La Clusaz is a village at 1,040 m in the Aravis, an hour from Annecy, with the ski area spread across five separate massifs above it: Balme, Aiguille, Etale, Manigod and Beauregard. Skiing runs from 1,100 m to 2,600 m, a vertical drop of more than 1,500 m.
How to get there: Geneva is the nearest airport; Annecy is the nearest town, and the road up is short by Alpine standards, which makes La Clusaz one of the easier French resorts to reach for a short stay.
Slopes and lifts: 125 km of runs, 85 pistes in all — 16 green, 31 blue, 30 red and 8 black — served by 47 lifts, with one snowpark and one fun zone.
What the skiing is like: five massifs means five separate aspects, which is useful in changeable weather: there is almost always a side of the resort that is working. The trade-off is altitude, and the season depends more on snowfall here than at the high-built resorts.
Cross-country skiing: the Aravis plateau above the village carries Nordic trails, and the Aravis pass covers La Clusaz together with its neighbours.
Where you stay: La Clusaz stayed a village, so accommodation is hotels, chalets and apartments around a church square rather than a purpose-built front de neige. It is a working place with a ski area attached, not the other way round.
