Flaine
Off season · opens 5 December 20261,600 mVillage altitude
2,500 mTop of the ski area
265 kmLinked pistes · Grand Massif
24Ski lifts
€63Adult day pass · Grand Massif · 2026-2027
Flaine is a ski area in the Haute Savoie region of the French Alps, and is a part of the linked Grand Massif domain. It is in the territory of the communes of Magland and Arâches-la-Frasse. Flaine is linked to Samoëns, Morillon, Les Carroz and Sixt-Fer-à-Cheval, with 267 kilometres (166 mi) pistes in total. It featured the first 8-seater high speed chairlift, Les Grands Vans, and the first snow cannons to be installed in Europe. Flaine is often called the "big snowy bowl" due to it having one of the best snow records in the Alps. Flaine has been dubbed “the world's ugliest ski resort” due to the brutalist architecture of its buildings.
Live webcams
All webcams (8) →Flaine — Aup de Véran2,200 m
Flaine — Forêt1,700 m
VeretSkaping
Each player is the camera operator’s own, loaded only when you ask for it — it may set its own trackers.
Official players of the resort, live image. 4 more cameras on the webcam page. Checked on 12 September 2026.
Snow, opening and weather
Snow report →The domain is due to open on 5 December 2026 and close on 18 April 2027. Open pistes and lifts will appear here as soon as the resort publishes its daily report.
Right now at the FLAINE_SAPC station (1,611 m)
Source: Météo-France, FLAINE_SAPC weather station, 0.6 km away. Hourly measurement — not the resort’s own snow report.
Avalanche danger
Good snow from mid-January to late March. 104 days a winter at 30 cm or more on average, and 532 cm of fresh snow, measured over 11 winters at the Météo-France “Flaine” station. Fortnight by fortnight, over 11 measured winters →
3-day forecast
Village 1,600 m · top 2,500 m
Forecast corrected for altitude; fresh snow = forecast total at the top; UV = peak of the day. Beyond 3 days, check the resort’s own report. Source:Open-Meteo.
Seven criteria rated from 1 to 5 stars, in half-stars, from this page's sourced data. A rating is a rank among the 315 French resorts we cover — 5 stars means “among the best in France on this point”, not “perfect”. Nobody types these in.
- SnowCan you count on the snow?3.5 / 5
Top of the ski area: 2,500 m · Bottom of the pistes: 1,160 m · Days above 30 cm per winter, measured: 104 days · Days above 30 cm, December to March, model: 99%
- Ski areaIs there enough to ski all week?4 / 5
Km skiable from the resort, linked area included: 265 km · Lifts: 24
- ValueIs the lift pass reasonable for what you get?3 / 5
Adult day pass: €63 · Day pass price per km of pistes: €0.24/km · Price read at a neighbouring resort of the same area
- Families and beginnersIs it right for children and beginners?3.5 / 5
Share of green and blue pistes: 76% · Magic carpets: 5 · Special prices out of 4 (beginner, child, family, free age): 3 · ESF ski school · Ice rink, pool, rail sledge…: 3
- AccessIs it easy to get to?2.5 / 5
Average drive time from 20 major cities: 4 hr 46 · Nearest railway station: 35 min · Station-to-resort shuttles per day: 0 · Nearest airport: 1 hr 32
- Atmosphere and après-skiIs there life in the evening and off the slopes?3.5 / 5
Bars and pubs: 1 · Nightclubs: 0 · Restaurants: 24 · Upcoming events: 2 · Collective tourist beds: 7,795 — index: what the map and the listings publish
- Luxury and comfortHow upmarket is the resort?2.5 / 5
5-star hotels: 0 · 4-star hotels: 1 · Share of hotel rooms in 4 and 5 stars: 22% · Spas and saunas: 0 · Jewellers, watchmakers, fashion boutiques: 0 · Adult day pass: €63 — index: what the map and the listings publish
“Atmosphere” and “Luxury” are indexes: they count what OpenStreetMap and the event listings publish within 2.5 km (bars, nightclubs, rated hotels, spas, upcoming events), not what you experience there. A zero means “nothing mapped”, not “nothing there”. Sources per criterion: snow (altitudes declared by the resort (ANMSM, official website), STRMTG register, OpenStreetMap; snow depth observed at the Météo-France station, ERA5-Land model) ; ski area (figures declared by the resort (ANMSM, official website), national lift register (STRMTG), OpenStreetMap) ; value (the resort’s official price list) ; families and beginners (OpenStreetMap pistes, price list, ESF ski school, Famille Plus label, OpenStreetMap leisure) ; access (OSRM drive times from 20 cities, SNCF stations, GTFS shuttles, airports) ; atmosphere and après-ski (bars, nightclubs and restaurants within 2.5 km (OpenStreetMap), upcoming events (OpenAgenda), collective tourist beds (INSEE)) ; luxury and comfort (rated hotels within 2.5 km (OpenStreetMap) and by category across the commune (INSEE), spas and boutiques (OpenStreetMap), day pass price).
