Chalets in Avoriaz

Avoriaz is a station on the main circuit of one of the largest skiing areas in the world, Les Portes du Soleil, named after a pass between France and Switzerland. The Avoriaz part of the skiing area consists of about 130 km of piste. Avoriaz is directly linked to Swiss resort Les Crosets and French resorts Chatel and Morzine. The connection between Avoriaz, and specifically the Lindaret bowl and Chatel has recently been upgraded to a 6 man chair, replacing an old chair and opening up the connection for more skiers and snowboarders. Plans are underway to increase the connections between Morzine and Avoriaz, with the new Prodain lift opened at the end of the 2012/13 season and an extension down the valley into the centre of Morzine planned.

The Avoriaz-pistes are divided in 4 sectors: The Lindaret, Haut-Forts, Fornet and Super Morzine. The latter being mainly connection to Morzine and heavily used by ski-schools and beginners. The Lindaret is a beautiful valley with a number of red and blue runs plus a single black. In the Lindaret-valley one finds The Stash a conceptual snowpark developed by Burton and based on ecological principles. It is the only one of its kind in France. There are a number of restaurants and a small village at the bottom of the valley. The Fornet area is a large bowl with basically skiing everywhere between huge rocks and crevasses. From one of the ridges around the Fornet bowl one can test the famous La Chavanette – also known as The Swiss Wall, one of the steepest pistes in Europe – it is not part of the Avoriaz-system but belongs to neighbouring Swiss resort Les Crosets. Haut-Forts is the most demanding area with a number of black runs starting at 2.400 and ending at 1.100 metres, some of which are for experts only. The world cup piste – although rated black – is pretty easy though. This area is also ideal for off-piste although caution is advised since this is an area with frequent avalanches. From the Haut-Forts top-station it is possible to ski directly back to Avoriaz by red or blue slopes.