What's New in the Portes du Soleil This Winter

With the first snows already falling, here is a round up of the new developments throughout the Portes Du Soleil for this coming winter.

The Brochaux chairlift, which runs from the bottom of the Mossettes (French side) to the top of Lindarets (Avoriaz), offers an important link between the Swiss side of the Portes Du Soleil area and Morzine, Avoriaz and Les Gets. However, it has been hampered in previous years due to the fact that it was a slow three man chair. This year the lift has been completely rebuilt, with new stations at both the top and bottom. The new lift is a fast six man chair and the new top lift station will be located 280 metres east of the original station along the ridge line.

Along with the new lift, a new blue run will be built to accompany it. Following a competition to name the new run, the name Blue Velvet was chosen from over three hundred entries. This name was chosen in part to commemorate the David Lynch film of the same name which won the Avoriaz International Festival of Fantasy Films in 1987.

On Super Morzine a new blue run is currently being built for this coming winter. This is largely due to the fact that the lower section of Zore, just before the cable car back down, can be steep for beginners, and often snow cover can be patchy. Not only can this lead to the slope becoming icy, but in recent years it has also led to earth and rocks coming through in some places. The new piste has been planned to address these issues and should make the journey back to Morzine more pleasant for beginners at the end of a day’s skiing..

A new blue run, La Forestiere, will help link the Linga area and the Super Chatel area, which should help speed things up for people attempting to do the full circuit of the Portes Du Soleil, following the construction of two chairs linking the two areas last year. Also in Chatel the Gabelou chair will have new seats and a widened track providing better access to the lift station, as well as improved snow making facilities.

The first section of the Fantasticable zip line, at the top of the Chaux Fleurie lift (if you are coming from Avoriaz) or Raochassons (if coming from the Chatel side) will be open this winter. This section of the zip line is 1,200 metres long with a maximum height of 240 metres, and has previously only been open in summer.

In Les Gets, development is continuing on Mont Chery, as debate continues regarding the proposed lift linking the main ski area of Les Gets to Mont Chery. A 5,750m cubed reservoir has been constructed to ensure that there will be a good supply of water for the new snow making machines that have been installed.

In St Jean D’Aulps, at the Grand Terche ski area, a new four man chair lift will replace the Tetes and Lanchereaux drag lifts, providing better access for beginners.

Over on the Swiss side, new snow cannons have been introduced to ensure better snow cover around Champery and Les Crosets. The Kids Club in Champery has built a new treadmill to get children back up the slope and over in Torgon there is a new luge track.

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