Anybody got any tips on Flaine?

Hi all,
I have booked to go to Flaine for a few days in December to celebrate the wife's birthday. It probably would have been a good idea to take her as well, but..........
Only joking, I value my bits too much to not have taken her on this one.
Anyway, we have not been to Flaine before, so any tips/info could well be useful.
As it's December I'm guessing that it is not worth buying a full area pass as I believe many of the areas are lower than Flaine, so snow may be a bit questionable, but any guidance would be gratefully received.

Cheers.

Not an expert on the resort myself but I understand from friends who've been that it's really good for off piste.

Its been a long time since I was there but I really enjoyed it. It would be a pity if you couldn't get to the linked resorts and I suspect that you will be. Obviously, this is a call that you can make when you get there once you know what snow conditions are like.

Not completely sure of the details but I seem to recall that one of the features of the area is that it littered with large boulders and so requires deep snow to give good cover. I don't think this is an issue for the piste but you might would probably need to be careful off-piste. As always a guide is highly recommended.

One negative from my last visit there - we stayed in the Totem in the main village. One day, we went back to the hotel for lunch and left our skis outside. Unfortunately, about 3 pairs were stolen that day :evil:. We were next to a road so it may have an opportunist in a van passing by but still - be careful when in the village!

I've been a few times and really liked it a lot (more than I thought i would). Nice relaxed atmosphere, some good friendly bars and cafes, easy to get about in resort and on the slopes. It sits in a huge snow bowl so you basically ski back down from the 'rim' of the bowl. Then over the rim you have the great long runs down to resorts like Samoens and Morillon, some up to 10km long with some nice mountain huts on the way and spectacular views. Hopefully those links will be open when you go as they're definitely one of the big draws of the area.

I have stayed previously 6 or 7 times near Morillon village and always skies over to Flaine and Samoens : btw don't forget Les Carroz
The snow was often patchy in Morillon but more reliable in Samoens . It was always later in the season though

Probably the ugliest resort in the Alps due to many of its buildings but big place. France so expect expensive. Always good skiing to be had in big places.

Furthy34 wrote:Probably the ugliest resort in the Alps due to many of its buildings but big place. France so expect expensive. Always good skiing to be had in big places.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Many people find it ugly but it is actually extremely highly regarded in architectural circles and I believe has won awards. I believe the style is called "brutalist" - very popular in the 60s and 70s. I actually quite like the main "square" looking out on the slopes. There are far worse resorts all over the alps where a complete absence of any real planning or coherence often makes for a horrible mishmash.

More importantly, it is a lovely resort to ski in and combined with the linked areas is vast.

Not skied France a lot, but I thought Avoriaz took some beating in the ugly stakes.