Chalet Etoile

Chalet Etoile has a large flat garden, which then drops very steeply down to the Torrents du Chinaillon.  In the summer many hours can be spent paddling and making dams, and just down stream is deep section where it is even possible to swim.                                                                                    

Just minutes from the chalet and throughout the valley are a vast network of walking paths, taking you up down or across the mountain, depending on how hard you want to work!  Walks are well signed and well documented so it is easy to pick one that is suitable to your party young or old fit or not! Just pack a picnic and plenty of water and set off.

 There are detailed walking maps available in many of the shops, and the incredibly helpful tourist office can also book guided walks led by qualified mountain guides.

VTT or Mountain biking

 With over 200km of marked and graded trails on the Aravis massif alone, the area is  perfect for all levels of  mountain bikers, both  purely recreational,  and the more serious.  The area features rides for all levels from easy to the almost impossible, there are high speed firetrails, long single track adventures, technical downhills and everything inbetween. Combine this with the fantastic attitude of the locals who welcome mountain bikers, the stunning scenery and great weather and you can't go wrong.

 Many of the local walks are also marked out for mountain bikes.  These routes are graded in the same fashion as ski runs, from Black down to Green, with green being suitable for most people.  The red runs are exhilarating and after a good rain fall, not for the faint hearted ,  or a young child of a tag along!!  For an ideas of some of the bike routes available,  the Tourist Office sell a couple of different walking and mountain bikeing maps, which are well worth investing in.

Parapenting

Le Grand Bornand is considered to be one of the best places in Europe to paraglide.  See an article in The Telegraph.  To book your flight either contact the tourist office or Skivol .

Swimming

 Le Grand Bornand has a fantastic open air swimming pool, with three pools and a water slide.  There is a baby pool, a shallow children’s pool and a very! deep pool with a diving board.  Around the outside of the pool there is an attractive area of grass with trees for shade where you can picnic.  There is also a poolside restaurent and bar.

Walking There are hundreds of marked walks in the area, to cater for all ages and fitness.  Just don’t forget to wear good shoes and take lots of water! 

Climbing - There is a very good climbing school in Chinaillon that teaches all ages and levels from the age of 5 upwards.

Via Ferrata - A Via Ferrata , taken from the Italian for "iron road", is a mountain climbing route which is permanently equipped with fixed  cables, ladders and bridges. There are three Via Ferratas in the immediate area (Le Grand Bornand, Thones, and La Clusaz) with varying degrees of difficulty.  Apparently they are not for the faint hearted!  You can arrange a trip to any of the three Via Ferrata, through the Tourist Office.  The "Via Yves Pollet Villard "in La Clusaz is most suitable for beginners.

Parcours aventure en foret, or climbing in the trees as we call it, is a great activity for children of all ages. This is a  high wire forest adventure course of rope bridges, Tarzan swings and zip slides... all set high up in the tree tops on the edge of the forest.  Climb the trees and slide across high wires, crawl through tunnels, cross rope bridges, walk the planks and zip down to the ground if you dare.

Canyoning  - Take on the challenge of this unique water and rock adventure and you will find yourself plunging down water-polished chutes and abseiling waterfalls. Prepare to get very wet as you climb, swim, slide and float through the spectacular and mysterious green worlds of sculptured rock and sparkling, crashing cascades. If you like climbing AND getting wet then this is definitely for you. The basic idea is to get down waterfalls and mountain streams using a combination of jumping, abseiling and natural water slides. With over 40 canyons in the area there’s something for all levels including complete beginners with no climbing experience. You go with qualified guides and all safety equipment and wetsuits are provided.  See Tourist office for locations.

The Compagnie des Guides offers a range of summer activities including climbing, canyoning, VTT guided trips (mountain biking), walking etc 

Aravis Pass Activities (follow link and click on third brochure).  This is a pass that gives you discounts on most activities in the area.  Simply you put a monetary value into the card, as you do each activity the cost is deducted from you card, but a substantial discount is achieved through the use of this card

The local Tourist Office produces an Activities ( follow link and click on first brochure)brochure each year detailing all the activities available in le Grand Bornand in the summer months.  Follow this link and click on the first brochure

  The tourist office also produces a small leaflet (follow link and click on second brochure) each week listing the events taking place that week; it is well worth picking up a copy of this when you arrive.  In the summer there are a great many activities, Fetes concerts etc going on and many of them are well worth going to.

See an article in The Times