 Poster: A snowHead
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Links to all trip reports
Feb 2014: Soll (SkiWelt), Austria
Jan 2015: Alpe d'Huez & Les 2 Alpes, France
Jan 2016: Les Carroz (Grand Massif), France
Mar 2017: Belle Plagne (Paradiski), France (no TR yet)
Jan 2018: Notre Dame de Bellecombe (Espace Diamant), France
Mar 2018: Ponte di Legno +Ponte di Legno-Tonale, Pejo, Monte Altissimo (Borno), Aprica , central Italian Alps
Jan 2019: St Gervais (Evasion Mont Blanc) +Cordon, Megeve-St Gervais-Combloux-La Giettaz, Les Contamines , France
Mar 2019: Varena, southern Dolomites +Alpe Cermis, Passo Rolle, Latemar, St Martino di Castrozza, Alpe Lusia, Pozza di Fassa / Buffaure, San Pellegrino / Falcade, Carezza, Jochgrimm, Catinaccio / Vigo di Fassa , Italy
Jan 2020: Abondance (Portes du Soleil) +Portes du Soleil main circuit, Abondance, Cret Beni (La Chapelle d'Abondance), Bernex, Praz de Lys, Thollon , France
Mar 2020: Embrun, Provence Alps +Les Orres, Foret Blanche (Risoul-Vars) , France
Jan 2022: Vizille, Grenoble Alps +Le Collet d'Allevard, Lans en Vercors, Alpe d'Huez, Alpe du Grand Serre, Chamrousse, Villard de Lans-Correncon, Meaudre, Autrans, Les 7 Laux, Gresse en Vercors , France
Mar 2022: Aosta Valley +Espace San Bernardo (La Thuile-La Rosiere), Pila, Courmayeur, Monterosa Ski, Skyway Monte Bianco , Italy
Jan 2023: St Jean d'Aulps (Portes du Soleil) +Portes du Soleil main circuit, Morzine-Les Gets, Roc d'Enfer, Praz de Lys , France
Mar 2023: Valtellina +Piani di Bobbio, Valchiavenna (Madesimo), Livigno, Bormio, Cima Piazzi, Santa Caterina, Ponte di Legno-Tonale, Valmalenco, Aprica , Italy
Jan 2024: Aravis & Tarentaise +Le Grand Bornand, La Clusaz, Valmorel, Arêches-Beaufort, Pralognan la Vanoise, Sainte Foy Tarentaise, Courchevel , France
Feb 2024: Trentino +Folgaria, Paganella, Monte Bondone, Rittner Horn, Campiglio Ski, Lavarone , Italy
This trip report
Skip to:
>> Abondance
>> Main Portes du Soleil ski area Day 1 / Day 2 / Day 3 (am) / Day 4
>> Cret Beni (La Chapelle d'Abondance) (pm)
>> Bernex
>> Praz de Lys-Sommand
>> Thollon
££ Cost breakdown
Later this month we again depart for Geneva, this time aiming for Les Portes du Soleil - a major ski area that's completely new to us both. Time for another nerdy trip report, if I can get phone signal in resort. The PdS has been on my wishlist for a few years, but relatively high accommodation and lift pass costs had put it off limits. Until recently, when I found out about their half price (!) Black Friday lift pass offers, as well as some eminently affordable Airbnbs in Val d'Abondance. Combine all this with cheap tickets at some other local resorts, and it should be a very reasonable skiing holiday indeed. Helpful flight times also allow 7.5 days skiing from an 8 day trip.
A hire car with winter tyres makes exact location less important, so we've booked an apartment in between Abondance and La Chapelle d'Abondance: both small valley villages at around 1,000m altitude. Both resorts have tiny (unconnected) ski areas of their own; the latter also has a second lift base linking into a limb of the Portes du Soleil proper. A little further up the valley is larger Chatel, which you'll probably already know is better connected. And the PdS itself? Perhaps it needs no introduction, but it takes the form of a very straggly circuit incorporating Chatel / Avoriaz (France) and Les Crosets / Champery / Champoussin / Morgins (Switzerland). Then there's the aforementioned western limb out to Torgon (Switzerland) and La Chapelle, and a big eastern blob around Morzine / Les Gets (France). All the PdS piste maps are here. The 650km of pistes claimed is an exaggeration - the true figure is more like 450km (still huge), of which about 50km are outlying areas unconnected by lift. We decided that it was too vast an area to explore in a single week, so we just bought 4 pairs of single day, full area passes for just €27 euros each, leaving plenty of terrain for a return visit.
For the other 3.5 days we may explore other smaller resorts in the Chablais region. Abondance (itself), Bernex, Thollon and Hirmentaz-Haberes are at the top of the list, snow permitting, with pocket-sized ski areas which look ideal for day trips. They also have some very tempting promotions on certain days of the week, so if the stars align there should be some real bargains to be had. Now for the slight snag: a dry and warm January means that some of these smaller, lower resorts are lacking snow (poor Les Haberes hasn't even opened for the season yet  ). This weekend's small snowfall and temporary cold weather at least means snow cannons can operate, but snowmaking is limited in some of these places, so we have to be realistic. If they don't seem worth the trip then we'll either fork out for more PdS day passes (this would be irritating, as they'd be full price), or bring a few more local resorts into play. There are a few more options, but we'll gauge conditions nearer the time.
Anyway, lots of interesting things to mull over before I (hopefully) tune back in on Saturday evening after an afternoon in waist deep powder. Or something. In the meantime, if anyone has local recommendations about restaurants, days to avoid certain areas, off-slope activities... please feel free to chime in. I'll add photos and a cost breakdown at the end of the trip.