Lift passes 2026-2027
All prices (child, family, season) →€1,316 Season€50.40 Child, 1 day€30.50 Beginner, 1 day€23 Pedestrian, 1 day
Read on the official price list, full price, excluding promotions. Grand Massif pass, covering the whole linked area. 2026-2027 season. Official price list ↗
- Skiable vertical
- 1,340 m
- Cross-country skiing
- 2 named trails — 22 km of marked loops (15 km of distinct track: the loops overlap) · Domaine Nordique d'Agy - Saint-Sigismond area, 6 km from the resort
- Snowpark
- 1 mapped zone, 2.8 km from the resort — Darbon (easy)
Ski-area figures — bottom: OpenStreetMap (1 Oct); top, km of the linked area, lifts: Resort’s official website (read by SkiRadar) (23 Sept) . In a linked ski area the map cannot tell where the resort ends: its own km stay “n/a” until the resort declares them. The national register attributes 28 lifts to Flaine alone; the figure above comes from the most reliable source.
The ski area in figures
Measured on 7 October 202611 kmLongest piste — Cascades (red), 1,594 m of vertical
1,594 mBiggest vertical without changing piste — 2,376 → 781 m, 11 km
2,482 mHighest lift top — TPHD Grandes Platières (DMC) (double monocable gondola), national lift register
38,286Total lift capacity, people per hour — 28 installations: 3 gondolas, 9 chairlifts, 9 drag lifts, 5 magic carpets, 2 funiculars and similar
29 yrsAverage age of the lift fleet — oldest 1969, newest 2021
3,600Biggest lift, people per hour — TSD des Grands Vans (detachable chairlift, 2000)
59 kmTotal length of lifts — 56 lifts mapped
8,066 haSki area boundary (OSM)
1,764Inhabitants — Arâches-la-Frasse (INSEE 74014)
Measured on OpenStreetMap (altitudes: IGN RGE ALTI), not taken from the brochure. The vertical above is that of one piste, not of the whole ski area. Population: INSEE municipal population via geo.api.gouv.fr.
Source: national register of mechanical lifts (STRMTG, CAIRN), fleet as of 1 January 2025 — lifts attributed to Flaine only (“FLAINE”), magic carpets included.
Staying and hiring gear in Flaine
The partners covering this resort, shown side by side, and the shop to kit out before you leave. Some links earn us a commission — never at the expense of the price or of the data.
Collective accommodation
7,795 bed spaces in tourist residences, holiday villages and hostels
- 5 hotels · 170 rooms (2 × 4★, 2 × 3★)
- 4 holiday villages and family centres · 1,990 bed spaces
- 12 tourist residences and apartment hotels · 5,187 bed spaces
- 2 youth hostels and sports centres · 618 bed spaces
Commune: Arâches-la-Frasse · INSEE tourist accommodation survey, 2026, read on 12 September 2026. Collective accommodation only — privately let flats and second homes are not counted. INSEE dataset ↗
Stay & accommodation
Holidu
Holiday-rental comparison site.
Ski Planet
Self-catering flats and all-inclusive ski holidays at the foot of the slopes, since 1999.
Montagne Vacances
Flats and chalets in the resort, at direct prices.
Ski hire
Skiset UK
Skiset’s UK site: ski hire in the resort shops, booked in English, paid in pounds.
Gear & equipment
Absolute Snow
UK ski and snowboard shop — delivers to UK addresses only.
Hardloop
Mountain gear shop: ski touring, avalanche safety, winter clothing.
