The Resort

The Resort of Le Chinaillon, Grand Bornand

Le Chinaillon is a small French village in Le Grand Bornand valley, at the heart of the Aravis ski area.  Perched at an altitude of 1400 metres, it is just 300 metres from the peak of the ‘Col de la Columbiere’, which is often climbed during La Tour de France and ideally situated for Le Grand Bornand ski area.

Chinaillon is a well-kept French secret and a real gem of a resort.  It’s family oriented, easy to reach from Geneva airport and boasts a ski area where queues are few and the slopes are wide, long and well groomed.   It can also lay claim to some fantastic off piste conditions and the 2nd steepest black in the Alps.

Additionally in the Aravis there is La Clusaz, 20mins away and St Jean de Sixt, 10 mins away.  Altogether, that provides a fabulous 220km of skiing.

Chinaillon is an hours drive from Geneva airport which is easily accessible from many places in Europe, especially now that Easyjet are using it as a hub.  The beautiful, Medieval city of Annecy is only 40 minutes away and well worth a visit.

Skiing

The village is situated just above the town of Grand Bornand and the area is a well established fully linked ski area, which together with the Aravis ski area has over 220km of downhill runs. Rising to 2100 metres, the pistes offer a range of challenges to skiers of all abilities.

The lower slopes offer a beautiful skiing environment whilst there are stunning views of the high Alps from the summits of La Flora and Mont Lachat.

Chinaillon village provides the gateway to over 90km of slopes, featuring 48 runs with various levels of difficulty;

• 3 x black runs
• 13 red
• 17 blue
• 15 green runs
• 1 Nursery Slope

Access to the ski runs is easy with a total of 39 lifts, including 2 gondolas, 12 chair lifts and 25 drag lifts.  A 6 seat ‘fast’ chair lift was also recently added to the Maroly.

• North of Geneva – 1 hour drive
• Approx 20 minutes from the ski resort of Val d’Isere
• 40 minute drive from Annecy – a beautiful historic town with a fantastic lake for summer watersports

Ski Passes

Ski passes can be purchased just for the Grand Bornand area only or to include the whole Aravis area (which also includes the popular resort of La Clusaz).  If you would like to purchase a ski pass for Aravis, there is a free shuttle service that runs between the two resorts.

Children’s Creche

There is a creche catering for babies from 8 months old in Chinaillon. This is popular so you should enquire about availability of places before your holiday.

Restaurants

Chinaillon and Grand Bornand together have approximately 40 bars and 30 restaurants with17 of them situated on the slopes, all offering fine views and traditional food.

If you fancy eating out in the evening, the village has some lovely, traditional restaurants to choose from.  One of our favourites is La Bournerie, a cosy, traditional eatery, nestled alongside an atmospheric mountain stream, just above the main ski lift in the village.  Part of a 200 year old farm, it is definitely ‘the’ place for cheese laden Savoyard specialities such as tartiflette, raclette and fondue.

Chinaillon town itself has a couple of bars and several restaurants, mainly offering Alps fare or hearty Pizza.

Apres Ski

La Chinaillon has several good bars for some apres ski refreshment.  Try a cool beer at the popular Green Monkey or Gluhwein at the Igloo Bar which is ideally situated by the main ski lift.

Tourist Information

For more information on the local area and facilities, visit the Le Grand Bornand Tourist website.

http://www.legrandbornand.com/index.php