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The Portes de 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.
Photo: Andrew Winter | Cab
360 in Avoriaz snowpark | Shooter: Richard Rule
Step-On now runs a freestyle
camp held every season in February and 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.
Photo: Scott Mcmorris |
Cab 540 in Les Crossets | Shooter: Dave Potter
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.
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.
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