Avoriaz PV Holidays

Avoriaz is the resort where I learned to snowboard. The driving force behind the resort was Jean Vuarnet the Olympic ski champion. It was the first resort in Europe to truly welcome snowboarders.

It is a car free resort built in the 1960's at a height 1800 metres above the resort of Morzine. The architecture is modern but uses natural wood cladding for all of the buildings. Each building is designed to mirror one of the surrounding mountains.

The resort is fairly centrally located in the Portes du Soliel Ski Area which has 650 km of pistes. Avoriaz itself, is a ski in ski out resort and has four snow parks, including the Stash designed by Jake Burton founder of Burton Snowboards. It also has a super pipe where many of Europe's freestyle snowboarders and skiers practice.

Resort photos:

This page has some photos of the resort.

Getting there:

Either travel via shuttle from Geneva or if travelling by car park at the resort car park and transfer to your apartment by horse drawn sleigh (or snow cat after dark).

Lift passes:

The Portes du Soliel website has information on prices for the full ski area.
Adult prices, 41€ /day or 209€ / week. Discounts for children, youth, families and Senior citizens.
Avoriaz only lift passes.
Start at 32€ / day, but begginers lift is 22€ / day.

Offers:

10% discount for passes 5 day or longer if booked before 5 December 2010 on PdS and Avoriaz.
Getting there:
Nearest train station is Cluses. Nearest Airport is Geneva. It is possible to drive up to the resort and park in the resort car parks,, but in bad weather snow chains may be required.