Swiss Wall, Les Crosets
Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Sat 20-04-24 19:04; edited 21 times in total
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@denfinella, even in the PDS you can save a few quid by not buying the full area pass - e.g. just La Chapelle which covers both parts of La Chapelle plus Torgon and the first bit of Chatel area, Chatel Evasion which covers all the La Chapelle pass plus Corbeau side of Morgins and Linga/PLJ/Super Chatel.
I recommend using your PDS passes for a day starting at PLJ then straight over towards Avoriaz and the Swiss side, a day driving to Morzine or Les Gets and parking up there to cover those areas. Other days as the mood takes you.
A lot of the resorts have cheap tickets for Wednesday or Saturday and you also find “Flash Sales” on the websites.
Thollon, Bernex, St Jean d’Aulps all worth day trips (snow cover permitting)
You won’t cover it all in 8 days! Enjoy.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Thanks @DJL. Yes, good point about just buying local area passes.
Regarding the PdS day passes we've already bought, 3 of them were bought from the Chatel website, so I don't think we can start in Morzine / Les Gets (?). The other was bought from the Morgins website, so we have to start there for that day.
Have already scouted out the "flash sales" and various promotions!
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Avoid the local areas like Chapelle d' and Abondance on Sundays, do them later in the week. The general hurd tends to wake up Sunday and split one of two ways:
1. "The local areas are too small, we're never going to ski them".
2. "To get our ski legs back we'll ski the local area today, then hit the main area the rest of the week".
Nothing wrong with either of these - especailly when it means you can ski over to Chapelle from Morzine on a Wenesday and find yourself making only the second or third set of tracks down some of the pistes!
The buses in the Chatel valley are reasonably good (rather than faffing with driving/parking every day), just check the timetable as the one from Chatel to Chapelle, etc likes to take a very French lunch break. Learnt the hard way 
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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We have an apartment in Thollon, the snow is pretty good there at the moment, 68 new snow cannons this season have helped and when the other resorts nearby were closed over Christmas Thollon was really good. It's been on French TV a lot in recent weeks as it was declared the cheapest place in France to ski resulting in it being pretty busy on a weekend but everyone I've spoken to, including the guy that owns the ski hire shop are amazed at how good the snow is, the views are pretty incredible too, we've also just been given 1.6 million for a new restaurant at the top although that won't be for a bit.
Bernex I believe has had some snow cover issues but it's a great day's skiing there, we go there a lot as it's only a ten minute drive and we really like the layout of the pistes, plus there's a great view from the top.
We were skiing over in Chatel/Avoriaz/Le Croset last week, the first time we've actually skiied outside of the Pre la Joux area and really enjoyed it! We made it up the Cookie Cafe at the top of Les Crosettes and over the other side but it was really windy! Typical as the day before they had the DJ out and it was blue skies and no wind  Have a great time! We're back in 4 weeks for the dreaded 3rd week of Feb but needs must!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Also, forgot to mention, Thollon, Bernex and Abondance now share a lift pass, so depending on how many days you're doing it might be worth looking into getting that one, it's called Les Montagnes D'Evian pass.
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Thanks all!
@Mjit, thanks, we'll try to do this. I also have a feeling that Chatel's local slopes - Super Chatel and Linga - might be busy on Sunday, and it might be better to head to Switzerland that day. Thoughts? (Though we may have to start from Vonnes on Sunday as I'm picking ski passes there, which makes Switzerland a bit of a trek.)
@AllyK, thanks for the Thollon update. (And lucky you!) Yes, Thollon is looking pretty good. I was happy to see that Vielles Cases opened a few days ago. I've also been watching the webcam / snowmaking on the resort run. Bernex does seem a bit thin at the moment - I'm in two minds about whether to have a day here or perhaps leave it for another year's visit, and hope the snow might be better than. What do you think?
The combined lift pass is for too many days (5+) to make it economical, I reckon.
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Yes Vielles Cases opened about 2 days after we left and it's my favourite run there annoyingly. I tried to get my snowboarder friend to do it last year but she was worried about the severe drag lift at the bottom and by the time she agreed to do it they'd closed the thing again! I think they will have the resort run open for Feb as it has a lot of snow cannons on it but they've probably not bothered with it as yet. It has a big sledging bit at the bottom now with big buffers so I imagine they'll want that operational for the kids. Hopefully there will be some snow before you go that will bring Bernex up to scratch, they mustn't have as many cannons as us but the view from the top lift is great, the lake on one side and Mont Blanc on the other.
I'll be reading your report with interest when you get back, we've never skiied Abondance or Chapelle but Chapelle is our nearest gateway to the PDS at about 25 mins drive and it's on our to do list.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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I would avoid Abondance on Sundays because of the market which makes it hard to park.
Never had any issues with La Chapelle on Sundays (La Panthiaz side )- don't think I've been to Cret Beni on a Sunday.
St Jean is also open all the way down to the Gondola base as of yesterday, and the Roc of Hell Circuit is also fully open now.
Thollon is lovely, and Bernex also has great views.
Also to get to the face of Torgon now you need the little navette that runs from the car park, as the 2 chair lifts which used to service this side have been decommissioned (4 years ago). You can get back into the main valley without the bus, but you need to traverse a little bit.
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| denfinella wrote: |
| I also have a feeling that Chatel's local slopes - Super Chatel and Linga - might be busy on Sunday, and it might be better to head to Switzerland that day. Thoughts? (Though we may have to start from Vonnes on Sunday as I'm picking ski passes there, which makes Switzerland a bit of a trek.) |
I doubt there's much difference between France and Switzerland on the Sunday - change over day is the same and people in the Swiss resorts will tend 'ski local' on the first day too. It's just the more remote areas that go unused as the week goes on - people will get on a bus before they put their skis on but few are inclined to take a bus once they've put skis on, so people from Chapelle will go to the main body of the PdS but few would ski from say Avoriaz to Chatel to get on a bus out to Chapelle.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Cheers for the ongoing advice. All packed and ready to go at an ungodly hour tomorrow morning.
