Flaine Advanced
Flaine’s black runs deserve their grading, and they are easy to reach so perfect for time-pressed parents who only have an hour or two between childcare duties. And even skiers who don’t normally ski off-piste will be tempted by the Gers bowl.The obvious, though steep place to start is the Diamant Noir black run. Just take the Grandes Platieres bubble up from the resort and folow the black piste signs. Expect moguls, and if you go at a busy time, lots of other people too, which adds to the challenge because its narrow in places. When you’re half way down the mountain you can take the Diamant Noir chair back up and repeat, or if you’re enjoying yourself and have found your rythmn, you can keep going on the less steep red run all the way to the base station. On the top bit, you can also spot obvious off-piste routes down the mountain as well and these are covered in our specialist Flaine Off-Piste section.
The Gers bowl is completely ungroomed but is avalanche controlled. There is officially one black run that goes down the middle of the bowl, the Onyx, but in reality the bowl is fair game to all with multiple entry points, so keep an eye out for any off-piste to the side that might tempt you, and come back and do it, but choose carefully because some of it is seriously steep. On the piste map the black run and the whole of the Gers bowl appear quite short and small, but don’t be fooled: it has an 800-metre vertical. Snowboarders and improving intermediates should be warned that the Gers draglift, which returns you to the top, is one of the most difficult you will encounter in the French Alps. And if you’re short of time, or just want to win the race for powder in the morning, remember it can be much quicker to get to the Gers bowl from the resort by taking the Tete des Verdes chairlift, skiing the Emeraude blue and ascending the Desert Blanc chair than it is taking the Grandes Platieres gondola wihich has queues at peak times.
The black run from the Tete de Lindars also deserves its grading. Again there is off-piste to the side.
From the Tete de Saix down to Samoens 1600 is another steep area, so the black run here is also challenging. The slope flattens out as you near Samoens 1600, so take the midmountain lift back up if you want to focus on the steep stuff.
Les Carroz also has a freeski zone accessed by the Gentianes chairlift or the Corbalanche chairlift from Flaine. The Corbalanche black goes straight through a freeride zone iand is normally ungroomed.