Flaine france
Review of snowboarding and skiing in Flaine France.
Flaine Ski Holiday Facts
Established in 1967 the French ski resort Flaine lies at 2480 metres altitude in the Haute Savoie region of the French Alps / Alpes. With the highest lifts and ski slopes below 2500m Flaine ski area is not snow sure. Over 100 snow cannons ensure artificial Flaine snow making covers 10km of ski trails, which equates to around 25 of the ski slopes. The nearest airport transfer to Flaine (France) is Geneva / Geneve at a distance of 90km or approximately 90 minutes driving time. Flaine ski season runs from December to April.
SNO-man says
Popularly regarded as an ugly, but functional, purpose built resort, Flaine has infact been designed to the Bauhaus school of architectural design and is the only modern ski resort to be recognised as an architectural treasure . The resort will celebrate its 40th birthday in 2009. Lifts radiate out in a skier-friendly natural basin, extending to Les Carroz, Morillon, Samoëns and Sixt.
alpine downhill runs to ski in Flaine France
Beginner Trails
 7 runs ?km |
12% |
Intermediate Trails
 23 runs ?km |
40% |
Advanced Trails
 23 runs ?km |
40% |
Expert Trails
 4 runs 4km |
7% |
Flaine Resort & Holiday Info
| Beginners learning to ski |  |
| Intermediate Skiers | |
| Expert Skiers | |
| Snowboarders | |
| Apres Ski | |
| Family friendly | |
| Snowsure | |
| Ambience | |
| Value for money | |
| Ski Pass Prices (adult 6 day) | €192 - €192 |
Traditional Ski Village / Purpose Built Ski Resort |
| Ski Resort Opens | Dec 2011 |
| Ski Resort Closes | Apr 2012 |
| (snow conditions often influence resort opening & closing) |
Ski Area Flaine Mountain
| Downhill Ski Runs | 140km |
| total length of Flaine trails |
| Longest lift serve Run | 14km |
| longest piste or trail reachable by ski lift |
| Ski Slope Orientation | N S E W |
| direction Flaine ski areas face |
| Top Altitude | 2480m |
| top station of highest ski lift |
| Bottom Altitude | 1600m |
| bottom of lowest ski run |
| Resort Altitude | 1600m |
| centre of Flaine ski resort |
| Vertical Drop | 1660m |
| total descent from top lift to bottom piste |
| Skiable Vertical | ^v 1660m |
| can include extra hike up which may be possible above top lift - stat used by some resorts to con us about true "vertical drop" which is lift-served |
Skiing in Flaine
Skiing Flaine you'll enjoy 57 pistes and trails and that means approximately 140km of ski runs. Flaine lifts number 29 with the capacity to uplift 31290 skiers up the mountain per hour. The longest ski run in the French ski resort of Flaine is over 14km long.
SNO-man says
Flaine skiing has a very good snow record because the slopes are mostly north facing and are so close to Mont Blanc. The village is very easy to reach, and its location midway between the slopes is perfect.
Beginners have wide gentle nursery slopes close to the resort and at the highest points of the ski area, which can be access by the Grandes Platières cable car. There is plenty for intermediate skiers to choose from, with all parts of the area open to them on easy or intermediate runs, touring along the tree line, with a variety of pistes, from long cruisers to sharp moguls. For experts there plenty to keep busy, with 12 black trails and off piste opportunities. The long black down to Samoens, the Styx and powder bowl Combe de Gers are popular choices. There is good off-piste riding to be had but local knowledge is essential to avoid a number of hidden dangers.
The Grand Massif is a large ski area - with 265km of terrain between the resorts of Morillon, les Carroz and Samoens to Flaine. Sixt, is also included but isn’t lift linked, a short bus trip away from Samoens, but it does have one of the longest blue runs, the Cascade, at 14km which comes out close to the resort. A lot of the Grand Massif Skiing is below the treeline with pistes cut through the forest.