Beyond skiing at Flaine
Without skis on — 2 km of snowshoe and walking trails · 1 sledging run
Ice rink
- Jardin de glace à la Patinoire de Samoëns · Samoëns · 8.7 km away
Swimming pool
- Espace piscine -Aquacîme · Arâches-la-Frasse · 5.2 km away
- Piscine de Samoëns · Samoëns · 8.4 km away
- Centre aquatique Sallanches Mont Blanc · Sallanches · 9.2 km away
Paragliding
- Décollage parapente de la Kédeuze · Arâches-la-Frasse · 3.1 km away
- Atterrissage parapente des Flocons Verts · Arâches-la-Frasse · 4.3 km away
- Atterrissage parapente Arâches · Arâches-la-Frasse · 5.8 km away
- Aérofiz parapente · Passy · 7.3 km away
Museum
- Maison du Lieutenant · Servoz · 9.5 km away
- Château des Rubins - Observatoire des Alpes · Sallanches · 9.5 km away
Cinema
- Cinéma La Caméra · Passy · 7.6 km away
- Studio 1600 · OpenStreetMap
Bowling
- Galaxy Bowling · OpenStreetMap
Source: DATAtourisme (open data), within 10 km of the resort; places in a large town of the valley are left out. Checked on 12 September 2026. Lines marked OpenStreetMap come from the map, within 3 km — opening times on site. Opening times and prices are the operator’s — check before you go.
Ski schools and practical information
Ski school
ESF Flaine
123 instructors
🇬🇧 93 English-speaking instructors — lessons in English available
🗓️ This school sells its lessons online — book ↗
Source: esf.net
Tourist office
Office de Tourisme de Flaine
In case of accident
112 — the European emergency number, free of charge, triggers mountain rescue. On the pistes, the ski patrol number is printed on the piste map and at lift ticket offices. Piste rescue is charged: check your insurance or take the option sold with the lift pass.
Off the pistes: off-piste and ski touring
The resorts for off-piste skiing → 9 Marked off-piste itineraries · 12 km
— Ski touring routes
Named itineraries: Corbalanche · Onyx · Félire · Coccinelle · Aigle noir · Aiglon
Itineraries surveyed on OpenStreetMap within a 4 km radius (7 September 2026): “marked” means an itinerary exists on the map, not that it is open or safe on the day.
Ski touring routes described
12 ski touring routes documented within 10 km of Flaine — up to 1,100 m of climb.
| Summit and route | Ski grade | Climb | Altitude | Aspect | From resort |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pointe de Véret · depuis Flaine | n/a · PD- | 450 m | 1,678 → 2,122 m | SE | 0.4 km |
| Tête du Colonney · Descente de la Combe de Monthieu | 3.1 · E2 · AD- | 1,100 m | 1,600 → 2,692 m | N | 0.7 km |
| Tête de Véret · Pentes de Balacha | n/a · PD+ | 650 m | 1,678 → 2,309 m | SW | 0.9 km |
| Tête de Véret · depuis Flaine | 2.2 · E1 · PD- | 631 m | 1,678 → 2,309 m | NW | 0.9 km |
The other 8 routes, with grades and vertical →
Not a piste. Neither marked, nor patrolled, nor secured: transceiver, shovel, probe, the day’s avalanche bulletin and, better still, a guide. Ski grade (1.1–5.6) = steepness and commitment; exposure (E1–E4) = consequence of a fall.
Source: Camptocamp.org topo guide (CC BY-SA), routes starting within 10 km, read on 13 October 2026. Descriptions and photos are on Camptocamp; an empty cell is a field nobody has filled in. Camptocamp ski touring routes ↗
Piste map
Open on OpenSnowMap ↗Official piste map
Open the piste map (image, 824 KB) ↗
Link to the resort’s own file — a piste map is a copyrighted artwork, we host no copy.
Pistes coloured by level, lifts as lines. The resort’s official map is the reference in season.
Base map © OpenTopoMap (CC-BY-SA) · pistes © OpenSnowMap (CC-BY-SA) · data ©OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
Getting to Flaine
From Paris: 6 hr 34 (604 km) by road.
By road
- From Genève: 1 hr 07 · 69 km
- From Annecy: 1 hr 20 · 93 km
- From Chambéry: 1 hr 47 · 135 km
- From Grenoble: 2 hr 21 · 190 km
- From Lyon: 2 hr 42 · 212 km
From other major cities (15)
- From Saint-Étienne: 3 hr 19 · 271 km
- From Valence: 3 hr 19 · 292 km
- From Besançon: 3 hr 36 · 243 km
- From Dijon: 3 hr 42 · 325 km
- From Clermont-Ferrand: 4 hr 24 · 380 km
- From Montpellier: 5 hr 26 · 497 km
- From Marseille: 5 hr 31 · 506 km
- From Strasbourg: 5 hr 31 · 461 km
- From Nancy: 5 hr 45 · 528 km
- From Nice: 6 hr 20 · 514 km
- From Paris: 6 hr 34 · 604 km
- From Perpignan: 6 hr 48 · 645 km
- From Toulouse: 7 hr 44 · 731 km
- From Bordeaux: 8 hr 23 · 769 km
- From Pau: 9 hr 38 · 921 km
Excluding traffic and winter conditions; passes closed in winter are avoided.
