Rhin Departments of France, département in Grand Est in north-eastern France. It was a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the de ...

, to the east, the climb is long. Over this distance, the climb is at an average gradient of 3.8%, with the steepest sections being at 8.1%. The 2014 Tour de France route joins this climb at Lautenbach, from where there is a long climb at an average gradient of 5.4%. Starting from

Oderen Oderen (; ) is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. Geography Climate Oderen has a humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification ''Dfb'') closely bordering on a subarctic climate (''Dfc''). Th ...

, to the west, the climb is long. Over this distance, the climb is at an average gradient of 3.5%, with the steepest sections being at 8.6%.

2014 Tour de France

In 2014, the Tour de France passed through Le Markstein twice. On Stage 9, on 13 July, the race climbed to Le Markstein from the sprint at Linthal, to the east, and the climb to the summit, with an altitude of , ranked as First Category. The race then travelled via the

(D431) before crossing the

and descending to the finish at

Mulhouse Mulhouse (; ; Alsatian language, Alsatian: ''Mìlhüsa'' ; , meaning "Mill (grinding), mill house") is a France, French city of the European Collectivity of Alsace (Haut-Rhin department, in the Grand Est region of France). It is near the Fran ...

. The leader over the summit was the German rider Tony Martin. The following day, the tour again passed through the station, as it descended from the Col du Platzerwasel towards

References

{{Authority control Ski stations in France Tourist attractions in Haut-Rhin Mountain passes of the Vosges Skiing in the Vosges Sports venues in Haut-Rhin