Flaine Ski Area
Flaine ski area has 12% beginner ski runs or nursery slopes, 40% intermediate, 40% advanced ski slopes and 7% for expert skiers - the most difficult Flaine piste is the ?km Styx run, with a steepness/slope angle of ?%. You can't ski Flaine after dark.
Flaine for skiing gets 4 stars out of 5 overall
Snowboarding in Flaine
If you snowboard Flaine you'll want to know that, of the 29 ski lifts in total, 13 are surface lifts or "drag lifts" - this gives a good indication of how modern the lift system is and well set up Flaine snowboarding is - especially for beginners learning to snowboard. Flaine snowboard facilities include 3 terrain parks and 0 half pipe (longest half pipe length is 0 metres), 0 quarter pipe and 1 boardercross courses.
SNO-man says
Flaine has an especially reserved area for snowboarding called The Jam Park in the Aujon area. Amongst the features is a Boarder Cross. There is snowboarding tuition available for 6-10 year olds, the ski schools providing the essential equipment, i.e. board helmet and pads.
Flaine for snowboarding gets 2 stars out of 5 overall
Flaine Apres Ski
The apres ski Flaine scene and off-slope or "non-skier" activities include:
7 apres ski bars 25 restaurants 0 bowling 1 night club 1 cinema 1 billiards / pool 1 games room 1 concert 0 indoor swimming 0 outdoor heated pools 2 saunas 1 hot tubs 1 solariums 1 masseurs 0 indoor ice skating 1 outdoor ice skating 1 indoor sports centre 0 indoor tennis 0 squash racquetball 0 sleigh rides 0 ballooning 0 horse riding 6.5 prepare winter walks 1 climbing 1 golf 0 fishing 0 museum 1 library Plus these additional apres ski facilities Art Gallery, Body Building, Classical Music Concerts, Firework Displays, Helicopter Tours, Indoor Climbing Wall, Jazz , Ice Driving, Theatre, Torchlit Descent .
SNO-man says
There's a lot to do in Flaine besides skiing and snowboarding. Outdoor sports include snowshoeing, a natural open air ice skating rink, paragliding hang gliding and snowmobiling. Renault's ice driving school is very popular, with a 700 metre (Nearly half a mile) circuit and very experienced instructors offering a variety of classes from 30 minute private lessons to 3 day workshops. Helicopter flights are also available.
Indoor options include a cinema and a climbing wall. More unusual facilities include the Flaine Cultural Centre, open every evening and containing a library (Books in English and German as well as French), audio-visual room and a collection of art including scupltures by Picasso, Dubuffet and Vasarely - tours are organised once a week.
Concerts are staged in the 500 seat auditorium and a full program of events including torchlit descents, national and international ski an snowboarding competitions and a variety of other events are staged through the season. Full details are in the resort's newspaper, Flainescope' available from the tourist office.
Flaine for apres ski gets 3 stars out of 5 overall
More Flaine Snow Ski Area and Resort Information
Flaine resort - ski Flaine by any other name
The French ski resort of Flaine ski resort is also known as Flaine and has the following common misspellings: Flain, Flane, Flein, Fline
Flaine ski area has ski slopes which face N S E W
The direction which the various Flaine ski slopes face can make or break your skiing or snowboarding holiday. If you want to guarantee good snow and ski conditions, you should choose a resort with ski slopes which face the right way for the time of year you're travelling.
- In the coldest winter months of January and February you need a ski resort with some sunny south facing ski slopes, so your days on the snow doesn't feel like a polar expedition. Conversely, in the warmest spring skiing months of March and especially April, a ski resort with some cool and shady north facing slopes will ensure you're not skiing on slush, but benefitting from best late season snow. The best ski resorts have ski areas and slopes which face in all directions so that you're guaranteed greating skiing whatever the weather. Flaine ski resort has ski slopes facing N S E W.
Flaine for snow gets 3 stars out of 5 overall