The whole Portes du Soleil area is ideal for intermediates who like variety and a sense of travelling around; roughly 80 per cent of pistes are classified blue or red. Competent intermediates can easily manage a circuit around the whole of the Portes du Soleil in a day – in either a clockwise or anti-clockwise direction.
The Avoriaz piste map divides the local slopes into four areas – one for beginners, others for families, playing in the trees and expert terrain.
The beginner area is extensive and includes slopes in the village itself, as well as lots of easy green pistes and lifts on the way to the gondola down to Morzine.
The family areas are even more extensive and include a mixture of blue, red and black runs suitable for mixed-ability groups.
The forest area, the Lil’Stash, has mainly blue pistes cut through the trees but there is also The Stash, a fun ungroomed area for weaving through widely spaced trees in the forest, and around or on natural wooden obstacles.
The expert area has steep black and red pistes (including one used for World Cup downhill races) on north-facing slopes where the snow is usually the best. There are also four snowcross runs – ungroomed routes that are avalanche controlled and patrolled. Experts can also enjoy steep runs further afield, such as the ungroomed run known as the Swiss Wall, down towards Champéry from the top of the Chavanettes drag lifts, one of the steepest slopes in the world. And there’s good off-piste to be enjoyed with a guide, including Les Crosats in the Arare area.
