Where has the fresh snow fallen? Which areas are quiet at the moment? Which pistes should be avoided at all costs?! You can only tell so much from weather forecast and the lift opening charts published by the resort. This section gives an unbiased view of the best and worst bits of the Portes du Soleil throughout the winter season from people who actually ski it!
This winter continues to go from strength to strength and it is hard to believe that this time last year we were bemoaning a lack of snow! The heavy snowfall of last Friday and Saturday has ensured that pistes remain fresh and fully open in all far flung corners of the Portes du Soleil, and at the same time there have been some great days of off-piste skiing recently too. The last two ski days for me have been locally on Mont Chery and it is fair to say that this sector of Les Gets is currently better than it has been for a few seasons. Rarely is it possible to ski the black piste ‘Gazelle' all the way back to the village and yet at the moment it is open with so much fresh snow that every muscle in your legs screams at you to stop as you work hard for every turn! Despite the forecast for last night predicting no more than a centimetre of snow falling in flurries it dumped down throughout the evening and well into the night to give us more like 20cm more on top of an already great surface.
The weather forecast is promising us a few days of sunshine for the rest of the week with all altitudes possibly getting a top-up of snow over the weekend. If this is the case I will be back at Mont Chery taking advantage of the last week of peace and quiet before the French school holidays kick in! The skiing is great both on and off piste but more importantly we discovered today that the Belvedere self-service cafe at the top of the Mont Chery telecabine serves great chips! Happy skiing and hope to see you out on the slopes soon.
.JPG)
.jpg)
.JPG)
Having just completed a full tour of the Portes du Soleil I can say with a degree of confidence that the snow is amazing! In the entire day we never found a poor run or a lift that wasn't working and of the 7 winter seasons that we have been here this is already shaping up to be one of the best. I was accompanied by my old mate Karl for the tour and thanks to him and his technology we know that we covered 49 miles and hit a top speed of 64 mph – a speed that sounds too fast to be true but with pistes this good it is fairly easy to build up such momentum. Most marked pistes now have a firm base with a layer of soft snow on top, and the extreme cold temperatures (down to – 20 in Morzine last night) mean that the snow stays fresh for longer without melting and freezing every day. We are forecast to have up to half a metre of fresh snow again this coming weekend so it seems that the conditions will only get better and better.
In the local area the snowcross districts of Avoriaz are well worth a ski at the moment with fresh (albeit tracked out) snow, and for anyone just starting to ski or board the long wide blue runs of the Arare are just perfect. If you don't enjoy skiing in these conditions you probably never will! Further from base our tour of the area took us to some great skiing in the Torgon area for a change, and for anyone contemplating skiing in that area in the next few days I would certainly recommend the Torgon Freeride district under the Tronchey chairlift. Not only is the snow better than I've every experienced in that area but being a traditionally quiet week there is nobody around either. The Corbeau side of Morgins which hardly opened at all last winter was also something of a revelation and the drag lifts are worth the effort for the reward of immaculate corduroy slopes! In summary, if you are reading this in the UK and contemplating a last-minute ski trip you won't be disappointed. If you are already in the area you shouldn't be browsing the web whilst such great skiing awaits you! Check out the panorama picture below taken near the base of the Swiss Wall to get an idea of the winter wonderland that is the Portes du Soleil!
Happy New Year everyone and the fresh snow that has blanketed the Northern Alps has certainly made for some happy smiling faces here in Morzine so far in 2012! In the last two days we have been blessed with another 30 cm of snow on the lower slopes and even more higher up. On a trip around the magnificent Roc d'Enfer circuit in St Jean d'Aulps today we even had to wait 20 minutes for the chairlift to open when they discovered that the top station had to be dug out from under all the fresh snow! The new snow has come at the right time with many of the pistes having been ripped to shreds by the crowds last week. It all looks like a picture postcard again now and with the onset of the low season the slopes will not get as much of a hammering.
The forecast for the next few days is for the sun to come out at long last. It is unlikely to melt the snow though as temperatures have been well and truly in the minus numbers (even hitting –20c with wind-chill). All of the high points in the Portes du Soleil have been closed due to storm force winds in recent days but these have died down to leave masses of snow ready for us to play in. I think that we have already had more snow than in the whole of last winter and this region is now starting to get the positive publicity that it deserves in the UK media, with one newspaper even reporting that Morzine-Avoriaz is the place to be in the coming week. We won't be arguing with that and the pictures here will show you why!
A full and eventful day out saw us knee deep in powder a lot of the time and at one stage up to our waists! The Linga sector of Chatel offered excellent skiing conditions both on and off-piste with very little to complain about bearing in mind that we've already had about as much snow as the whole of last winter put together! Strong winds and poor visibility have hampered efforts to open more links in the Portes du Soleil circuit but as of today it is possible to ski in to Switzerland. We are heading in that direction tomorrow but early reports suggest that the snow is just as good on that side of the border. Closer to home most of the pistes and lifts are now open in Morzine and Les Gets and conditions are just what we had hoped for leading in to the busy Christmas period. Despite some poor weather conditions this afternoon the forecast is for a glorious sunny Christmas weekend and we are keeping fingers crossed that temperatures remain low so as not to lose too much of the snow. Current forecasts do predict temperatures to hit 10 degrees in the midday sun so now is the time to enjoy the soft off-piste before it becomes sun-baked and crusty.
My legs are burning, my face is glowing red and I am absolutely knackered! Some people who don't share a passion for winter sports would wonder why on earth we put ourselves through this! The answer is simple... on a day like today when the slopes are empty and there is fresh snow everywhere there is nothing quite like skiing to make you feel alive. In my mind I was skiing like a world beater today but the reality is that with the current conditions it is difficult not to enjoy! The snow that I mentioned in my last report arrived on time and still hasn't stopped. Visibility wasn't the best today but by skiing in the trees around Ardent and Lindarets we were able to see just fine and in places we were knee-deep in snow. The Portes du Soleil are now reporting that the whole area will be open as planned on Saturday 17th but for anyone already in resort it is worth noting that Avoriaz will be closed for the day on Friday 16th due to the the forecast blizzards and gale force winds making it unsafe to operate the uplift facilities. Looking at the longer term picture I am delighted to say that it is going to be a great festive season with plenty of snow and the white stuff that is falling from the sky as I write will make an excellent base for the weeks and months to come. For now though I have to carry on digging the car out of yet more snow if we are going to make it on time for a pizza!
Here we go again for another winter season and it is encouraging to be sat writing this update whilst looking out the window at blizzard conditions! A cold spell in recent days has been followed by a significant amount of snow at all levels of the Portes du Soleil and we are now on track for a great festive season. Avoriaz and Chatel opened about 80% of their runs last weekend and Les Gets opened the main Chavannes sector a week earlier than anticipated. The snow was a bit thin on the ground at that altitude though and particularly on the other side of the hill in Morzine. Today's heavy snowfall down to 900m has turned the resorts in to a winter wonderland though and we are now all looking forward to the full opening of the ski area on Saturday. It looks like the guests booked on our ‘White Weekend' from Friday are in for some great ski conditions. During the week Avoriaz and Chatel remain open and the pistes that had been hard-packed until yesterday are now covered in a fresh layer of powder with a depth of about 20cm and counting. There's no telling how much deeper it will get though as the snow is getting heavier and heavier and the forecast is for snow every day this week. Bring it on!