The weather looks like it might be a little challenging over the coming week - quite a lot of precipitation from Monday evening onwards, and possibly quite a high freezing level at times (still to be confirmed). I'm happy that some fresh snow should be coming when the region needs it, though I'd have preferred it to have fallen just before we arrived 
Where we go on each of the days we have PdS passes will likely therefore be dictated by making the most of the higher / open areas on the drier and less windy days, rather than by crowd avoidance. Tomorrow's plans are fixed in stone anyway, as will become clear the next time I update this thread!
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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We spent two holidays in La Chapelle d'Abondance about 8 years ago, on the advice of friends. Lovely town, very much a throw back to pre-industria ski factories. It's a nice village for walking. Fer Rouge is quite good for Savoyard specialties -- better than most, in fact. And the hut at the bottom of Cret Beni, to your left as you look up, did a 5 euro potage and bread lunch that was perfect. The market in Abondance is well worth a visit, too. In the town of Chatel there's a really good potter who does traditional Savoyard bowls etc. We have a beautiful set. Chatel itself is exceptionally British, whereas Abondance/La Chapelle are nearly all French.
Skiing: The two years we were there I think Abondance was closed. But in La Chapelle, Cret Beni (where our kids took their first lessons...) is well worth a half day or even a full day if it's empty. The red headwall type run to skier's left from the top is a challenge to do in style.
But you should really take the Panthoiz gondola up and ski the back side into CH. The Braitaz slopes, being south facing, are great on a sunny day. That side can be virtually empty, but if the snow isn't good just go up to the Chatel slopes. I recall some annoying drags but no real crowds except around Super Chatel lift. If Morgins is still operating, a fun day out is to ski from Braitaz over to Morgins -- I think there's a short shuttle bus from the bottom of the Corbeau area to the gondola. The skiing in Morgins/Champoussin/Les Crozets is quite good. There's a long blue run down from the Col des Portes de Soleil that has a charming rustic hut with food and drinks. You'll see it on the map. If you start from Braitaz I think you can get to Morgins in an hour or so, or you can drive around over a lowish col into CH.
Of course there's the larger PdS areas which you can hook into from the Abondance valley but it's a bit of a poke. I never actually did it.
The caveat to the valley is that a lot of the lifts are pretty old. I don't mind that -- as I said it's very much throwback skiing. But be prepared for drags and 2/3 person attached chairlifts.
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@WindOfChange, Too bad about the Torgon lifts. I quite liked that piste.
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You know it makes sense.
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@Pasigal, thanks for the food / run / itinerary recommendations.
Saturday (arrival - skiing part to follow)
A satisfying journey and first afternoon's skiing under our belts.
Getting away from Edinburgh was hassle free, though my other half was seated one row away from me - have easyJet started copying Ryanair in this respect? No matter, we soon arranged a swap. Geneva airport was affected by fog this morning, so we were pleasantly relieved to touch down roughly on time at 9.20am, followed by swift passage through passport control and baggage reclaim.
The queue for car hire (Dollar) was sluggish, and the staff member helping us induced a few heart palpitations by informing us that the credit card used to make the booking was being refused. After several attempts and a failed call to the credit card company, it was discovered that in fact there was a glitch at the Dollar end (or he'd been pressing the wrong button, I'm not sure). We eventually received the keys to a newish, rather souped-up Ford Fiesta, with only one more scrape than was originally mentioned in the damage report. By 11am we were making our way into Geneva.
The route I wanted to take to Abondance was right through the city centre, but this was complicated yesterday by finding out that the new pollution zone had been activated, requiring cars to have an emissions sticker to be allowed into the middle of Geneva. We were therefore pleasantly surprised to find that the car was already registered with its sticker, and that the roads through Geneva were almost deserted - perhaps because all public transport is free while the ban is in force.
A quick stop for supplies at the Leclerc in Sciez, breaking up a rather boring drive through the fog. After Thonon the road follows a more scenic gorge, and the sun appeared shortly before we arrived in a warm, nearly snowless Abondance at 12.30ish.
We'd booked ski hire through Skimium partly for the price, and partly because their website states that - for the Abondance store - equipment can be picked up at noon the day before. The shop staff initially insisted that we would need to pay for the extra half day, despite me trying to explain the situation in schoolboy French and English. It was just looking like we were going to have to cough up, when I managed to locate the small print on the shop website, and they begrudgingly acquiesced. Our equipment seems OK but not great (perhaps we brought this upon ourselves by being difficult customers), so I'd hesitate to recommend the shop at this point.
Nevertheless, by 1pm we'd sorted this all out and re-parked at the Essert telecabine, in front of the home run which was 100% grass...  Skiing report to follow shortly! 
Abondance
Last edited by You know it makes sense. on Sat 20-04-24 18:59; edited 2 times in total
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Saturday - Abondance
Abondance piste map here - scroll down to the Abondance one.
As well as being a convenient 1-minute drive from where we hired our skis, Abondance had a promotion going on, reducing their already inexpensive day lift pass to just €10. The ski area is also on the Portes du Soleil pass but not linked by lift to the main circuit; I suspect few people would bother to make the trip from Chatel / Avoriaz etc., though there were a few other skiers about - mostly school-age kids. Hazy sunshine all afternoon, light winds and probably just above freezing, making for very comfortable skiing conditions. Leclerc sandwiches for lunch in the telecabine up.
