Avoriaz

Although I have placed this nicely in the Avoriaz section, my opinion refers mainly to the Portes du Soleil, of which Avoriaz is a part.

The Portes du Soleil is situated nicely atop the border between Switzerland and France, a short drive from Geneva and easily accessible from the French side too. The quantity and quality os skiing varies greatly dependin on the time of year (more on that later) but they advertise themselves as having over 600km of runs, and so far I have no reason to doubt that.

I've been skiing since the age of 3 and snowboarding for about 4 years as well, so have been fairly well qualified to put this collection of resorts through its paces.

There are a huge number of resorts linked together in the Portes du Soleil, and Avoriaz is the largest of these. The town itself is quite large, and almost everything there is skiing-related. The buildings look horrible, frankly, but are warm and cosy for the most part, though obviously there is a degree of variation between the individual hotels and apartments.

You can ski directly from the door, which is also a benefit - there are far too many resorts around France and Switzerland that require a long bus ride before you can hit the slopes, whereas in Avoriaz you are actually right in the middle of a huge network of runs.

The skiing itself is suitable for all ages and levels of experience. There are plenty of flat and shallow runs for complete beginners, and a superb ski school for kids, and at the other end of the scale you have a collection of black runs including a World Cup downhill run and the mighty 'Wall of Death' (so called by the French because it is ridiculously steep - and a lot of fun).

There are plenty of restaurants and cafes in town, so whether you want a quick snack to refuel yourself for the afternoon's skiing or fancy a candlelit dinner, there is plenty of choice. There are actually a few cafes on the slopes themselves as well that do very nice food - and I have found that Italian style dishes are often a good choice - cheap and good if you plan to carry on skiing after you eat.

I mentioned the weather, and this is very important in the Portes du Soleil. A few of the resorts near Avoriaz are quite low (though Avoriaz itself has snow from December to March or April) and as a consequence it can be difficult to get to them if you go too late in the season. Late January and early February are the best times to head over - plenty of powder snow, and all resorts will be open. If you head over in late March, expect to be confined to the Avoriaz locale and find ice and slush in equal quantities.

Snowboarders will have just as much fun, if not more, than skiers. There is a huge board park in Avoriaz, complete with half pipes and jumps, and a trip over to the Swiss side of the resort will take you to the jump park at Les Crosets - complete with loud music and beer on demand!

Finally, the queues. Everyone moans about queueing, and you have to expect some queueing whichever resort you go to, and I have found that Avoriaz is particularly good for this. Though very popular, the most travelled routes have been upgraded over recent years to have faster and higher-capacity lifts which has meant that queues rarely become a problem.

Overall, the Portes du Soleil is one of the best resorts I have found. The range of runs is amazing, and the location itself is breathtaking. There are few better feelings that gliding on powder through a forest (Les Lingarets) then taking on some of the steepest runs on Earth (Avoriaz) in one afternoon.

If you like skiing or snowboarding, this is a great place to spend as much of the winter as you can spare! I'll leave you with this quote - made me laugh...

"I do not participate in any sport that has ambulances at the bottom of the hill." - Erma Bombeck