By train
Magland station
halt · then 35 min drive (26 km)
Nearest main station: Annecy, 1 hr 18 by road.
No direct bus line from the station to the resort appears in the open-data timetables (checked on 11 October 2026): ask the resort about a private shuttle or a taxi.
Shuttles and buses from the station: see the resort’s official website.
By plane
- Genève (GVA): 1 hr 32 by road · 78 km
- Chambéry-Savoie (CMF): 1 hr 51 by road · 134 km
Take me there
These links open the app with Flaine as the destination. Your starting point is never sent by us — the app asks you for it, if you agree.
Charging an electric car
2 charging stations within 2 km
6 charging points · up to 22 kW
- ARÂCHES LA FRASSE - Flaine 2 · EASYCHARGE · 4 points · 22 kW · 0.1 km
- ARÂCHES LA FRASSE - Flaine · EASYCHARGE · 2 points · 22 kW · 0.2 km
Freely accessible charge points read from the French national EV charging database (data.gouv.fr ↗, operators’ own declarations), checked on 9 October 2026. Check availability before you leave: the database says what is installed, not what is free tonight.
Road conditions
From 1 November to 31 March, snow chains or winter tyres are compulsory in most mountain areas (French “Loi Montagne II”).
Driving times computed on the OpenStreetMap road network (OSRM), SNCF stations (open data), airports (Wikidata). Indicative, not a timetable: allow extra time in snow.
Introduction from the English Wikipedia article (CC BY-SA).
Frequently asked questions
How high is Flaine?
Flaine sits at 1,600 m at village level, and its ski area rises to 2,500 m.
How many kilometres of pistes does Flaine have?
From Flaine you can ski 265 km of slopes across Grand Massif, 24 lifts.
What is the longest piste in Flaine?
The longest piste is Cascades: 11 km (red run), for 1,594 m of vertical. Measured on the OpenStreetMap map, segments of the same name and level joined end to end, altitudes from the IGN RGE ALTI terrain model — a resort sometimes advertises a longer run by chaining several pistes.
How high do the lifts go in Flaine?
The highest lift, TPHD Grandes Platières (DMC) (double monocable gondola), tops out at 2,482 m. Source: STRMTG, French national register of mechanical lifts (CAIRN database), file dated 1 January 2025.
How many lifts does Flaine have, and what is their capacity?
The French national register of mechanical lifts records 28 installations at Flaine (3 gondolas, 9 chairlifts, 9 drag lifts, 5 magic carpets, 2 funiculars and similar), for an authorised capacity of 38,286 people per hour, of which 3,600 for TSD des Grands Vans alone. The fleet spans 1969 to 2021, an average age of 29 years. This count covers the resort itself, magic carpets included, not the whole linked ski area — a resort brochure often announces a different number. Source: STRMTG, French national register of mechanical lifts (CAIRN database), file dated 1 January 2025.
How much is a lift pass in Flaine?
The adult day pass for the Grand Massif linked area costs €63 (2026-2027 season, read on the official price list).
How do I get to Flaine?
By road, Flaine is 1 hr 07 from Genève (69 km), excluding traffic and winter conditions. By train, the nearest station is Magland, 35 min by road from the resort. No direct bus line from the station to the resort appears in the open-data timetables. The nearest airport is Genève, 1 hr 32 away.
How long is the drive from Paris to Flaine?
6 hr 34 for 604 km from central Paris, excluding traffic and winter conditions. Computed on the real road network (OpenStreetMap): allow more on a school-holiday Saturday.
When does Flaine open?
According to the official website, the resort opens on 5 December 2026 and closes on 18 April 2027 (2026-2027 season).
Is the snow reliable in Flaine?
Good snow from mid-January to late March. 104 days a winter at 30 cm or more on average, and 532 cm of fresh snow, measured over 11 winters at the Météo-France “Flaine” station. This verdict rests on 11 winters of Météo-France measurements (1988-2026); in season the daily report prevails.
Nearby resorts
Full page in French. The French page carries the editorial guides and a few extra readings; every figure, webcam and price on this page is the same one. Flaine in French →
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