15km of pistes are claimed, from easy greens to a surprisingly interesting, short black. All the runs probably deserve their gradings. Altitudes are modest, ranging from 940m to just 1700m or so. A gondola leads up from the car park, with two runs back down which were devoid of snow cannons, and therefore devoid of snow. Fortunately the vast majority of pistes are served by three drag lifts starting above the gondola top station. These almost all face roughly northeast, so cover was decent (a little hard packed in spots, but better than you might expect after a month without significant new snow) and we were in the shade for most of the afternoon. The exception to the rule is the sunny Follys drag "over the back" which was shut due to lack of snow, along with the two runs it serves.
The central Corne drag lift is a real thigh burner and pretty steep, but also accesses the most interesting runs. There were several snowpark features dotted about, and a great boardercross off the long Grand Fremoux drag.
La Corne (red)
Looking up the Corne drag lift
Several of the runs have variants which don't appear on the cartoony piste map. As a result, skiing them all occupied us almost until lift closing time to ski them all, which surprised me a bit. Altogether I would say Abondance exceeded expectations, and I would rate the ski area more highly than similar-sized Cordon near Megeve, which we skied on arrival day this time last year.
Run highlights: Corne Rouge (for the best snow) and Corne Bleue (for length and scenic interest).
After finishing skiing we explored Abondance village - with its wonderful abbey - before check-in. Our apartment, halfway between Abondance and La Chapelle, is as expected: a small but clean and cosy 4-person studio with the usual bunks in the hallway. Cheap and cheerful, and a friendly welcome from the owner.
€25 euros for two very filling takeaway pizzas from La Chapelle. Which means, in addition to a huge lemon meringue pie we bought from Leclerc earlier, we have food in Abundance (see what I did there?).
Last edited by Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name: on Sat 20-04-24 18:59; edited 4 times in total
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Poster: A snowHead
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@denfinella, keep them coming, really interested to hear you find it as someone new to the area. Are you staying in Richbourg?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@denfinella, great that you skied Abondance. When I say it was closed a number of years ago, it was not open due to financial reasons from what I understand. But I think the town would be a great place to have a year round second home.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Great report - Looking forward to the next entry.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@denfinella, I am skiing La Chapelle today ( La Panthiaz ). Skies greyer than last couple of weeks.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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@DJL, we are indeed!
@Pasigal, yes, we liked the Abondance ski area and the village seems lovely too.
@Ozboy, cheers.
@WindOfChange, we may have crossed paths! (See below...)
Sunday - from Chatel to La Chapelle and back again
Espace Liberte piste map here - scroll down for the right one.
A reasonable weather forecast (by this unsettled week's standards) today, so we went on a little safari. First we had to pick up our lift passes from Vonnes, as we'd purchased three pairs of Portes du Soleil day passes from the Chatel website for Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. Thanks to a Black Friday offer, these cost just €27 each, which is pretty amazing value for one of the world's largest ski areas...
Appropriately our first lift was the Portes du Soleil, which we also had to download on at the end of the day since the blue run underneath had insufficient snow. After the new Morclan chairlift we were on slow chairs and drag lifts for the entire day with the exception of Tronchey. This no doubt keeps the area quiet, but quite a lot of time is spent on lifts.
Portes du Soleil chairlift to start the day
The weather gradually closed in from the south, meaning that our corner of the PdS stayed bright for the longest. Light snow (and later some thick fog) from around lunchtime, which we spent at the restaurant near the top of the Panthiaz gondola. €35 in total for a salad topped with Croute Savoyard, and a local take on tartiflette (with abondance cheese replacing reblochon). Just a little more expensive than our previous few French ski trips, with the exception of Megeve. But it was tasty, so all was well.
What about the skiing? Firstly, let me be the first to agree that the Super Chatel-Torgon-Chapelle sector is BIG, and isn't fairly represented even on the local piste map. There's a lot of variety too: the runs at La Chapelle are mostly wooded and sheltered, while those at Torgon and Barbossine are long, scenic excursions down large valleys. The Tour de Don area is different again - a very gentle but exposed plateau with a load of drag lifts.
Panoramique (blue) in the Tour de Don area
Snow conditions were much more variable today due to the mix of altitudes and aspects, but were generally better in La Chapelle and the Djeu des Tetes side of Torgon. The pistes served by Tronchey and Barbossine were stony, icy or patchy (more snowmaking please!), which was a shame because they were otherwise excellent long runs. We were however very impressed with piste maintenance - no ruts or ice chunks even where snow was scarce. It was also pretty quiet - just a little busier in the Braitaz sector, which could really do with a faster chair as it serves several pistes. We managed to ski every open piste - the only fully closed one was Ecureuil (red).
Stones and icy on the pistes underneath the Tronchey chairlift in Torgon
Looking down the Braitaz chair in La Chapelle
Run highlights: Lynx (red) in La Chapelle for a quick blast. Recon (blue) then Stade (red) in Torgon. And also the Tronchey itinerary - this was of course unpisted, but we were really surprised by the quality of the snow, which was almost powdery (unlike all the other runs in that valley). Small moguls, steep at the top and probably slightly tougher than the two blacks off Morclan, which were also fun.
Tronchey itinerary above Torgon
No snow issues on the roads as it hadn't been heavy enough, and I think it was mostly rain below about 1100m anyway. On the drive home we stopped for a look around La Chapelle village, which didn't take long: it's nice enough but a fairly one-dimensional resort-y place. The chapel itself is worth a look inside. Pasta chez nous for dinner.
Tomorrow we're planning to head to Switzerland via Mossettes. Some weather forecasts suggest the wind may cause some issues later in the day, so we'll need to keep an eye on that. But we want to make good use of our passes, especially given what's coming later in the week!
Last edited by Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do. on Sat 20-04-24 19:01; edited 4 times in total
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Quote: |
What about the skiing? Firstly, let me be the first to agree that the Super Chatel-Torgon-Chapelle sector is BIG, and isn't fairly represented even on the local piste map.
