La Clusaz & Aravis

La Clusaz is a tradition-rich ski village in the Haute-Savoie before the striking rock chain of the Aravis. Unlike the big purpose-built resorts, it has kept its Savoyard village character. The region is the home of Reblochon cheese; in summer, hikes and the nearby Col des Aravis beckon.

Highlights

• Traditional Savoyard ski village
• Aravis rock chain as a backdrop
• Home of Reblochon cheese
• Col des Aravis and summer hiking

Good to know

Practical info

Background & History

La Clusaz nestles into a narrow valley notch at the foot of the Aravis range, that striking limestone wall in Haute-Savoie whose jagged crest rises against the sky like a petrified wave. The place name derives from an old word for “narrow passage” or “gorge” and refers to the narrow ravine through which path and stream squeeze. Long before ski tourism the people here lived from cattle breeding and cheesemaking, and the village preserved the character of a genuine Savoyard mountain village despite all modernisation.

The Aravis mountains are the heartland of Reblochon, that creamy cheese whose name derives from the secret second milking with which the farmers once withheld part of their dues from the landlord. On the alpine pastures around the nearby Col des Aravis the reddish-brown Abondance cows still graze today before the distant backdrop of Mont Blanc, and their milk carries the centuries-old cheese tradition into the present. The pass itself has always been a stage of cycling and is regularly crossed by the Tour de France. Thus the region unites the rugged beauty of the limestone peaks with a deeply rooted pastoral and culinary culture, which turns La Clusaz from a mere ski resort into an authentic piece of Savoyard mountain heritage.