Châtel or Le Grand-Bornand: the same village, a different mountain
The Ski Snug teamUpdated 12 October 20266 min read
Châtel and Le Grand-Bornand are the same kind of place. Both are farm villages within reach of Geneva, both run from December to April, and both are traditional and family resorts by our read. Our matching puts Châtel closer to Le Grand-Bornand than any other resort we cover, and Le Grand-Bornand second closest to Châtel, after Adelboden. If you are choosing between them, you have already chosen the village.
So the real question is what sits above it. Châtel opens onto the Portes du Soleil, a linked circuit across two countries, on a mountain that is gentle where a family needs it to be. Le Grand-Bornand is the quieter village, with more green for a first week and reds a good deal steeper than our own line on it suggests. The numbers first.
The numbers, side by side
| Figure | Châtel | Le Grand-Bornand |
|---|---|---|
| Village altitude | 1,200 m | 1,000 m |
| Top of the skiing, measured | 2,084 m | 2,458 m at the top of a lift; highest piste 2,362 m |
| Linked ski area | Portes du Soleil, 580 km measured, 600 km official | The Aravis, shared with La Clusaz, not yet classified in our data |
| Piste we measure around the village | 82 km | 85 km |
| Green and blue | 45 km, 55% of the piste, 5.5 km of it green | 52 km, 61% of the piste, 17.4 km of it green |
| Black | 5.4 km | 11.3 km |
| Piste steeper than one in four | 26% | 37% |
| Piste gentler than 15% | 35% | 32% |
| Piste at or above 1,800 m | 23% | 15% |
| Season | December to April | December to April |
| Nearest airport | Geneva | Geneva |
Neither has any marked off piste itinerary in our data. Read the steep row first: it is the biggest gap between two places that are otherwise close.
Size: level at the door, and only one figure beyond it
Around the villages there is very little in it. We measure 82 kilometres of piste around Châtel and 85 around Le Grand-Bornand, both short of the 116 at the median resort we cover.
The difference is how far you can go. Châtel's own sector, the Espace Liberté, is 120 kilometres, shared with Torgon and Morgins. Beyond it is the Portes du Soleil, twelve villages across two countries on one genuinely linked circuit. Officially it is 600 kilometres, it is measured at 580, and one independent measurement puts it nearer 426, so read it as very large rather than exact.
Le Grand-Bornand shares the Aravis with La Clusaz. The Aravis is not yet classified in our data, so we quote no total for it. If the size of the area beyond the village matters to your group, Châtel is the one with a figure we can stand behind.
Altitude: Châtel sits higher, Le Grand-Bornand reaches higher
Châtel's village is at 1,200 metres, 200 above Le Grand-Bornand's, which is the second lowest of the 17 French resorts we cover. More of the skiing sits higher, too. At Châtel, 77 percent of the piste we measure is above 1,500 metres and 23 percent is at or above 1,800, and half of it lies above 1,661 metres. At Le Grand-Bornand, 47 percent is above 1,500 and 15 percent at or above 1,800, and half of it lies below 1,482.
The tops run the other way. The highest piste we measure at Le Grand-Bornand is at 2,362 metres, 278 above Châtel's top at 2,084, and the lifts we map there reach 2,458. Above 2,000 metres the two are close: 6 percent of the piste at Le Grand-Bornand, 4 at Châtel. So Le Grand-Bornand has a little skiing higher up than anything at Châtel, and Châtel has more of its mountain in the middle band.
Neither is snow sure on our measure, which asks for more than half the piste at or above 1,800 metres and skiing that reaches 2,500. In a lean winter, Châtel has more of its piste higher up the hill.
The skiing: more at both ends at Le Grand-Bornand, and steeper in between
Le Grand-Bornand has more of the easiest skiing and more of the hardest. There are 17.4 kilometres of green against 5.5 at Châtel, which is the part a first timer actually uses, and 11.3 kilometres of black against 5.4, the least of the 17 French resorts we cover. Our terrain scores put Le Grand-Bornand ahead for first timers and the two level for everyone else.
45 km green and blue 55%31 km red 38%5 km black 7%
52 km green and blue 61%22 km red 26%11 km black 13%
In between, the measure changes the picture. Thirty seven percent of Le Grand-Bornand's piste is steeper than one in four, the joint eighth biggest share of the 55 resorts we cover, against 26 percent at Châtel, the median of the 55 resorts we cover. The gentle shares are close, 32 percent against 35. So the green is generous at Le Grand-Bornand, and the step up from it is a big one.
Châtel is the steadier mountain. Its reds average 24.3 percent, the same as a typical French red, its blues 15.6 and its blacks 29.2, each close to the French average for its colour. Both longest pistes are long, easy blues: Châtel's Tovassière, 3 kilometres with 220 metres of drop, and Le Grand-Bornand's Le Var, 2.4 kilometres with 182. The difference is in the reds.
Who each one actually suits
Châtel suits families who want value and a traditional village, on a mountain without nasty surprises. Value, tradition and families are the three things it does best by our read, and it is rustic and friendly, with farm village character on the Swiss border. A family moving up from blue to red will find the step it expects. The weakness is the hard end, 5.4 kilometres of black and no marked itinerary, so a strong skier spends the week out on the circuit, which is what the circuit is for.
Le Grand-Bornand suits families who want quiet. Families, authenticity and quiet are its list, we read it as rural and friendly, and of the two it is the one we tag quiet. It is the better place for a first week, with 17.4 kilometres of green against 5.5, and it suits a confident skier who wants steep reds and black without travelling for them. The same steepness makes it a harder second week for a nervous improver.
The bit nobody tells you
Our own line on Le Grand-Bornand is a farming village that keeps things gentle. The village may. The mountain, once you leave the green, does not.
Measured from the gradient, its reds average 28.1 percent, the third steepest of the 55 resorts we cover, against 24.3 for a typical French red. Its blacks average 34.3, the second steepest of the 17 French resorts we cover, and even its blues average 17.4, the fourth steepest of the 17 French resorts we cover, against a typical French blue at 16.2.
These are averages per run segment, and a run's grade is set by its steepest pitch, so treat them as a feel for the week rather than a verdict on any one run. But for a family with an improver in it, this is the line on the page that matters most. A red at Le Grand-Bornand is a different thing from a red at Châtel.
So, which one
you want the farm village with a big linked circuit above it, value matters, and your group is mostly blue and red skiers who want a mountain that behaves. Also if you would rather have more of the piste higher up the hill.
the quiet is the point, someone in the family is on skis for the first time and needs green, or your stronger skiers want steep reds and black close to the village rather than distance.
The village is the same kind of place, and Châtel adds the Portes du Soleil, a kinder step from blue to red and more of its piste above 1,800 metres. Le Grand-Bornand is the right answer when you want the quiet, or when the first timers in the group matter more than anyone else.