- The village310m below the median of 1,350m across the 55 resorts we cover.
- 1,040m
- Top of the skiing239m below the median of 2,697m across the 55 resorts we cover.
- 2,458m
- SeasonThe standard Alpine season, shared by 42 of the 55 resorts we cover.
- December to April
Is La Clusaz right for you?
La Clusaz is a proper working village in the Aravis range, popular with the people of nearby Annecy and Geneva who come for weekends. The village sits at 1,040m and the skiing tops out at 2,458m, and the season runs December to April. Gentle and forgiving, which is why improvers love it and why strong skiers run out of road by Thursday.
La Clusaz at a glance
- Area
- Aravis
- Best for
- Groups of friends · Families with young children · Food lovers
- Fly to
- Geneva, Chambéry or Lyon
- Transfer
- About 1h15 by road from Geneva
- Doorstep skiing
- Limited, use lifts
Who La Clusaz suits, and who it suits less
Best for
- Groups of friends. La Clusaz is a real town, with bars in the centre and by the slopes, a bowling alley open until one in the morning and events all winter.
- Families with young children. Famille Plus accommodation, a nursery for under threes, a children's village from three and a drag lift at the foot of the Étale make first slides easy.
- Food lovers. This is Reblochon country, made on Aravis farms since the 13th century, so tartiflette, fondue and farmhouse cheese turn up at almost every meal.
- Families with teenagers. The LCZ Park at Crêt du Merle has three levels from intermediate to expert, with a freestyle zone for beginners beside it.
Less good for
- Snow sure. The village sits at 1,040 metres and the skiing tops out at 2,458 metres, so the slopes depend more on the weather than in higher resorts.
- Mileage chasers. Le Grand-Bornand next door is not linked on skis, so the five massifs are the whole area, and weekends bring busier slopes from Annecy and Geneva.
Skiing from 1,100m to 2,458m, village at 1,040m.
Where these heights are
- Lowest skiing
- 1,100mJust above La Clusaz village.
- Village
- 1,040m
- Top of the skiing
- 2,458mOur measurement of the highest marked piste.
- 16 runs green19%
- 31 runs blue36%
- 30 runs red35%
- 8 runs black9%
Counted by the resort, covering La Clusaz and Manigod. No official kilometres by colour are published.
- Black piste
- 9km, 9% of the pisteLess than the median of 11% across the 55 resorts we cover.
- Ski area
- La Clusaz Manigod, 125km
- Lift pass
- Aravis pass, with Le Grand-Bornand by ski bus
- Cross country
- 89km of trails
Sources
- Village height: onthesnow.co.uk
- Lowest skiing: laclusaz.com
- Runs by colour: laclusaz.com
- Runs by colour: laclusaz.com
- Cross country: laclusaz.com
- Ski area: laclusaz.com
- Top of the skiing: our measurement of the highest marked piste
- The steep end: our measurement of the OpenStreetMap piste map
The published figures were read on 29 October 2026.
97km of graded piste, measured ourselves.
- 56km green and blue58%
- 32km red33%
- 9km black9%
Of the 56km green and blue, 8km is green.
- First timersFine
- Improvers, blue into redFine
- Confident intermediatesFine
- Strong skiersThin
The spreadA resort that knows what it is. 58% of the piste is green and blue, and it scores 0.82 for evenness, where 1 is a perfect three way split between green and blue, red and black. Wonderful if that is your speed, and worth knowing if your group is mixed.
Longest pisteCoverie, 2.5km of blue with 234m of vertical.
Measured from the run geometry, La Clusaz has 97km of graded piste: 56km green and blue, 32km red and 9km black. We do not print the resort's published kilometres until we have checked what they count.
La Clusaz among its French peers
Of these five, La Clusaz has the third highest village, 1,040m. The median across the 55 resorts we cover is 1,350m.
Who should look elsewhere
If you want steep skiing
Look hard before booking. Only 9km of the 97km of piste we measure here is graded black, about 9%. Chamonix has 23km of black and 44km of marked off-piste itinerary, and Val d'Isère has 22km of black and 29km of marked off-piste itinerary.
Know the mountain before you go.
The skiing
The terrain suits families and improvers best, with plenty of gentle runs and a friendly ski school scene. Strong skiers will find enough to enjoy but may want a bigger area for a full week.
The village and the evenings
The centre is genuinely charming, with a fine church, good restaurants and a lively but not rowdy evening buzz. It is a place with real local life.
Getting there
Geneva is only about an hour away, which makes it a very easy trip.
- Genevaabout 1h15 by road
- Chambéryabout 1h05 by road
- Lyonabout 1h45 by road