Mad Dog Ski: Ski Resort guidebooks for Austria, France, Italy and Switzerland

La Clusaz - France

La Clusaz is a beautiful, traditional Alpine village, retaining the original charm that wooed skiers back in the early 1900’s when the resort first opened. The winter of 2006 saw La Clusaz celebrate 100 years as a ski resort – but it’s not just its established history that keeps bringing skiers back.


The village itself is centered around a traditional church and market square surrounded on three sides by the majestic Aravis mountains and some of the 130km of pistes. This is a fairly undiscovered resort by the English and retains a lively and friendly French atmosphere with plenty of bars and restaurants to enjoy in your time off the slopes. Just one hour from Geneva airport, La Clusaz is perfect for intermediate skiers who fancy a quick ski trip away – although there is something for everyone here – with a range of skiing (both downhill and cross-country) and exciting outdoor activities to eating and shopping!
Resort altitude1110m
Highest lift2477m
Lowest lift1110m
Kms of piste130kms
No of lifts46
Black pistes7%
Red pistes20%
Blue pistes23%
Green pistes22%
Snow parks2
GlacierNo
Snowmaking100+

Map of La Clusaz - Open

What do you want to do?

Planning your trip
All you need to know about getting to La Clusaz – a perfect weekend resort due to its proximity to Geneva airport.
Where to stay
La Clusaz offers a wide range of accommodation mainly in traditional old wooden buildings, or new chalets built in a traditional style. There is a fairly equal mix of catered chalets, self-catered chalets and apartments and hotels available. Hotels and apartments are more likely to be in the centre of town, but most chalets are just metres from the regular free ski-bus stops, allowing quick and easy access to the pistes.
On the piste
The 130km of pistes in La Clusaz is varied but has something for everyone. There are three main lifts accessible from the town centre, leading to the Beauregard Plateau – from where you can access Manigod, Merdassier and Col Froix, the Aguille and also make your way over to La Balme. The pistes vary in height from 1,100m – 2,500m.
Food and drink
Savoyarde specialities feature a lot of cheese – particularly reblochon – the locally produced soft cheese of the region, and this is evident in a lot of dishes – tartiflette (potatoes, ham and reblochon), fondue and raclette (melted cheese on potatoes and cold meat) for instance. This is hearty mountain food however and well-deserved after a day on the mountain – prices are generally fairly reasonable too.
Other activities
There are plenty of things to do in La Clusaz if you are a non-skier, including visiting the shops, going for a snowshoe walk or taking a trip to the nearby medieval lakeshore town of Annecy. If you would like to do something a bit more active why not try pareting – the single blade sledging famous in this region - swimming in the high pool with views over the pistes or ice-skating.
Families
La Clusaz is extremely child-friendly. It has a large play are at Champ Giguet dedicated to sledging and a creche with a ‘ski garden’ where small children get used to playing on skis whilst the snowparks amuse slightly older kids with good ski or board skills. There are lots of child-friendly restaurants in the resort and periodically there are children’s festivals too.
The list
The list – sounds boring but here is all the important information from as doctors to dentists, internet to the tourist office.
Webcams and weather

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Snow Report:
La Clusaz
Report date:2 Jan 2009
Last snowed:31 Dec 2008
Fresh snow:10cm
Lifts open:54 out of 55
Snow depth:
Lower slopes:40cm
Upper slopes:130cm
Piste information:
On-piste:Good
Off-piste:Varied
Resort runs:Good
Snow conditions:
Good skiing on well groomed pistes
Weather:
Predominantly sunny with cloudy spells