Avoriaz-Morzine resort review - Les Gets - Chatel___www.step-on.co.uk snowboard magazine

The Portes du Soleil lift system links the following resorts - Morzine, Avoriaz, Les Gets, Champery, Les Crossets, Chatel, D'Abondance.

Situated in the Northern Alps, the Portes de Soleil allows you to discover one of the largest ski areas in the world...Comprising 290 slopes and 228 lifts, as well as two countries (France & Switzerland)...the ski area is simply HUGE..

The resort is very freestyle orientated and boasts five board parks! Avoriaz is the most popular and is renowned for being one of the best parks in Europe, as well as a hang out for local pros like Nicolas Droz and the Armada crew. The park now hosts various major competitons throughout the season, so it has loads of different types of rails, and a good range of kickers and hips. It also has it's own button lift running along the side. The superpipe (5 metre walls) now lies at the bottom of the Arare sector right by the village of Avoriaz.
There's also a phat sound system pumpin out hip hop all day long...Avoriaz park is often very icy during Jan-Feb making conditions not ideal, but in late March and throughout April it is usually perfect. The design is always changing but the set-up usually includes a couple of large kickers (10-20m), big hip, step-up, quarterpipe, c-rail, kinked rail, flat rails.
The past few seasons the resort have even added a beginners park (Snowpark du Chapelle) and a snowskate park with smaller table tops and rails. This is located right near the town itself and you will see it as you get the lift up from Morzine. It is a good place to learn new tricks before taking them to the bigger jumps and rails, or to just mess around doing butters and stuff.
Step-On now runs a freestyle camp held every season in April, which allows you to receive coaching and ride with the pros. For those who are into park riding or would like to get into it, this is the perfect way to improve your riding in a relaxed format. The coaching program includes rails, jumps, halfpipe, and freeriding.

By far the best maintained snowpark in the Porte du Soleil area is the Swiss park at Champery-Les Crossets. This is a short ride from the main ski area around Avoriaz and the jumps are well shaped and range from beginner to pro level, with table tops ranging from 6 - 30 metres. The beginner jumps are on the left side, and they get bigger the further to the right you go. There are also plenty of rails including a huge rainbow rail and double kink. The park is nearly always in perfect condition. In late season the low altitude of the snowpark means it gets slushy in the afternoons so get up early!

There are also snowparks in Chalet and Les Gets. They can be nice places to ride as it is a lot quieter than the other parks in the area, however they are limited for advanced riders. Chatel snowpark, known as the Smoothpark, has recently got much better and has a good selection of kickers and rails, including an s-rail and a see-saw rail!
Les Gets is definitely one of the most chilled out places in France. A couple of the StepOn boys bought a burger from a local place and the guy handed them a lump of skunk weed for free without them even asking! Sweet. In Les Gets there's also some good powder runs and freeriding terrain over the other side of the mountain. Get the lift up to Mont Chery and drop over the other side. Go boarder's left from the chair and with the right conditions there's usually a nice cornice to drop off, leading into the main powder bowl. Freeriding around this side of the mountain can be amazing with good snow conditions.
The Super Chatel snowpark, called the "Smoothpark", is a well designed park running through trees. There are two sets of kickers and lots of rails to play on.

All the other ski areas also offer loads of freeriding terrain, most of which you will just find as you go. Chatel/Linga and the surrounding areas are especially good for this, with some sick runs to be had through the trees. Late season sees the opening of the luge ride at Chatel, which is so much fun. Trust me when I tell you, you don't need to brake at all, just go flat out all the way down and you'll have the ride of your life! The Portes du Soleil area is simply enormous so just ride around and see what terrain you find! There are lots of spots to build jumps, and although the mountains are generally not that steep, there are still some good descents to make.

MICKEY FROM SWEDEN switch boardslide down the double kink, april 2003
::photo andrew winter/step-on

Avoriaz lies at 1800m right up in the hills, with the pistes literally running through the village giving a new meaning the the term skiing on your door step. Nightlife here is lively, with plenty of different styles of bars and restaurants. Morzine is at the base of the mountains at 1000m and has a bit more to offer with 2 cinemas, bowling alley, and some pretty good bars, although most of them are skier orientated and/or play cheesey music.

Travel is pretty cheap and easy, the resort is under an hour drive from Geneva Airport. A transfer to the resort will cost around 50 euros per person, buses are slightly cheaper (35 euros). Geneva is also sick for skateboarding so might be worth checking out before you hit the Alps. There's a huge outdoor skatepark. Morzine also has a skatepark now, which is underneath the Super Morzine bridge. There's a midi ramp, pyramid, and a few rails and boxes. Throughout April the snow in the town melts and you can skate.
For chalet accomodation we recommend Chalet Snowboard, who have been based here for 15 years and have an excellent mountain guiding program included in their prices. If you prefer to do your own thing, there are lots of apartments for rent by the week.

Alex D gets down as Alex B drops another beat...check those goggle marks!