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Very true. And all those button lifts! Heaven!
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@denfinella
| Quote: |
surprisingly interesting, short black
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Piste Didier Buvet I believe? Named after the man from Abondance who won a Bronze medal in the 84 Olympics. Also has a ski shop in the towm.
Skied there a few times over the years.... Waited ages to ski that run as it was closed on first few visits... and then broke 2 ribs on it when it was finally open. Stubbornly refused to be stretchered down and skied back to the car park wincing and moaning with my wife saying 'told you you should have got the stretcher!' Happy days!
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@denfinella, on Saturday we did a tour of the Portes du Soleil, starting in Morzine, taking in most resorts. We ended up crossing Morgins as the clock struck 1pm to be greeted by the best bell ringing you'll ever hear. It wasn't played by humans, but there's a set of bells near the main lift up that made for a very Swiss experience. If you happen to time it well, it certainly brings a smile to the face!
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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@swskier, I can attest to the bells. Also glad to hear that Morgins is open. I actually liked that sector better than Chatel/La Chappelle.
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@pdsguy, ouch! Snow was nice and soft when we did it.
@swskier, sounds like a good day out. We will keep an eye (ear) out for that bell when we are near Morgins later in the week.
Monday - Champery / Les Crosets from Pre-la-Joux
Today was the last reasonably nice day before the looming storm, so with our second pair of Black Friday passes we parked at Pre-la-Joux and headed for Switzerland. It dawned sunny, but a slow deterioration was on the cards, with strong winds a possibility later on. Four successive six-seater chairs were a nice start to the day, including two (Lechere and Cases) new for this season.
Rochasson pistes above Pre-la-Joux looking good early on
The Swiss side of the PdS generally faces east into the morning sun, so this was the ideal time to hit it.
Les Crosets from the top of Grand Conche
We started out with the gorgeous, deserted red 11 to Grand Paradis - this is exceptionally long with a beautiful upper section, before becoming a road with some flat spots. Well worth it, and the pisteurs had done a great job with the snow cannons to ensure coverage on the bottom part.
Red 11 - Ripaille to Grand Paradis
After this we played around in the Croix de Culet / Pauvre Conche / Ripaille bowl on fairly quiet pistes and creamy snow.
Obligatory photo at the top of the Crosets chair
View down the Ripaille drags, Dents du Midi beyond
Ripaille and the Swiss Wall from blue 8
Next we gave the Swiss Wall a go. I was a little apprehensive about this as my other half isn't so confident on bumps, but it ended up being quite straightforward; there were some pretty large moguls but the snow was soft, and once we'd made the first turn through the first row of bumps it was more like a regular French black. Maybe trickier in different conditions.
Swiss Wall
Another obligatory photo...
No sooner had we got off the Wall (about 1pm) clouds blotted out the sun and you could tell a change of weather was on the way. Signs in Les Crosets warned of some lifts closing on the Avoriaz side, so it was time for a quick exit back to Chatel, through a very busy Lindarets valley.
After a €3.80 boulangerie fougasse in the useful Plaine Dranse picnic hut, we had a couple of hours to explore the Pre-la-Joux / Linga sector. Despite worsening weather it was pretty busy - clearly this is where the super keen, super fast skiers go. Some of the runs were therefore either bumpy or hard packed, and there was even one icy piste (Les Rennes off the Chaux des Rosees chair). These criticisms aside, it's a great area for clocking up miles - long pistes and fast lifts. The wind was really howling at the tops of the highest lifts (especially in the middle of the afternoon, after which there was a bit of a lull), with a lot of stinging, blowing snow in places. Surprisingly all the lifts stayed open until normal closing time. We ran out of time to try the bottom half of the Linga valley, or the Rhododendrons black off Rochassons. And a handful of runs were shut: Casse Noisette, Perdrix Blanche (a shame) and the bottom of Pre-la-Joux.
Plaine Dranse
Le Linga (red)
Run highlights: On the Swiss side: red 11 to Grand Paradis. Above Pre-la-Joux at Chatel: Le Linga (red) and Combes (red) for excellent motorway pistes. Itineraire (blue) for something different - more winding and relaxed than the other runs in the area.
On the drive back we stopped off at the massive Intermarche below Chatel, which is really rather good for a ski resort area. Back in Richebourg it was still 9C and rain began to fall just as we got out of the car. Pasta on the menu again in the apartment for dinner.
Tomorrow should be very different, though hopefully the rain will have turned to snow at most levels by lift opening time. We'll be aiming to "fill in the gaps" left in the Chatel / Chapelle areas, which are deliberately what we reckon are the most sheltered parts of the domain - as gales are forecast. And a long lunch no doubt!
Last edited by Ski the Net with snowHeads  on Sat 20-04-24 19:03; edited 4 times in total
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@denfinella, great report, perfectly summed up the conditions during the day. We started chatel and headed over to avoriaz but shuttled back as the sky darkened and the wind got up. Lindarets was busy but guess that was the just the weather. Not sure what to expect tomorrow.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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We stay in La Chappelle D'Abondance every March. If you're looking for somewhere to eat out in the evening then I highly recommend Les Cornettes in La Chappelle. The food is excellent (and while not cheap very reasonably priced for what you get) and then you get to go for a wander through their hilarious museum of absolute woeful waxworks and terrible taxidermy. It's brilliant.
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@denfinella, great report and already looking forward to tomorrow’s. Super Chatel and the Chalet Neuf area will be good if weather is foul as is the lower half of Linga (access via link lifts). Suggest finding a restaurant when you get bored - you could drop into Chatel village where there are many and Restaurant La Cheminee comes to mind located by the SC bottom station - it’s very much a cheese / ham / potato affair and apparently does a great onion soup . Do not go to the Chalet Neuf restaurant what ever you do as service is bad and overpriced. You could park at the Chatel multi-storey carpark for the day which i think is free or at Lac Vonnes.
https://g.co/kgs/Y87yH9
Recommend you try Super U in Vinzier if you after another, even better, French supermarket experience with good local produce. It’s close to Bernex and around 20 mins by car. This is where we normally collect click-and-collect groceries at the start of our weekly stays.
