Flaine is a ski area in the Haute Savoie region of the French Alps, and is a part of the linked Grand Massif domain.

Flaine is linked to Samoëns, Morillon, Les Carroz and Sixt-Fer-à-Cheval, with 267 km of pistes in total.

It featured the first 8-seater high speed chairlift, Les Grands Vans, and the first snow cannons to be installed in Europe.

[4] The site was discovered in 1959 by the geophysicist Éric Boissonnas and the Swiss architect Gérard Chervaz, who went on to succeed in their bid to create a fine example of urban development, architecture and design, where short-term profitability would be second to aesthetics and care of the environment.

These include The "Palais de l'Unesco" in Paris, the Whitney Museum, The Atlanta-Fulton Central Branch Library, Flushing Meadows Sports Park in New York City, and the Bijenkorf in Rotterdam.

Right from the design stage, Éric Boissonnas and Marcel Breuer were careful not to disturb the natural surroundings and integrate the resort into the receiving mountain.

The master plan; the ski runs designed by champion Émile Allais; the technical network for electric cables; gondola lift stations on the same level as the ski runs; even the colour of concrete reminiscent of the surrounding rocks:- everything was inspired by the ambition to find a balance between functionality and integration.

Chappis and Pradelle left after Breuer joined the team, Boissonnas fell out with the government official in charge of planning France's winter sports industry and when local landowners found out that Boissonnas was a billionaire they threatened to block the building of the access road to the resort until they received adequate compensation.

The result was a three-year delay and huge cost overruns, and led to greater state involvement in French ski resort development.

By the time the resort was opened on 17 January 1969 it had probably cost Boissonnas the equivalent of around $250 million from his personal fortune at 2005 prices.

The upper area, Flaine Forêt, at an altitude of 1700 m, consists of a number of apartment buildings named after constellations, the Éric et Sylvie Boissonnas Auditorium, shops, offices and restaurants.

[5] The resort boasts a wealth of monumental works of art - "La Tête de Femme" by Pablo Picasso, "Le Boqueteau" by Jean Dubuffet, and "Les Trois Hexagones" by Victor Vasarely.

Bus services are available several times a day to Taninges in the Giffre Valley (where resorts Morillon and Samoëns are situated) where buses to Geneva and Chamonix can be accessed.

[citation needed] In Flaine Forum, the Nursery Slopes are served by a small chairlift (Le Pré) which is excellent for beginners due to the fact that it doesn't go far above the snow.

The route takes the walker past deep ravines, rocks and fissures which contain moss campion, gentians and other flowers.

It is positioned at the Col de Pierre Carrée at an altitude of 1900 metres, making it one of the highest golf courses in Europe.

[citation needed] Flaine is situated on a geological plate of rock called the "Désert de Platé".