Avoriaz

Avoriaz is a bit of a "Marmite" ski resort; you either love it or hate it, we at Snowfinders arefit into the former category. The resort was constructed in the sixties and is very much purpose built with ski convenience in mind.

Apartment block after apartment block were constructed with few hotels and other buildings. However, the resort does have charm, and the idea was to construct a village that sat in harmony with it's surroundings.

The all wooden construction of the ski village with its unusual angular pitched roofs blends in perfectly with the rock faces when viewed from the valley floor town of Morzine, so much so that it is regarded as the camouflaged ski village.

As Avoriaz has pistes that run through the village it means that nothing is far away and the high street is lined with shops, bars, restaurants, clubs, and other leisure facilities.

When the night draws in and the lights go on it actually feels very special with the strip creating a sparkley winter wonderland atmosphere.

The recent upgrades to apartment blocks and the addition of new 4 star accommodation has helped a great deal to ensure that this is still one of the most sought after resorts in the Alps, especially given it's very short transfer time from Geneva.

As well as the numerous apartment options available there are a couple of hotels and now a few catered chalets here in Avoriaz.

Avoriaz is a perfect ski resort for beginners as there are fantastic nursery slopes and from these slopes there are other decent green and blue runs to progress to. Annie Famose children's ski village also gets great reviews for the younger skiers.

Intermediates have the whole 650km of piste to explore and will not get bored in a week, month, or year of skiing this wonderful domain. Trips across to Les Gets and into Switzerland will give the mile hungry intermediate more than enough for any winter ski break.

Timid and early intermediates can navigate around the ski area without too many worries and the more brave are sure to want to try the Chavanette (The Swiss Wall).

Experts have a great ski area and can plot differing descents on different days. Piste wise try the aforementioned Chavanettes or have fun in the "Stash" park. The runs off Mossettes are also great too. Plenty of red runs offer challenges to those wanting to pound moguls or perfect their GS turns.

Off piste opportunities are varied and plentiful. Take a guide and you will be in seventh heaven here. One striking feature of the ski area is that there are so many routes to take to escape the crowds and ski in tranquility.

For boarders Avoriaz is a mecca with around 5 terrain parks, a snowcross area and a huge ski domain to keep you busy.

Cross country skiing extends to around 45km of trails primarily in the sector between Avoriaz and Super Morzine.