Beginner Skiers
Both ski resorts are great for beginners with some perfect nursery slopes (green runs) and then some easily accessible blue slopes. Combine this with the great instructors we use and it’s the ideal place to learn to ski.
La Clusaz has some flat and wide nursery slopes around the village, as well as at the top of the Beauregard cable car with wide gentle greens and easy drag lifts on the plateau. 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.
Grand Bornand has an extensive nursery slope area at the top of the
Rosay cable car, including ski-gardens and play areas for the kids.
This is where many of the lessons start from and there is a good choice
of long, gentle green runs which get you covering some distance around
the mountain but without any steep or scary bits. Access to the mountain
restaurants is good from the green runs, so mixed groups can all still
meet up for coffee, lunch etc.
As well as an extensive nursery slope area - Grand Bornand has some brilliant confidence building "Blues" where you can really put it all into practice. And the best bit is there are few people, wide pistes with plenty of space, so relax and don’t worry about anyone else!
Intermediates
Intermediate skiers will be in their element with some excellent mountain cruising. There is a good range of blues and reds 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 conditions.
All areas are linked by both runs and lifts, but we can use our transport to make it easy and guarantee that you can ski the best of every area within the week.
Grand Bornand provides some great chances to cruise on blues - with a "hidden valley" giving a run of around 4km, ideal for a spot of "shoosting". The reds are brilliant for building confidence on steeper slopes with varying steepness, but wide well groomed pistes and no scary cliff drops off the side! The Grand Bornand area is very well served by fast new lifts including the new 6-person chair to Maroly – and makes for easy navigating.
After fresh snow, La Balme offers some serious powder with a huge expanse of off-piste and Grand Bornand also adds to the fun with plenty of good powder runs. All of these are accessible to the intermediate skier!
Advanced Skiing
Although the area does not have many official black runs, you can still find plenty of good fast pistes to thrill you. Etale mountain has a steep red, as well as a few challenging black runs, one of which becomes mogully and very tough - definitely a thigh burner! La Balme is the best area for advanced skiers, with the biggest and steepest runs for both on- and off- piste descents. It has some good speed skiing reds and the descent from top to bottom will severely test anyone’s downhill skiing ability! The large sheltered bowl is the highest point in La Clusaz as it rises up to 2600m, with amazing views across to Mont Blanc. It gets the best snow in the resort and because of its height and aspect it keeps it very well. La Balme is definitely the place to go on a fresh powder day – and a few times each season you can experience waist deep powder ready to be enjoyed!
Grand Bornand has some long steep red runs, as well as a couple of very
challenging black runs. The top of Lachat (reached by a fast 6 person chair
lift) provides access to Piste 2000 run which is a fabulous long red, looping
all the way down to the village if required. Or take the more direct route
off the side with a black run reserved for only the most competent (or crazy!)
skiers. In addition, for those who love a challege, the Espace Freeride
off the top of La Chat in Grand Bornand opened in the 2008 season, allowing
access to the face of La Chat where excellent off piste and freeride opportunities
can be found in this natural bowl - particularly on a powder day.
The Snow Parks in both La Clusaz and Grand Bornand are open to skiers and boarders alike. It’s not just snowboarders who enjoy the thrills of the parks and pistes in the area – La Clusaz is home to Candide Thovex who will often be performing tricks on skis with the rails and jumps.
For those prepared to work a little harder – the ski touring possibilities are amazing in the resort with many hidden areas offering fresh snow routes where you can carve your own tracks! Please ask us for details if you are interested – we can hire touring skis and provide guides. For advanced skiers we can organise extreme skiing/boarding and off-piste guiding in the Aravis mountains which is good value for some unique backcountry and off-piste adventures…
Cross Country
The villages of La Clusaz, Grand Bornand and St Jean de Sixt present a fantastic location for cross-country or Nordic skiing. The resorts have a long tradition of "Ski de fond" as the French call it and the villages are steeped in history with many French and European champions originating here.
Whether it's your first time or you're an experienced skier, we can help you enjoy a day on Touring or Nordic skis and can arrange specific lessons for a day or whole week.
There are
two dedicated cross-country ski schools; ESF provide individual and
group lessons in Ski De Fond, Ski Randonée and Telemark for
around £65 for a week. Equipment hire is easily arranged and
great value for the latest gear, with a 10% discount for Ski
Weekender guests.
Enthusiasts are amazingly well served in the Aravis region - and it is one of the premium resorts for cross-country skiing in France, with over 70km of marked trails in La Clusaz, and 60km more in Grand Bornand. Using our transport, we are able to get you to your lessons or drop you off anywhere you'd like to take advantage of the excellent ski trails on offer for a perfect day out.
Ski de Fond Trails
Lac Des Confins sits above the town (at an altitude of 1450m), on a wide
mountain col with fine views, and it is here that most of the cross country
skiing in La Clusaz takes place - including the ESF School specifically
designed for Nordic or Cross Country skiing. 
Here you will find 45 km (28 miles) of trails prepared for both the "Classic"
and "Skating" techniques (variety of runs from Green to Black)
and also snowshoe walking trails. There are also links across to the Grand
Bornand area with marked and prepared trails.
The Beauregard Plateau (altitude 1650m) includes La Clusaz, Manigod, Thônes and Les Villards sur Thônes with 14 km (8,75 miles) of trails and three walking circuits of 20 km (12,5 miles) and one racquets circuit.
Grand Bornand has 2 main areas consisting of Vallée du Bouchet (where you can ski alongside the mountain stream and near the farms) and Le Chinaillon (which takes you on to a steeper landscape where you can enjoy wide panoramas) with a total of 58km of trails. There are 2 cross-country and biathlon stadiums which demonstrate the strong heritage and appeal of cross-country in the resorts.