Champery Advanced & Off-Piste Skiing

Champery / Planachaux

Before you attempt the Swiss Wall you will need a warm up. The small but quite steep bowl around the Mancheuson drag near the top of the cable car from Champery is a good place to start. Usually there is some good ‘beside-the-piste’ skiing’ here as well as the short and sweet red run.

Then it’s onto the Swiss Wall itself. Its French name is Le Pas de Chavanette which is a clue to it’s whereabouts in this vast area. From the Telepherique, keep left and work across to Ripaille 1&2. From here, the Chavanette chair will take you to the wall. As you ride the lift up, try to work out the best route down. As you view it from the lift, the left side is the most North facing, so is the best protected from the freeze-thaw cycle that transforms snow into ice, but sometimes the big moguls need a bit of sun on them to soften them up, in which case you should head off to the right from the lift (skiers’ left once you’re on The Wall). And if it’s all too complicated or you just lose your nerve at the top, you can take the lift down again. You won’t be the only one in the queue.

There are also off-piste routes from Chavanette that join the Grand Paradis red run. Some require a brief trudge uphill. They are wonderful after recent snow but predominantly face South so quickly turn to crud.

Les Crosets

The whole of the Les Crosets ski area is basically one big semi-circular bowl, with plenty of between-the-pistes freeriding potential for advanced skiers if they both know what they are doing and can see what they are doing. There are some good steep couloirs but take care (or better still, take a guide) because there are rocks, cliffs and hidden gullies here as well. When it’s time to leave the area, there is a good, North-facing ungroomed itinerary (sometimes shown on maps as a black piste) from Pointe de l’Au which joins the long blue from Col des Portes du Soleil, down to Morgins. 

Les Portes du Soleil

If you enjoy bumps, the drag lift track up from Les Lindarets is now a long run with a near perfect gradient. Watch out though, as once you’re halfway down, there’s no alternative but to continue.

But the Portes du Soleil is so much more than bumps. There are black and red pistes in abundance and plenty of off-piste. The obvious playgrounds for experts are the Les Hauts Forts sector in Avoriaz, the Tete de Linga and Cornebois area in Pre la Joux (part of Chatel), the Pointe de Nyon  and Chamossiere in the Morzine sector, and the North face of Mont Chery on the far side of Les Gets. All are within reach of Champery.

As always, it’s best to get a guide for off piste skiing. The Portes du Soleil is not without avalanche risk (read the signs) and a ski guide will also help you get far more out your off piste skiing experience.