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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
is 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. 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.
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.
A beginners snowpark (Snowpark du Chapelle)
and a snowskate park with smaller table
tops and rails lie the other side of Avoriaz
town and are well maintained too. 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 Portes
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 Step-On
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.
Unless you are into Bon Jovi, things are somewhat
limited.
Travel to this area 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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