Skiing & Boarding In The Portes Du Soleil

Welcome to the  Portes Du Soleil the biggest linked ski and snowboard area in the world, with 650km of linked pistes spread over 2 countries France and Switzerland comprising of 12 ski resorts, 7 in France and 5 in Switzerland.

The huge variety of terrain from the gentle tree lined slopes of Les Gets and Morzine to the steep, challenging world cup downhill course at Avoriaz 1800 or the infamous Swiss WALL in Les Crosets, means that there is a great selection of all grades of pistes and is ideally suited to mixed ability groups and for family skiing holidays. The area is both skier and boarder friendly, check out our specific snow boarding page.

Snow Sure

The Portes Du Soleil often gets more snowfall than higher French resorts for a number of reasons, firstly our more northerly position in the Alps and secondly our proximity to Lake Geneva and Mont Blanc : the humidity off  Lake Geneva coming into contact with the cold front surrounding Europe's largest mountain results in heavy snowfall.

The average snowfall over the course of the winter season over the past 10 years in Avoriaz has been over 8 metres, a better record than Val Thorens!! Even during the poor winter season of 2006-7 Avoriaz was open the full season from 14^thDecember till the 30^th of April.

The Portes Du Soleil has a lot of north facing slopes combined with a fantastic ability to make snow with 694 snow cannons guaranteeing snow all season.

Morzine and Les Gets although lower in altitude than some resorts don’t require a huge amount of snow to give great cover as the slopes are on mostly grassy meadows, nearby Chamonix for instance has rocky and craggy  terrain and requires a few metres of snowfall to provide good cover.

In bad weather the tree lined slopes of Morzine and Les Gets provide skiers and boarders with better visibility and shelter from the high winds and are often less icy than wind swept higher altitude resorts.

Freestyle Skiing

Avoriaz is one of the leading resorts in terms of providing parks, half pipes and patrolled unpisted areas called SnowZones to enable freestyle skiers and boarders to get some air, practise tricks and have fun. New last season was the Stash, the first giant ecological snowpark in Europe. 

Ski Guiding Service

How nice would it be not to have to constantly look at the map to figure out where you are and how you are going to get to that restaurant you arranged to meet the rest of the group in for lunch?

We offer a free ski guiding service 3 days a week which will help you familiarise yourselves with the area. Our local knowledge of great routes, the best restaurants and how to avoid any queues will ensure you can just concentrate on your skiing or boarding. Our service is designed for intermediates i.e. confident, red run skiers and snow boarders.

Often we will take guests over to Linga and Chatel in France or over to Les Croset in Switzerland.

If the conditions are good and you can handle an early start then we can take you on the circuit which takes in Avoriaz, Linga, Chatel, Super Chatel, Champoussin, Morgin, Torgon and back to Morzine!!

As well as showing you the best skiing in the area we can also recommend many excellent mountain restaurants, La Pomme De Pin at Lindaret, Le Vieux Chalet at Plan Dranse, La Rossetaz in Les Gets and Le Plateau De Nyon at Nyon in Morzine are a few of our favourites.

Ski Insurance

The Ski Club Of Great Britain offer comprehensive snowsports cover, on and off piste skiing and snowboarding (with our without a guide), snowparks, cross country, ski touring, parapenting & ice skating all covered. Buy online and save 5%.

Cross Country Skiing

The perfect way to discover quiet valleys, hidden hamlets, and enjoy real peace and quiet and stunning scenery. There are 4 cross country areas accessible from Morzine and its surroundings: the Manche Valley with 25km of challenging circuits, the Morzine-Avoriaz sector with 47km for all levels, Lake Montriond with 10km of Canadian-style runs and the Pleney - Chavannes sector with 8.5km of forest runs.

Skiing For The Disabled

Discover the Morzine-Avoriaz ski area by ski-chair. Accessible to all disabilities, in total safety with high performance equipment. Contact Michel Journal a qualified instructor by email michel.journal@wanadoo.fr.

20% Off Ski & Snowboard Hire

In this unsure economic climate and with the value of the pound having fallen against the euro everyone is, understandably, looking for a good deal on ski hire.

We recommend Francois Baud Freeride in Morzine,  Ardent Sports in Montriond & Perrieres Pro Ski Shop in Les Gets.

All three ski hire shops offer a great choice of quality ski rental equipment at competitive prices and you will receive a 20% discount as a Reach4thealps guest, staff are helpful & there is overnight heated storage for boots & skis.

As a guide price for 6 day skis and boot rental for an adult start at just €93.6, so just €15.6 a day.

When you arrive in resort a Reach4thealps representative will take you to the ski hire shops. We will help you choose the right equipment for your level.

Ski Area - Portes Du Soleil

Lifts

Total Number 194
Highest Lift - 2,460m
Lowest Lift - 1,000m

Pistes

Length of Pistes - 650km
Total Number - 278
28 Black
104 Red
112 Blue
34 Green

Skiing/Boarding

Advanced -
Intermediate -
Beginner -
Off-Piste -
Snowboarding -
Restaurants -


Longest Run - 11km
Cross Country - 250km
No. of Restaurants - 89
No. of Snow Cannons - 694

Linked Resorts

Avoriaz
Champery
Champoussin
La Chapelle d'Abondance
Chatel
Les Croset
Les Gets
Morgins
Morzine
Torgon
Linga
Grande Terche