Flaine Off-Piste

Hiring a guide is always recommended for off-piste skiing. As well as guiding you to the best routes and keeping you safe, they can tell you about the mountains, and provide you with the right equipment and show you how to use it correctly. Flaine is not a very dangerous resort for off-piste skiing and freeriding but there are hidden crevasses and cliffs, and skiers and boarders have been trapped in avalanches. You can also stick to the official runs – the Grand Massif has some good steep pistes for advanced skiers – but we think the off-piste is even better,

The Gers bowl and the Corbalanche freeski area are ungroomed. They are an excellent training ground for off-piste skiing and the aid of a lift in each area is real bonus.

There are over 40 different routes to access the Gers bowl but the most famous of them all is the old black run that used to come off the Zeolite blue at post marker No 4.

The route favoured by Alan Baudoin, an instructor with the Ecole de Ski Internationale, is to ascend the Veret draglift and when at the top, follow the ridge along to the right. From there you choose your line and take the plunge in to the Gers bowl.

Along a similar vein, there are opportunities underneath the Corbalanche chairlift in the right conditions although as it is east facing it is best avoided in warm conditions. One of the best routes is to bisect the Gentianes and L’Airon chairlifts.

In the Flaine bowl itself, there are several other areas that are good to learn off-piste skiing.

There is a large off-piste area between the Grandes Platieres gondola and the Lindars Nord chairlift. It is always very difficult to be dogmatic about off-piste, but this is one of the safest places to learn to ski off-piste away from the runs. Under the Lapiaz charlift also provides a decent arena for off-piste tutorial.

The Vernant chairlift and the Grand Vans gondola border an area rich with opportunities. You can ski straight down parallel with the Vernant chairlift from a ridge underneath the Grand Vans but you must be careful of the marked lake as you near the end of your run.

If you ascend the Vernant chairlift you can choose your lines, and be mindful of a couloir that provides an exit point off the ridge from under the Grand Vans. The off-piste becomes more challenging the further you ski away from the Vernant chairlift towards the oncoming Grand Vans gondola. The other side of the Vernant chairlift also provides decent off-piste.

In Les Carroz it is possible to ski through the woods by the Plein Soleil chairlift, while in Samoens the area between the Chariande Express gondola and Lanche chairlift is perfect.