Why intermediate skiers love Avoriaz

Prodains is located to the lookers’ right of the resort, and as you leave the telecabine you will ski down to the Lac-Intrêts and Stade chairlifts.

Lac-Intrêts takes you to the top of the mountain, and from here you have three great options of blue runs down. As you get off this lift cut off immediate left and you will find yourself at the top of the Bleue d’Arare and Stade d’Arare. These are both wide and friendly pistes that can lead over towards Fornet, or back to the bowl beneath Prodains. Alternatively, you can access the Bleue du Lac, a beautiful run that starts from a high altitude, giving you great views and a good perspective of Avoriaz.

This run takes you past the top of the Arare park and around over the top of the Fornet cliffs. The high altitude of this shaded run means that the snow is always in good condition, even in the spring. You can also get to these runs via the Grandes Combes chairlift. This chair is tucked away in the trees below the Coupe du Monde black runs, so is usually fairly quiet compared to the more accessible chair lifts from the Arare side. There are friendly blue runs that will get you to the Grande Combes chair, so don’t worry about having to step up you’re game immediately to face the black runs.

Many of you visiting Avoriaz will be staying just down the valley in beautiful Morzine. From Morzine, you can either get the free shuttle buses to Ardent or Prodains, or you can get to Avoriaz by skiing over from the Super M telecabine. This lift is located right in the centre of town by the suspension bridge, it’s extremely accessible, and not having to wait for a bus is a definite plus. Once you get to the top of Super M you’ll take the Zore chairlift up the mountain, and there’s no going anywhere without cruising a blue. You can slide your way across to Avoriaz by skiing down the Seraussaix run where you’ll come to meet the Proclou chair. This run is super mellow, great for getting your ski legs back. In this area, the Proclou run is wide and relatively flat, it also has some fun features such as the Mini Stash park, which links onto some cool wooden structures hidden in the trees alongside it.

I’m going to let you into a secret now, people usually want to get from Morzine to Avoriaz as quickly as possible taking the route from Zore to Proclou, leaving the runs beneath the Zore chairlift almost untouched. If you manage to get up and on the mountain first thing in the morning, make the most of this area. There are three blue runs here; Zore (two routes) and Tetras. You could be the people getting first tracks on corduroy pistes and let me tell you, there’s no feeling like it. These few runs away from the crowds will get your day off to a great start and if you’re not sold already, the views here are particularly incredible.

Our final starting point is Ardent. This lift takes you from the bottom of the mountain up to the Lindarets Bowl, where the four chairlifts will take you to eight different blues.

Prolays is a seasonnaires' favourite, with side hits a plenty and wide open terrain. From the top of the Lindarets and Prolays chairlifts, you can ski down to the Brochaux Bowl where you’ll meet the Mossettes lift. Mossettes takes you to arguably the most scenic point in the Portes du Soleil, and to the border of Switzerland. From here you can enjoy a mellow blue, the Abricotine, which will take you back to the Lindarets Bowl. Alternatively you can extend your ski by joining onto the Parchets, aka the home run, or jump right back onto the bubble.

Now you should have a pretty good idea of what runs you’re looking for in resort, and where you’ll find them.