Flaine Ski Resort Guide | Grand Massif
Flaine is the most popular resort and flagship destination in the Grand Massif ski area. Flaine’s access to the fourth largest interconnected ski area in France is exceptional but it can also stand alone as a ski holiday destination. A purpose-built village ensures Flaine has everything you could want on your doorstep including a long ski season with guaranteed snow.
Flaine’s marmite village
Although the buildings in Flaine offer great ski slope access and amenities they also lack charm. This however doesn’t detract from Flaine being a fantastic base for a French ski holiday. With the highest base area in the Grand Massif, Flaine remains snowsure from Dec - April. A Flaine ski trip guarantees great quality snow, on-slope accommodation and modern facilities.
FLAINE FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Flaine is an acquired taste with some (only my opinion) hideous buildings in the village. Forget French alpine charm, think large concrete facades but Flaine’s village wouldn’t put me off visiting again. The resort of Flaine is well positioned to access the 265km of terrain spread throughout the Grand Massif with fast access to Les Carroz, Samoëns and Morillon, not to mention the 14km Cascades run to Sixt.
FLAINE SKI AREA
Flaine is a well-rounded resort that offers great value for families. Flaine’s main bowl ensures whichever direction you take a lift, you will end up back in the purpose-built village. This makes Flaine ideal for families of different abilities who can spread out, and find their own challenges but easily meet up again for lunch.
Flaine boasts the majority of the Grand Massif terrain with 145km of pistes to explore in the local area. This is good as sometimes the links to Les Carroz close due to high winds but you will still have access to the local ski area.
The ski area in Flaine offers a huge vertical drop with skiing possible between 2561m and 1600m within the resort and down to 700m if you include the links to Morillon. Flaine is a key part of the Grand Massif ski area with its huge bowl offering not only some fantastic in-bounds skiing but in the right conditions, exceptional off-piste.
Flaine has some other claims to fame, like views of Mt Blanc from Les Grandes Platieres and an incredibly enjoyable 14km blue run descending 1720m into the smallest Grand Massif resort of Sixt. The Cascades blue run between Flaine and Sixt is one of the longest in the Alps!
BEGINNERS TERRAIN FLAINE
The beginners area in Flaine is good with a nice wide piste serviced by a magic carpet. This allows people to learn without the space feeling overcrowded. The location of the beginner’s areas is close to the accommodation and some on-mountain restaurants in case you need to take a break. The best thing about being a beginner in Flaine is that you do not need to pay to access the magic carpet so you can save on lift passes. When you find your confidence exploring, Flaine is a breeze with some nice cruisey green and blue graded slopes, this theme is continued around the rest of the Grand Massif.
Magic Carpet near Grand Vans Chairlift at the top of Telebenne
INTERMEDIATES TERRAIN FLAINE
Flaine and the wider Grand Massif ski area are great for intermediates who are building that confidence to explore. With 66 blues and 48 red pistes spread across the Grand Massif, 50 of which are in Flaine, there is plenty for the confident intermediate to explore. Flaine offers numerous high-quality groomed pistes across its expansive bowl and these can also offer substantial vertical drop back to the resort.
Away from the pistes, Flaine has plenty of easily accessible slackcountry to explore just off the lifts, making for a fun first powder day. Those with a willingness to explore can find treelined runs on modest gradients which can be confidence-boosting.
Exploring the trees to the side of the pistes in Flaine
ADVANCED TERRAIN FLAINE
The more confident will love exploring Flaine and the rest of the Grand Massif. Flaine itself offers ample opportunity for off-piste and some interesting tree skiing. To add further challenge there are some steep black slopes and Flaine is great for free riding. The valley that drops between Flaine and Les Carroz offers awesome skiing after fresh snowfall as does the area off the Veret poma lift. I was also fond of the runs alongside the Gers drag-lift which was not the easiest lift but well worth the effort once at the top. On a powder day, this is a must!
Those who are able should consider the run beneath the Vernant chair which leaves the lift station and heads down into a Couloir before running back out to the Vernant chair.
WHERE TO SKI IN FLAINE DURING A STORM
Very few people enjoy snowboarding in a whiteout, myself included, so it is important to know where to head when the weather turns sour. Normally this means heading to the trees as the foliage provides a combination of context and cover from the storm. In Flaine, the majority of the terrain is treeless although there are some glades to be found closer to the village. You may be better served to leave Flaine and head for the treelined slopes of Les Carroz or the lower altitude of Morillon.
Flaines Aup de Veran gondola and Tete de Verdes chairlift lead to some interesting tree runs that are great fun on a bad weather day.
ACCESSING THE GRAND MASSIF
From Flaine it is easy to get between the other Grand Massif resorts and with this in mind you can make the most of the whole ski area. The Grand Vans chairlift takes you to the meeting points of Flaine, Les Carroz, Samoëns and Morillon. From atop Grand Vans (2204m) you can decide your route to sample the best of the rest of the Grand Massif. Within a couple of pistes/connections, you can be in any of the four villages that make up the rest of the ski area.
