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The five La Clusaz massifs: Beauregard, L'Etale, L'Aiguille, La Balme and Le Mont Lachat, all on the La Clusaz pass.
The Aravis pass adds Le Grand-Bornand over the Col de la Croix Fry, which is a short bus ride rather than a ski link, and is not shown on this sheet.
La Clusaz ski resort guide · Massif des Aravis
The village sits in a hollow with mountains all round it, and each of the five massifs has its own character, aspect and often its own weather. Beauregard, directly above the village, is the gentle sunny one. L'Etale and L'Aiguille are the middle ground, wooded and intermediate. La Balme, at the far end, is the high serious one at 2,600 m and holds the only real altitude on the map. Because they fan out in different directions, snow conditions can differ sharply from one to the next on the same morning — which is a genuine advantage once you learn to read it.
GreenBlueRedBlack125 km across five massifs, 49 lifts, 1,040 m to 2,600 m
The gentle side, reached by gondola from the village centre, with a sunny plateau at the top and easy blues running off it. The ski school works here and the cross-country tracks are up on the same shelf.
It is low and south-facing, so in a mild week it is the first ground to suffer.
The main intermediate sectors, tree-lined and well-linked to each other, with the longest runs on the sheet and the best skiing in flat light.
These two carry the bulk of the week for most visitors and are where the map feels like a proper ski area rather than a collection of hills.
The high, serious massif at the top of the valley, north-facing and holding the sheet's blacks and its best snow by a wide margin.
The off-piste here is what gives La Clusaz its standing among French skiers, and it is a long way in character from the gentle ground above the village.
Beauregard is a good, sunny, well-separated beginner shelf, and the village nursery area is right in the centre. An easy place for a family, and one of the shortest transfers from Geneva at about an hour.
The L'Etale and L'Aiguille sectors are the heart of it and the trees are a real asset. 125 km is enough for a week if you move around the massifs rather than staying on one.
La Balme, and it punches well above the resort's profile — steep north-facing terrain and serious off-piste that holds snow when the rest of the map is bare. La Clusaz or Chamonix is the honest comparison.
Over the Col de la Croix Fry on the Aravis pass, ten minutes by road, and the quieter and more traditional of the pair.
Half an hour east on the Evasion pass, and the nearest larger area — gentler, smarter, and with considerably more mileage.
An hour away in the Grand Massif, higher and purpose-built, and the snow-sure alternative when the Aravis are short of cover.
Package holidays to La Clusaz with flights, transfers, accommodation and lift pass, all booked together.
See La Clusaz ski holidays
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