What's New for Les Carroz?

Sitting in the centre of the world famous Grand Massif ski area, the traditional mountain village of Les Carroz recently announced bold plans to push the resort into the future. Whilst already a popular village, most skiers recognise it as the place they pass through on the way to better-known Flaine. This is set to change with the proposed developments.

L’Oasis – The Cool Zone

For those who have skied Avoriaz, The Stash – the amazing snow park designed by Jake Burton – will be familiar. The Stash has proved so popular with the elusive youth market that it’s now possible to buy a lift pass for just the park. In an effort to capture that, Les Carroz is creating L’Oasis, a snowpark area with a boardercross as well as an area with more than 30 jumps, kicks and rails, a slalom slope, a video zone with 7 cameras as well as Wi-Fi, a speed test slope and a DJ. 

The Funiflane

Whilst planning and approval is still to be finalised, this is the most significant of the changes Les Carroz wants to implement. The idea is to connect the motorway directly to Flaine reducing the need for cars. Estimated to cost €84 Million, it has two main goals:

1)    Significantly reduce traffic through Les Carroz.

2)    Make getting to Flaine more environmentally friendly. The 28km of winding roads from the highway to Flaine takes 40 minutes of driving on a good day, and longer when it is snowing. The lift will be direct, take around 20 minutes and hopefully encourage the 250,000 holiday makers and 200,000 day trippers to leave their cars in the valley.

Increasing the efficiency of moving people between the Grand Massif villages and decreasing the number of cars on the roads is a huge step forward for these ski resorts. This new lift will assist plans to give Les Carroz a pedestrianised centre restoring its tranquil village feel. 

New Leisure Facility

There are plans to extend the current leisure centre to include a 9-hole golf course, new mountain bike trails and summer walks. These will be adapted in the winter to include cross-country skiing, biathlon and snow-shoeing.

In addition to all of this, Les Carroz are also doing the following:

• Adding a new toboggan run
• More snow-making and widening of some pistes
• A new 6-seater chair from Les Carroz 1500 to Tete des Saix which will replace two old 2-seaters
• Creating a new medical centre (on which construction has already begun)
• Building a new, larger tourist office

Whilst Flaine has always been the darling of the Grand Massif, Les Carroz is set to make its mark as the go-to ski resort for all abilities, interests and ages. Over the coming years, investment in non-skiing related activities, new lifts to make travel easier and the reduction of traffic will surely encourage visitors passing through to Flaine to stick around.  

Also See: 

Look for Property in Les Carroz

Les Carroz Ski Resort & Property Guide