Flaine is a ski area in the Haute-Savoie region of the French Alps. It is the largest and high-altitude ski-in, ski-out resort in the Grand Massif ski area. Flaine ski resort sits at an altitude of 1,600 meters, with ski lifts reaching up to 2,500 meters. It is also the only 1960s-era ski resort to be classified as a French Historical Monument.
Flaine ski resort - Grand Massif ski area
The Grand Massif is the 4th largest ski area in France. It covers 7,600 hectares and offers 139 runs and 265km of skiing. Linking the resorts of Flaine, Les Carroz, Morillon, Samoëns and Sixt Fer-à-Cheval, the Grand Massif offers you a unique opportunity to ski facing Mont-Blanc, in grandiose landscapes with a 360° panorama of the Alps
The Grand Massif ski area is vast, presenting an impressive variety of terrain: the main Flaine/Aujon bowl contains plenty of wide open pistes for beginners and novices, plus there's a great choice of long red runs and challenging expert-level descents off the dome and crags of the surrounding Grandes Platieres, which top out at 2480m.
The Grand Massif ski area is vast, presenting an impressive variety of terrain: the main Flaine/Aujon bowl contains plenty of wide open pistes for beginners and novices, plus there's a great choice of long red runs and challenging expert-level descents off the dome and crags of the surrounding Grandes Platieres, which top out at 2480m.
Flaine ski resort
Main mountain access for the Flaine bowl is by jumbo gondola, which takes you up to the Grandes Platieres at 2480m. This is the starting point for a whole series of runs graded blue, red and black leading down into the main bowl of Flaine. One of the best pistes for second-week skiers is the long Serpentine blue run from Les Grandes Platieres all the way down to the village.
Flaine’s natural amphitheatre is rimmed by a series of lifts all going up to around 2500m. Another fun run is from Tete des Lindars to the resort. It is reached by taking the Aup de Veran gondola followed by an old two-person chair-lift to the top, from where there is a choice of red or black run down.
An excellent slope for free riders is Gers – from Tete Pelouse down to Grand Vans. It is north-facing and remains unpisted, but it is not always open due to avalanche danger.
For more adventurous skiers and snowboarders, Flaine is a base for exploring further afield into the Grand Massif. The main link out of the bowl is the fast eight-person chair from Flaine Foret. The way out of the bowl is via the fast Grand Vans eight-seater chair. Before going any further, good skiers should hop on the Veret drag-lift from half-way down the Tourmaline blue, which brings you up to a choice of peaceful red and black runs – and can become a powder field when conditions are right.
The 2204m summit of the Tete des Saix is the main crossroads for reaching the outlying Grand Massif resorts, with north-facing runs dropping down steep mogul slopes towards Samoens. Alternatively you can choose easier cruising runs that bring you all the way down to Morillon or to Les Carroz. Less confident skiers will particularly enjoy the long green Marvel piste into Morillon.
However, the lift system is prone to high-season bottlenecks in the afternoon when everyone is heading for home – so keep an eye on the lift closing times, and head back early, or late.
Flaine village
Flaine is an interesting and lively ski resort. It is a modern, car-free village situated about an hour and 15 minutes from Geneva, packed full of brutalist architecture, which adds to its distinctive character. In fact Flaine is the only ski resort built in the 1960s to be listed in the French Historical Monuments Survey. Bauhaus designer Marcel Breuer created the Palais de l’Unesco in Paris, the Whitney Museum in New-York, and then Flaine. The resort was awarded the Architectural Heritage of the 20th century label by the Ministry of Culture in 2008.
The town is split in to Flaine Florêt at the top and the larger Flaine Forum below. These two levels are connected by a free to use funicular which takes minutes making it really easy to travel between the two. Flaine Forum is full of shops, an ice rink and lots of sledging runs. While Flaine Florêt has the main ski runs and ski school. And Flaine Front de Neige a few more runs and all the car parks.
Services, shops and amenities are grouped together, only a few steps away from your accommodation. A free shuttle service runs all day long between the resort centre, Le Hameau and Le Col de Pierre Carrée.
Apres-ski here offers far more than schnapps and ski-boot shuffling to local DJs. The Centre d’Art de Flaine, in one of the resort’s original 1960s buildings, has evocative black-and-white photography documenting Flaine’s evolution, along with exhibitions of contemporary art. In winter, the gallery runs a weekly Artistic and Architectural Guided Visit, taking in the landmark sights that see Flaine listed on France’s Inventory of Historic Monuments.