Flaine Gets Ready For Winter
Flaine began from a meeting between Marcel Breuer, a key fgure in Modernism and the Bauhaus movement, and a French couple, Monsieur and Madame Boissonnas. Ardent lovers of the mountains, architecture and design, they shared an irrepressible desire to collaborate in the creation of a mountain destination.
From their partnership emerged a common goal to break with tradition by imagining somewhere that would combine skiing and nature, culture and relaxation; an urban planning prototype which would become a new model for mountain architecture. They laid the foundations for what would, many years later, become the resort of Flaine: a place designed to break with tradition. Since then, Flaine has provoked strong reactions.
You either love it or hate it, admire its facilities or don’t like them at all, appreciate the design of its buildings or turn your back and face the mountains… If opinions about Flaine differ, then its creators have achieved their goal!
Flaine has a 13,500-bed capacity, bolstered by a varied, adapted accommodation offer that’s segmented between the needs of its national and international clientele. Its goal is to reach a million overnight stays in winter, and summer combined.
Flaine demonstrates remarkable results in marketing its tourist beds. Increased occupancy rates, both in winter and in summer, reflect the resort’s tourist appeal, the quality of its offer, and the relevance of its positioning.
Le Grand Massif is a group of fve resorts, each with its own distinct and complementary identity: Flaine, bold and contemporary; Les Carroz, welcoming and family- friendly; Morillon, the defnition of village life; Samoëns, naturally charming; and Sixt-Fer-à-Cheval, tucked away and unspoiled. Located close to Geneva, the ski area offers exceptional panoramic views over the Mont Blanc massif for a varied, authentic snowsports experience.
As well as being the most varied, Le Grand Massif is the largest interconnected “ski-in/ski-out” ski area in France. Between altitudes of 700 and 2,500 metres, 62 ski lifts provide access to 139 ski runs, forming a 265 kilometre playground of slopes adapted to suit every ability, featuring downhill forest runs, beginners’ zones, fun zones and dedicated freeride sectors.
In Flaine, snow cover is hardly even a question. Thanks to a particularly favourable geographical location, the resort is regularly among those with the most snow in France. Its north-west orientation and sheltered position at the foot of high mountains help it to retain precipitation and maintain low temperatures, both of which are conducive to snow. As a result, the resort is often one of the earliest to have snow in winter, maintaining constant snow cover until spring, enhanced by a network of around a hundred snowmakers should they be required.
As you disembark from the cable car, the Grandes Platières balcony offers a unique viewpoint over “the Lord of the Alps”. Just by turning your head, you can take in a 360° view over the Mont Blanc, Aravis, Belledonne and Jura massifs. The cable car makes this spectacle accessible to skiers and pedestrians.
Beginners of all ages will find plenty to enjoy on specially dedicated areas in the heart of the resort. 4 free lifts, including 3 covered magic carpets (Pré, Michalet and Bissac) and 1 gondola lift are available free of charge welcoming beginners to learn and improve. 3 dedicated sectors have also been set up in the safe areas of Pré and Bissac, where skiers can learn at their own pace, before gradually progressing onto the other green runs via the Ballacha drag lift.
With 4 access routes out of the resort centre (Grands Vans chairlift, Grandes Platières cable car, Tête des Verds chairlift, and Aup de Véran gondola lift) you can reach the top of the slopes without any morning traffic jams!
Flaine’s 64 ski runs invite skiers to explore its generous landscapes and discover the joys of a range of snowsports. From downhill skiing to freeride and freestyle, snowsports fans will love gliding along the naturally rolling terrain over a huge variety of long, playful runs, which are known for always being perfectly groomed. While the majority of runs provide wonderful opportunities for fast stress-free turns, others with more sustained gradients and narrower sections require a certain level of physical ftness and skill.
For solo travellers, couples, families or groups, Flaine offers a huge choice of places to stay in the mountains. Two holiday centres, two 4-star holiday villages, three 3 and 4-star hotels, eight tourism residences ranging from 3 stars to 5 stars, a mountain refuge, apartments and chalets… almost all ski-in/ski-out, they are designed to meet every need and suit every budget for one or more nights! https://www.flaine.com/en/accommodation/
Listed as a 20th century architectural heritage site, Flaine is much more than just a ski resort. It wasn’t built to follow fashion but was created to meet the need to bring sustainability, quality and utility to architecture while also reducing costs and construction time. The result of a great deal of thought, it is culturally rich, naturally surprising and quite simply in a league of its own!
In winter, the mountain experience extends to the dinner table. Whether it’s generous cuisine served on a terrace, specialities with a slopeside twist, restaurants with a lively atmosphere, or a gourmet break between two ski runs, there’s a spot for everyone!
In Flaine you can enjoy all the joys of a bustling resort that offers the advantages of a compact pedestrian centre with services, shops and ski runs all just a stone’s throw from your accommodation.
