Jura (Winter)

Northwest of Geneva, and only 20 miles from Genève-Cointrin airport, the French Monts Jura is a narrow line of mountains that rise to more than 5,000 feet altitude at their southern end. The closest of its three alpine ski areas to Geneva is Lélex–Crozet, only 15 minutes from the city. Mijoux–La Faucille is near the French town of Gex and Menthières rises near Bellegarde. Ski buses run between the various areas and the towns at their bases, and several trails lead right into the villages. Snowboarders can use bordercross courses in Lélex-Crozet and Mijoux-La Faucille, along with a snow park. In addition to the 40 miles of signed skiing and ...

Northwest of Geneva, and only 20 miles from Genève-Cointrin airport, the French Monts Jura is a narrow line of mountains that rise to more than 5,000 feet altitude at their southern end. The closest of its three alpine ski areas to Geneva is Lélex–Crozet, only 15 minutes from the city. Mijoux–La Faucille is near the French town of Gex and Menthières rises near Bellegarde. Ski buses run between the various areas and the towns at their bases, and several trails lead right into the villages. Snowboarders can use bordercross courses in Lélex-Crozet and Mijoux-La Faucille, along with a snow park. In addition to the 40 miles of signed skiing and boarding trails with a vertical drop of 2,400 feet, the region offers more than 75 miles of cross-country skiing trails with double grooming for tracked and skating styles. These are at two Nordic ski areas, La Vattay-Valserine at Col de la Menthières and Menthirères, near Bellegarde). At Col de la Faucille is a new luge center, open year round, with banked turns around a 540-degree spiral. Kite skiing and snowshoeing are also popular here.

About the Expert

Juliette Rogers is coauthor of the guidebooks Eating New England: A Food Lovers Guide to Eating Locally, Secret Providence and Newport, and two Thomas Cook guides on France.