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You know it makes sense.
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@swiftoid, +1 for les Cornettes, still good despite the passing of the main man a couple of years back.
Also le Fer Rouge does nice food and GREAT home brewed-beers.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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@BergenBergen, cheers. So, how was today in the end for you?
@Ozboy, thanks - this was basically what we did this morning (see below). As for supermarkets, we may well be passing through Vinzier tomorrow anyway...
Tuesday - Linga / Super Chatel / Cret Beni
Today was a good day for snow and cheese, though not for sunbathers. As expected it snowed fairly heavily for almost the whole day (snowline at the base of Linga at 9am, but well below La Chapelle by lunchtime) with only a couple of relative lulls. Wind varied from moderate to ferocious, though visibility wasn't generally too bad.
Earlier in the week we'd deliberately left the most sheltered areas of the valley for today, which was the third day of our Black Friday ski passes. First up, we still had the runs off the Linga gondola to do, with just a couple of centimetres of fresh. The bottom part of Francoise Macchi was closed, as was Stade.
La Forgne (blue) at Linga
Next, the Super Chatel / Chalet Neuf sector. This required hopping onto the shuttle bus (busy) as both chairs making the connection via Vonnes were shut. Super Chatel has a whole swarm of drag lifts and blue runs, which were almost all open; all the chairs were closed. Heavy snow and wind blowing ice pellets up the slope made for some unpleasant runs down Chanterelle / Maxime, while there were big queues at the Coqs and Chermillon drags. Lots of beginner ski schools, and together with it probably being the windiest part of the day, carnage ensued - quite entertaining!
"Over the back" was quieter and somewhat sheltered, with the powder steadily growing deeper on Chalet Neuf and Bellevue. Morclan, Corbeau and the three Morgins lifts were closed (Note to self: next time, come back for the runs we missed: Chermillon, Chermeu to Chalet Neuf, the Corbeau black and Forestiere!). The runs back down to the gondola base were a scraped, rocky mess at lunchtime.
Lac (blue) from the Chalet Neuf drag
For lunch we took the bus back to Linga, drove to La Chapelle and grabbed the last table at L'Escalade burger bar / pizzeria. This was outstanding: €21 total for two delicious burgers (one with bleu d'auvergne and garlic sauce, one with goats cheese and honey) and sides.
Lunch at L'Escalade
Fully refreshed and defrosted, it was time to head back out into the storm at a mostly deserted Cret Beni - where all lifts were open! The mountain has a simple layout: a fast chair covers the bottom half, with a slow chair and long drag on the top half where most of the pistes are. It was a little more sheltered here and we eventually found some lovely powder (and steep enough gradient) on the top half of Cerf (red) and Renard (blue). There are also a deceptively large number of options through the trees off the long drag lift, though some are a bit flat for powder. Only one run was closed - the Biche blue. The lifts kept going until well after 4.30pm, and the baby drag lift at the car park still had a queue at 4.50pm!
Fontaines chair
Cerf (red) back down to the base of Cret Beni
Run highlights: In Chatel: Chalet Neuf and Bellevue blues off the Chalet Neuf drag. At Cret Beni: Cerf (red) from top to bottom, Renard (blue). Hermine (blue) was scenic, but had a road section which was too flat in the powder.
A quick stop for a baguette from La Chapelle on the way home to add to yesterday's supermarket haul, and a good old cold spread for dinner at our apartment. I've also finally got around to trying Morbier for the first time (a bit underwhelming tbh).
A large dump is on the cards again tonight, but enough about my bathroom habits. It's supposed to continue snowing too, right into tomorrow - but becoming a bit lighter and less windy. Tomorrow also happens to be a day we allocated to a non-PdS resort - so we haven't yet bought a lift pass for anywhere. Here are the options, probably in order of where I think we should go:
1. Thollon - was in good shape before the storm but was 100% closed due to wind today. Chances of them fully opening tomorrow after storm recovery work...?
2. Hirmentaz - pretty much fully open today but the link with Les Haberes hasn't opened for the season yet, which halves the available area. Promotional lift pass price on Wednesdays.
3. Bernex - quite a few runs closed before this storm, and possibly a bit exposed given the forecast. But they were open today at least.
4. Roc d'Enfer - mostly shut today, and again, looks a bit exposed given the forecast. Also we may visit this next year.
Or, fork out for a full price local pass somewhere in the PdS. But I'd rather not do this, as we could've bought one on Black Friday...
Thoughts, anyone?
Last edited by Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name: on Sat 20-04-24 19:06; edited 6 times in total
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Poster: A snowHead
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Glad you hit up Cret Beni. Fun spot but can get pretty crowded b/c that's where the ESF is.
I'd probably go to one of the PdS areas, maybe Morzine or Les Gets if the weather is clearer. Les Gets is lowish so visibility could be better than more exposed areas. Unless you expressly want to explore a smaller area.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@Pasigal, it was pretty quiet at Cret Beni luckily - just the beginner bit at the bottom which was popular.
I meant to say above, we have a vague plan to book somewhere in or around Morzine next year, to explore that end of the Portes du Soleil. So for that that reason it's not really on my radar. Though it would be a good bet in poor weather...
