La Clusaz, FR 02/02/16

Stop #2 on our Savoie Mont Blanc road trip: for nothing more than the fact that it's the home resort of freeride superstar Candide Thovex, I've had La Clusaz on my gotta-go-there list for a long time and finally had the opportunity to check it out. Unfortunately, we only had one day slotted in, which allowed for a very quick overview of an area that skis much bigger than the trail map indicates and has a ton of variety: everything from long alpine sectors to lower runs through trees.




The biggest selling point of La Clusaz (pronounced CLEW SAH) is that it's like five different linked ski resorts, each with its own distinct niche: from an extensive beginners area to long intermediate cruising runs to the steep high-altitude La Balme sector (I guess that Aspen would be a good analogy, but imagine all of the different mountains connected by lifts). With 75 miles of marked trails and neighboring Grand Bornand a few minutes away, you could easily spend a good four days discovering this region on the Massif des Aravis ski pass. Moreover, it's all based around a gorgeous traditional village with all sorts of restaurant and shopping options.

While the weather was fine, a high layer of light clouds flattened out the light and made my photos look less impressive than they should be (for more representative pix on a good day, have a look at this trip report from the Austrian site Alpinforum).



Looking down Into La Clusaz:



The upper lift on the Massif de l'Aiguille:



The lower Massif de l'Aiguille:



Finally, around 2 pm, we traversed more than two miles to the La Balme sector, which is the setting for Candide's infamous "One Of Those Days" video. If you're one of the few skiers on earth who's never seen this four-minute masterpiece, give it a viewing. While the recent rain/refreeze made conditions pretty scratchy, we at least got to see how incredible the terrain is there (5,000 vertical feet with no signficant flat spots) and had the opportunity to ride the Torchère drag lift while imagining Candide weaving in and out through us:

Looks like the Cat's

Great trip report as always.  Sorry you didn't have better conditions, but just being in that environment is spectacular.

As for the Thovex 'One of Those Days' videos, I know they are edits, but it doesn't look like they were entirely 'professional skier on closed course' situations.  He seems to be bombing through some active pistes, and in some spots it seems arrogantly reckless, putting other skiers in harms way.  Sure, you gotta be impressed by his mad skills, but unless those were all entirely controlled situations (edited to look out of control) I'm not impressed by the videos.

Very cool!

Thanks for sharing your adventures. That place looks wicked.

Kudos James for this wondeful armchair skiing travelogue, just the ticket for me to see this season while impatiently recovering .   Bravo !!