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Thu, 01/07/2010 - 10:58amLes Portes du Soleil
This deep powder nature reserve is all unlocked with a single liftpass
Laid out between 1000m and 2466m in a 400km2 patch, (think of a slightly shrunken Isle of Man), this area of the Northern Alps catches heavy snowfall on a regular basis. What makes it particularly worthy of your attention is that this deep powder nature reserve is all unlocked with a single liftpass.
Les Portes du Soleil… the literal translation is ‘doors to the sun’, which conjures up the beautiful image of snowy pistes on a bluebird day with a bright sun warming your chilled bones as your breath condenses with the mountain air. Fling open the chalet windows on the right day and it’s a pretty accurate image…
This Franco-Swiss area falls between Lake Geneva, in Switzerland, and Mont Blanc, in France; it is home to 12 resorts and 650km of slopes, making up arguably the largest ski area in the world. Back in the 1960s, spearheaded by ski racing legend Jean Vuarnet, the resorts of Les Crosets, Champéry, Avoriaz and several neighbours decided to create the cross-border ski area. Today, their efforts mean that you can explore the 650km of high altitude piste, linking 14 villages on either side of the French-Swiss border, all with one, reasonably priced liftpass. Cashback!
The immensity of the Portes du Soleil (PDS) – a succession of valleys in a wild nature reserve – makes it a haven for skiers… if you want to ski new runs every day for a fortnight, switch from freestyle park fun to big mountain backcountry exploration, then this is the place for you. Village-wise, PDS has a bit for everything, from the purpose-built, functional Avoriaz to the postcard-perfect Switzerland of Morgins. And the 12 resorts making up the area are: Avoriaz, Châtel, Les Gets, Morzine, Abondance, La Chapelle d'Abondance, St Jean d'Aulps and Montriond on the French side; and on the Swiss side lie Champéry, Champoussin, Les Crosets, Morgins, Torgon and Val d'Illiez {that’s a whole lot of skiing for a six-day, 205euro (£177) liftpass}.
So let’s break it down into some figures so you can see how ‘immense’ immense really is:
• 2 countries
• 3 valleys
• 12 resorts
• 10 snowparks
• 89 restaurants on piste
• 90 snow grooming machines
• 175 ski patrollers
• 195 ski lifts
• 266 pistes (25 black, 100 red, 106 blue, 35 green)
• 650km of ski slopes
• 700 snow canons
• 1050 employees working on the slopes
• 250,298 skier per hour capacity
• 90 million euro turnover
Right, so that’s the number crunching stuff out of the way, what about the day-to-day stuff, the first-hand stories from the ground… what do real skiers really think? Gavin MacKay is very familiar with the area. The long-time Fall-Line contributor, who regularly flies our mag’s flag at comps, has clocked up months in the PDS alongside his friend and fellow skier Ben “I’ll huck it, no, I’ll do a backflip” Thorburn.
“It’s somewhere I keep coming back to time and time again,” says Gav, which is a pretty good recommendation in our book, especially coming from the man who bagged us top spot during the Columbia Rideweek in Courchevel. We want to know more Mr MacKay…
“Everywhere in the PDS will have its good days but I like to spend most of my time around Avoriaz, Champéry and a little bit in Châtel. The du Crot trees in Avoriaz are some of the best in Europe and the cliffs in the Fornet and Chavanette are world class. The Avoriaz and Croset parks are chunky and another world-class offering if that’s your bag.”
We’re keen to hear more about backcountry offerings, though, and having been born and bred in the gnarly Scottish mountains, unsurprisingly Gav has explored quite a lot of the PDS. “There's a great bowl if you ski off the back of the Pointe de Mossettes then hike along the ridge on your left for five minutes. It's massive, north facing and can stay good for a week after the last snowfall. It's a huge descent that takes you all the way down to Morgins. It’s also a favourite haunt for the backcountry freestylers so you're sure to spot some booter action further down.
“Then the south facing coloirs from Avoriaz down into Champéry are balls to the wall hairy. They offer the best big mountain opportunities of the PDS but you really have to connais votres onions if you mange what I tous!”
Another plus point in Gav’s opinion is that, because the PDS doesn’t really feature on the ‘to do’ list of a lot of freeride skiers, it means that this vast area doesn’t get the kind of traffic in the backcountry that you might expect elsewhere.
“There’s a real element of you see it, you ski it there which is nice because it means that there isn’t huge pressure for first tracks and you can easily scope something, hit it up, and then go back and do it again without five other people doing it while you lap down to the chair. It’s also the best place I have ever come across for cliffs. The mountains here are characterised by horizontal bands of cliffs, which isn't so good for big lines but a godsend if you like hucking. There's something for everyone here from little 6ft drop offs to as big as tickles your fancy.”
Another Fall-Line ligger, Animal-sponsored skier Bungle Hawker, wanted to add his two-penneth about the PDS and where to go when snow god Ullr decides to throw a snowy tantrum. “On a powder day, I’d head to Châtel or Morgins and make for the trees! You need to be careful on a lot of the faces in case they slide.”
Publisher Dickie finds himself heading back there on a regular basis, visiting folk who live there. “I’d agree with Gav. I wouldn’t agree with Bungle but that’s a matter of principle…”
“We’ve been there on fresh powder days and have always found endless fresh, mainly at the extremities near Les Gets or over the back of Abondance. Elaine – Fall-Line’s marketeer (and my wife) learned to ski powder there over two separate trips, so it seems to deliver snow pretty regularly. There’s a good mix of attitude in the terrain too – you can split a party by ability and all meet up locally having had a very different experience”.
Well, the PDS seems to be a skier’s playground, but what hasn’t it got? It appears the only thing missing is a glacier and, in these times of worrying temperature fluctuations, it could possibly be a little risky, however, it does have a peculiar microclimate all of its own, which sees it getting snowed on when many higher resorts get nothing!
Related stories:
Tell me more – Les Portes du Soleil
Resort Check France: La Chapelle d’Abondance
Resort Check France: Montriond
Resort Check France: Saint Jean d'Aulps
Resort Check Switzerland: Champery
Resort Check Switzerland: Morgins
Resort Check Switzerland: Torgon
Resort Check Switzerland: Les Crosets
Fall-Line’s Top 10 Runs – Les Portes du Soleil
Best early season snow in Les Portes du Soleil
Family fun – Les Portes du Soleil
A night on the tiles – Les Portes du Soleil
Freestyle – Les Portes du Soleil
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