The Skiing in La Clusaz

Guide to skiing in La Clusaz Whether you are a beginner skier, an intermediate who loves to cruise blue and red runs, or an advanced skier looking for big off-piste, you will find La Clusaz is one of those rare ski resorts which really does cater well for everyone.

The real bonus of La Clusaz is that you will often have the slopes to yourself even in ‘busy’ times. We have lived and skied here for 11 years, and these are our insights into what you can expect from the skiing in La Clusaz.

In short, there is more than enough for a short ski break! You can check it out for yourself on our convenient 4 day ski weekends, 3 day ski midweeks and 7 day ski holidays.

Le Grand Bornand is included on the Aravis lift pass that we include for all holidays, so in total there is 220km of skiing here.

Beginner Skiing in La Clusaz

Beginner skiing in La Clusaz La Clusaz has some flat, wide nursery slopes around the village, as well as at the top of the Beauregard cable car where there are wide gentle greens and easy drag lifts on the plateau. This is great area to learn, giving you that ‘in the mountains’ feeling rather than being stuck in the village at the bottom of the slopes.

We also like the green at the bottom of La Balme for beginners as it’s a nice smooth piste with a gentle drag lift (which the friendly lifties will slow down for first-timers!).

Manigod is another area that has some good gentle blue runs, with simple to use lifts and plenty of sunshine!

Intermediate Skiing in La Clusaz

Intermediate skiers will be in their element with some excellent mountain cruising. There is a good range of blue and red slopes which make the most of the linked ski regions and cover some distance through different terrains.

The tree-lined blue runs down to the village from Beauregard and the wide runs of the Aiguille are always favourites in La Clusaz.

Manigod and Merdassier provide another quieter ski area with many blue runs through the trees and, although shorter in length, there is a great choice on consistently good snow.

After fresh snow, La Balme offers some serious powder with a huge expanse of off-piste all accessible to the intermediate skier with ambitions! There are also some lovely rolling, wide red runs, and the descent from top to bottom will severely test anyone’s downhill skiing fitness!

Advanced Skiing in La Clusaz

Advanced skiing in La Clusaz With only 7 official black runs on the piste map, you might think there is not a lot for advanced skiers, but don’t be misled! La Clusaz is legendary on the freestyle ski circuit, itself infamously dominated in recent years by La Clusaz’s own Candide Thovex.

La Balme and Torchere bowls are the best areas for advanced skiers, with the biggest and steepest runs for both on- and off-piste descents. The large, sheltered and often untracked bowls are the highest points in La Clusaz, rising up to 2600m, with amazing views across to Mont Blanc from the top of Balme. It gets the best snow in the resort and because of its height and aspect it keeps it very well too.

With over 1200m of vertical descent to play with, open bowls, tree lines, interesting features and drop offs abound in the sector. Connect that with some great lines in and around the Fernuy red and black runs, and you can have a whole day (or even a weekend) ahead of you without touching a piste.

Etale mountain also has a number of interesting red and black slopes, with plenty of fun tree skiing to be found.

A Telegraph journalist was taken out by local extreme skier Pierre Tardivel, famous for his Everest ski descent, to discover just how misleading the ‘families only’ reputation of the skiing in La Clusaz is. Read the entertaining article here.

Snowpark in La Clusaz

Skiing at the snowpark in La Clusaz The snowpark in La Clusaz has 4 lines of jumps and rails – green, blue, red and black – and also features a large half pipe. It is served by 5 snow cannons and has a good aspect so the snow quality remains good throughout the season. There are 3 drag lifts serving the park so rotations are quick and fluid.

Hiring a Ski Guide in La Clusaz

If you are interested in hiring a ski guide for a day to discover some of the easily accessible off-piste terrain, then just let us know. We can arrange ski touring sessions to discover some of the neighbouring combes, or classic lift served off-piste ski guiding with the occasional short hike to find the best lines!