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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@denfinella, you were braver than us to get out on the snow today. After a trip to decathlon and Cora at amphion we cracked open the beers and watched some films. if the weather is poor then choose bernex over thollon, Thollon was shut today but the lower lifts of bernex were open but reading your TR think you should take the CdA Gondola on a local pass and hit the powder.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@BergenBergen, I agree CdA and Torgon should be awesome tomorrow if Braitaz is working, and all on the local pass for 25e for 5 hours.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Wednesday - Bernex
Bernex piste map here.
Thank you everyone for your advice, which I did consider carefully. We ummed and ahhed early this morning before heading to Bernex for the day. We really like exploring these little ski areas as a change from the massive resorts (though in fairness, the Espace Liberte area has a small resort feel too), and the lift pass at Bernex was just €24.50 for the day.
The slopes here generally face northwest, so with a degree of shelter from the forecast southwesterly breeze there were no wind issues today. Light or moderate snow first thing and also just after lunch, but also some lengthy dry spells and even some periods of blue sky.
The lift layout is straightforward: basically three successive chairs taking you to a windswept peak at 1900m, and a smattering of drag lifts elsewhere. Almost all the runs are blue / red and wooded, with cloud coming going just on the top half of the highest lift. Only 19km of slopes apparently, though seemed a bit bigger to us. We skied til 4pm; lifts are open from 8.45am to 5pm - impressive.
Combet middle chair, Dent d'Oche behind
Combet (blue)
For a small resort, the scenery is as varied as they come, with the odd, protruding summit of Dent d'Oche to skier's right, and the grey-blue tinge of Lake Geneva to the left - with the towns on the north bank of the lake basking in sun for much of the day. As well as the extensive wooded slopes and open summit area, the Ugine blue follows a tumbling stream down to another parking area, with the short Becret ("secret!") drag lift back up.
Ugine (blue)
Powder-wise it would be a stretch to call it epic, but the two blacks off the top chair are basically a broad freeride area. The top and skier's right were scoured by wind, but that left a gorgeous face of open slope, gully, a few clumps of trees... all with fairly untracked powder (until the afternoon when the local ski club came and ran riot!). There was also knee-deep powder on the Petit Combet red first thing.
Pelluaz (top) chair and the "freeride zone"
Ice Station Zebra a.k.a. top of Pelluaz
Lake Geneva from Pelluaz (red)
Further down, the slopes around the mid-mountain hub were busier with ski schools, and the two home runs were largely back to their artificial base at the end of the day. The lower slopes are admittedly still a bit thin, and the Mont Baron side hasn't opened at all this season yet.
Lanche (red) back to base
There are two mountain restaurants - one fairly pricey, one reasonable - but we skied down to the restaurant at the car park. €15.50 to finally try Berthoud (a local speciality: melted Abondance cheese cooked in white wine, plus potatoes, charcuterie, salad etc.), and €11.90 for a tartiflette PdJ - recommended.
Berthoud lunch
Run highlights: La Variante and Chalets Verts for summit powder. Becret blue for scenery and a forgotten feel. Also some wonderful long cruises if you combine the blues / reds from top to bottom (nearly 1000m vertical).
On the way home we visited the Super U in Vinzier (thanks @Ozboy for the suggestion!). I've never been keen on Super U in the past, but this one was indeed excellent! So a few goodies added to the leftovers from last night's dinner.
Last edited by Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do. on Sat 20-04-24 19:08; edited 4 times in total
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Thursday - Morgins / Champoussin / Les Crosets
After the fresh snow of the last two days Thursday dawned sunny and cold - the perfect recipe for winter corduroy! Today was the last day we'd bought Black Friday PdS passes - but these ones were purchased from the Morgins lift company, allowing us a full day in Switzerland rather than having to ski there and back, and worry about wind closures etc. An easy drive over the Pas du Morgins to La Follieuse at the heart of the village - which looked beautiful under fresh snow.
First lift out of Morgins
Morgins / Champoussin seems to be an area that people travel through rather than linger at, which meant that the traversing runs were fairly busy but the pistes returning to the bottom of the same lift were largely deserted.
La Foilleuse
The lift system needs improvement though - lots of slow chairs and T-bars, and the piste layout is a bit awkward (a few pistes which everyone funnels onto, such as red 36). We could do with more lifts like the fast Bochasses chair near Morgins:
Bochasses chair
Red 42 under the Bochasses chair
The two long blues (31 & 35 - the latter with a short black start, though there is a bypass) are exceptionally long and scenic, with brilliant upper sections and a flattish traverse back to Morgins.
Blue 35 to Morgins
Blue 31 to Morgins after the two pistes merge
The early bird gets the turns (not us!).
Fresh tracks by the Derriere Pertuis T-bar, Champoussin
Slow lifts often mean quiet pistes.
Black 37 under the Aiguille des Champeys chair, Champoussin
Red 31 under the Pointe de l'Au chair, Champoussin
Eventually we found the crowds (and chopped up pistes) at Les Crosets, where we finished the runs we didn't have time for on Monday. After another €3.80 shared fougasse for lunch, cloud started blotting out the sun from about 2pm. One by one, lifts started closing due to wind: Mossettes France, Pointe de l'Au, Aiguille des Champeys, Derriere Pertuis, Gueilley (!)... meaning all the links in and out of Champoussin had shut. Fortunately we'd already left this sector, and Mossettes Suisse stayed open to access blue 31 back to Morgins. Just the runs off Follieuse and La Chaux to finish off - now with hardly another skier in sight as we were "cut off" from the rest of the area, but on snow which was just a little slushy in places. On one of our descents back to La Follieuse we heard the 4pm carillon of bells mentioned by @swskier
Grande Conche chair above Les Crosets
The dreaded rain arrived just as we hopped back into the car at 4.30pm - but we're very glad it held off until lift closing time, and this morning's sunshine was a bonus. Tomorrow we have somewhere completely different planned, so watch this space!