FREESTYLE FLAINE
In terms of freestyle, you have a couple of options in the Grand Massif. Flaine has a terrain park and border cross tracks that wind down skiers left of the bowl as you head towards the village. In Les Carroz there is a small park that is serviced by a poma, the layout of this park didn’t allow for good flow between jumps and rails but had some of the best features. Morillon also has a really fun terrain park. You can lap from the top of Morillon over some boxes and rails, through a border cross-track and then some awesome groomers, straight to a chairlift, repeat.
FLAINE SNOW HISTORY
Snowboard trips to Flaine can be regarded as pretty much risk-free in regards to snow worries. The Flaine ski area has a high average snowfall with a fantastic snow history. The higher reaches of the Flaine ski area have been known to receive upwards of 13m of snowfall annually. Because Flaine offers high-altitude skiing with resort accommodations around 1600m, snow conditions remain great throughout the winter. If visiting the Grand Massif in early/late season staying in Flaine is your best bet for guaranteeing suitable skiing conditions.
FLAINE LIFTS
Flaine has 24 ski lifts that cover the resort with access to a further 40 lifts across the wider Grand Massif ski area. Flaine has everything from high-speed chairs, gondolas, surface lifts and the unique Télebenne lift that was a first for me.
SEASON DATES
Due to the high altitude, Flaine is the most snow sure of the resorts in the Grand Massif. The resort of Flaine opens in mid-December and closes around the 20th of April. You can be assured of good-quality snow throughout the season but Sixt and Morillon may suffer during early and late seasons.
FLAINE PISTE MAP
To see the interactive piste map click here
GETTING TO FLAINE
Getting to Flaine is easy and pain-free with Geneva airport around an hour away. I’ve always taken a resort transfer directly into my Grand Massif accommodation which has always been smooth. Although driving is possible I have always favoured transfer to these resorts
TRANSFER COMPANIES
Most of my transfers to Flaine have been with GO MASSIF. Go Massif have been fantastic for shared transfers between Geneva and the Grand Massif and having used their service multiple times I would recommend them.
Alpin Bus are a company that I have used for private transfers between Geneva Airport and the Grand Massif. The communication throughout has been fantastic and service came in cheaper than Go Massif for the private option.
SELF-DRIVE
If you would prefer to self-drive there are numerous counters available at Geneva Airport where car-rental is possible. From Geneva, you can expect to drive for 1-1.5 hours depending on conditions. Other nearby airports; Chambéry and Lyon, also offer short drive times of 2 hours and 2.5 hours respectively. Driving to Flaine from Geneva represents one of the shortest ski resort transfers in the Alps.
ACCOMMODATION
The ski resort of Flaine has a purpose-built village with ski-in ski-out apartments available within walking distance of the lifts. The village architecture is not to my taste and lacks charm but the convenience of the village certainly makes up for this.
Flaine is car-free which makes the village very family-friendly and worry-free which can be a huge plus for families. Due to the locality of the slopes staying in Flaine can be more expensive than other parts of the Grand Massif.
If working within a budget consider staying in Sixt and using the resort bus services to access the other Grand Massif resorts. Using Sixt as a base is not the most convenient but can offer a more secluded ski holiday for those looking for a quieter experience. Staying in Les Carroz or Samoèns will give the most direct access to Flaine if staying outside of the resort with high-speed lift access.
Photo @judithgirardmarczak
FLAINE LIFT PASS
Lift passes in Flaine represent exceptional value. If you think you will ski more than one week in a season then consider getting the Grand Massif season pass, if purchased online before 30th November you save 50% meaning a whole season of skiing for €552. You can even add summer access so you have access to all the summer hiking and mountain biking.
If you are only visiting for one week then you can see all the options for lift passes here. I would always recommend getting the Grand Massif pass rather than the local area pass as it represents better value.
Adults can expect to pay around €48 for a day ticket to Flaine, whereas a 6 day Grand Massif lift pass costs €273 if purchased online.
FLAINE PROS
Flaine offers snow-sure skiing and a long season.
Flaine is connected to the resorts of Samoëns, Les Carroz, Morillon and Sixt which encompasses 265km of trails.
The terrain across Flaine and the Grand Massif is varied and as a result beginners through experts can have a great time here.
Flaine offers some free beginner areas that do not require a lift pass.
Ski-in Ski-out village that has everything you need for a ski holiday.
Flaine is super easy to access from Geneva.
FLAINE CONS
High winds in Flaine can close the links to the other resorts.
Flaine has updated its lift however there are still some slow chairs hanging in there.
The village aesthetic lacks that charming ski resort feel.
FLAINE GALLERY
FINAL THOUGHTS
Flaine represents a great option for a French ski holiday. The terrain is well suited to families of differing abilities and the fact the beginner’s area can be used for free is awesome. I love Flaine for its great off-piste routes and snow-sure slopes that mean you can book with confidence. It is rare that I revisit ski areas however the Grand Massif is an area that keeps drawing me back.
