Content
The Ski Resort of Portes de Soleil
Portes du Soleil
In the 1960s, led by the local champion Jean Vuarnet, the resorts of Les Crosets, Champery, Avoriaz and several neighbours decided to create a unique, cross-border ski area which has since grown into one of the largest ski areas in the world, with 650kms of piste linking 14 villages either side of the French-Swiss border, all covered on one lift pass.Not surprisingly, the Portes du Soleil has a bit of everything. From the French sci-fi enclave of Avoriaz to the chocolate box Switzerland of Morgins, it offers a unique variety of resorts to suit all tastes. If you’re looking for an area where you can ski new runs every day for a fortnight, the Portes du Soleil is ideal.
© copyright Portes du Soleil
Area ski map
The Portes du Soleil has 650km of marked piste with plenty of backcountry skiing too. Get your bearings on our map of the area, then visit our Avoriaz, Les Gets and Morzine pages for a detailed view. open
The Resorts
On the French side are the resorts of Avoriaz, Châtel, Les Gets, Morzine, Abondance, La Chapelle d'Abondance, St Jean d'Aulps and Montriond; to the east, on the Swiss side, are Champéry, Champoussin, Les Crosets, Morgins, Torgon and Val d'Illiez. We cover Morzine, Avoriaz and Les Gets in separate sections.
Whichever resort you stay in, high-mileage piste-bashing is part and parcel of the Portes du Soleil along with a family image and great quick-break accessibility (the nearest resort, Chatel, is within an hour of Geneva). But they're getting the message out that there's a lot to explore between all those pisted runs as well: these resorts are set amid craggy peaks with sensational views and the kind of topography that makes you want to explore. For every marked run there's at least one more - whether couloir, forest run or broad powder field to discover with a guide. As an area in which to stretch your ski experience, the PdS is perfect.
Terrain Parks
There's also a massive park scene. Avoriaz, always big with boarders, leads the way with 'Snowzones' and terrain parks, including a set of natural timber rails in the Lindarets trees called the Biotop. Over in Les Crosets is the Superpark, which does exactly what it says on the tin; if the size of the place doesn't surprise you, the average age of the inhabitants of this inverted world surely will.
Despite the lure of massive hits on both sides of the border and a new route to find every day of your week, for every visitor who 'does the circuit' there's another who barely even explores the limits of the resort they're based in. The bigger resorts - Morzine, Les Gets, Avoriaz and Chatel - have plenty on offer without needing to head further afield and the truth is that skiing the entire domain is a first-lift-last-lift, lunch (what's that?) on a chairlift event - the domain is huge, don't forget - so day to day skiing for many visitors tends to be more local, perhaps heading over to the next resort, hunting the best on offer whether that's from a snow-perspective or in the eating and drinking department, which is a story and a highlight, both on and off mountain in all corners. Bon appetit!
Boxes leftside
Navigation
Resort shortcuts
Advertise your business on Ultimate-Ski.com
Promote your business on Ultimate-Ski.com in a full page advertisement and reach our targeted audience of skiers and snowboarders.
Boxes rightside
Search Site
Custom Search
Ski Chalet Rental
Competition
Ultimate-Ski.com and the Canadian Ski Destination Consortium are giving away a 7-day ski holiday for 2 to one of 10 great Canadian ski resorts. The winner gets to choose which resort with flights from UK courtesy of Canadian Affair.
Enter here
Enter here
Ski Insurance