Run highlights: Black/blue 35 & blue 31 "over the back" for length and scenery, but avoid in powder! Blue 30, blue 41, black 37 all very nice in the Champoussin sector. Les Crosets was a bit busy today.
Last edited by You'll need to Register first of course. on Sat 20-04-24 19:10; edited 5 times in total
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@denfinella, sounds like we dodged a bullet there. We did the loop from PLJ round to morgins thru super chatel. Luckily we passed through morgins around 2.30 . We didn't think the weather would close in as bad as that to shut lifts. Started raining on the return to PLJ but wind wasn't to bad.
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@BergenBergen, yes, I think you did! I agree, the wind didn't actually seem that bad. It certainly didn't seem as strong as on Monday when the lifts pretty much all stayed open. Maybe the direction was more of an issue - it was a crosswind on the Swiss side.
Friday - rain spoils Praz de Lys / Sommand
Praz de Lys / Sommand piste map here.
We had an excellent raclette dinner last night at the Hotel Mont Jorat in Abondance. Just €17 each for an enormous wedge of raclette, potatoes, charcuterie, bread, salad and various pickled goodies. We were very full afterwards!
On with today: this week we've had some excellent skiing days, and also a couple which have turned out much better than expected. Unfortunately today was the opposite. Spirits were initially high, with overnight rain set to clear pre-lift opening time and early sunshine theoretically allowing a quick piste refreeze. A couple of days ago we booked Praz de Lys lift passes for €21 each in their twice weekly "flash sale". The ski area claims 55km of slopes, i.e. generous for a day trip, and divides naturally into 3 areas. The biggest area connects the two lift bases of Praz de Lys and Sommand with a high point of 1980m at Haut Fleury. Open slopes higher up, trees lower down. The second area is below this on the Praz de Lys side: the low, wooded, Praz l'Eveque zone served by a sole chairlift and with pistes named after animals. Finally, there's an unusually extensive plateau area with dozens of easy runs joining up various suburbs of Praz de Lys - a bit flat but great for beginners. 5 mostly longish but slow chairlifts connect the main slopes together, along with approximately 7,000 drag lifts.
The domain has had plenty of snow this season - and until last night their slightly higher base height has meant they've escaped any rain events, so practically all the pistes have been open throughout January. There was noticeably more snow here than at equivalent heights around Chatel. The resort is about an hour's drive from Abondance, via the winding Col du Corbier (clear roads after the rain). It was mostly dry on the drive up, with hints of blue sky appearing, so the day was looking promising.
Then things began to unravel. Upon arrival in Praz de Lys at 8.45am a heavy, dense drizzle was still falling with the peaks in cloud. There's nothing more soul destroying on a skiing holiday than rain, so we sat in the car and waited for it to clear, as was forecast. Time to eat breakfast which we'd bought from the boulangerie on the main road in Abondance. The pastry was very disappointing indeed, and unfortunately we'd bought several, for consumption at both breakfast and lunch. Avoid!
10am came and went, with no sign of the rain relenting. By 10.30 we were itching to get out and ski, and the drizzle seemed to be a little lighter. So into the rain we went: firstly pootling around the low level plateau where visibility was OK. The drizzle was bearable but the snow was very sticky - grim - and the pistes in this sector too flat to get any speed up. Skiing the Planay black at the far end was very weird - steep, thick porridge with skis cutting deeply into the snow despite it having been freshly groomed.
Bresy (red) - one of the more bearable runs on the plateau area
After wasting lots of time poling across the "Access Station" blue to reach the "Access Praz l'Eveque" run, we were greeted with a sign informing us that it was closed (technical fault). So back through the faffy plateau, with more traversing and repeating sticky runs we'd already done, to arrive at the Haut Fleury chair just as they shut it due to avalanche risk!
Back at the Haut Fleury lift base as the weather began to brighten - still porridge though
These two lift closures effectively shut off the whole of the rest of the Praz de Lys side of the domain, including all the runs (down both sides) from the high point. So over to Sommand we went at about 1pm, with more unpleasant porridge underfoot - though at least the rain had finally stopped.
Les Brasses ski area in the distance, seen from the top of the Platiere drag
Through the afternoon the weather gradually improved and so did the snow conditions, as skiers turned over the wet top layer and evaporation started to dry the snowpack. By 3pm it was more like standard slush (lovely by comparison), and some of the busiest runs off the Col du Sommand chair provided some reasonable skiing. We finished the day skiing off a re-opened Praz l'Eveque chair, which turned out to have some excellent wooded runs.
Col du Sommand chair
Closed Velard (black) above the Col du Sommand chair
Sommand plateau from Col de Sommand (blue)
Buchilles (blue)
Les Preses (blue) in the Praz l'Eveque sector - note recent avalanches
Praz de Lys also has some really beautiful views, including of several other ski resorts from unusual angles: the Portes du Soleil, Les Houches, St Gervais, probably the Grand Massif, and Mont Blanc itself. And the slopes of Les Brasses from the Sommand side.
Plateau and Mont Blanc from Les Marmottes (blue)
So, some fun was salvaged this afternoon after a really poor morning, but a disappointing day nevertheless. None of this was the fault of the lift company, and I think I'd like to revisit Praz de Lys in better conditions.
Good views right at the end of the day from Roy (red)
Run highlights: Mouflons (red), Chamois (red) and Tetras (blue) off the Praz l'Eveque chair in Praz de Lys. Liaison (blue) and Col du Sommand (blue) on the Sommand side.
Last edited by After all it is free on Sat 20-04-24 19:12; edited 5 times in total
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Is Praz de Lys the area you can see from the top of Mont Chery in Les Gets? If you were looking at Mont Blanc it is to the right (West?!)
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@denfinella, You haven't been lucky with the weather but your reports are excellent - well done.
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FAQ
