‘Snow Angel’ Easter Weekender in Avoriaz
Katy Dartford visits Avoriaz for an end of season bash on the slopes.
It’s that time of year when the mountains are turning from white to green and the powder leaves a lot to be desired… so what can you do to enjoy the last days of the season? Well, you can either go ski touring, enjoy slope side parties, DJ’s and great music… perfect incentives to head up the mountain.
With the ski season drawing to a close, one good to place to head to is the Portes du Soleil – one of the largest ski area in Europe. I had the opportunity with an invite from “Snow Angel” for their Easter weekender, organised by my friend Samantha Cope.
Avoriaz is considered more of a resort for families with plenty of snow, not a wheeled vehicle in sight and door to door skiing, so a weekend of DJ’s was quite a novelty for the resort.
I arrived quite late in the evening and was immediately struck by its futuristic design, totally unlike the chocolate box chalet style of most ski resorts, as well as its dramatic cliff top location giving good views down across Morzine. In fact, although it was built in the 60s, it was quite appealing to the eye and not at all a concrete jungle.
Being car free I jumped in a horse drawn cart and enjoyed the ride to my Pierre & Vacances apartment, got myself checked in and crashed out for the night. Pierre & Vacances Founder, Gerard Bremont, actually took an active part in building the station along with former French Olympic Downhill champion Jean Vuarnet, who in 1965 was given the task of developing the skiing of Morzine and came up with the first plan of a new skiing area on the north side of the Hauts-Fort mountain and the Fornet bowl.
The sun had certainly decided to bless us with its presence with blue skies and T-shirt skiing. I collected my ski pass from the main lift coming up to Avoriaz from Morzine and was good to go.
Avoriaz is a piste skiers dream, with lots of distance and wide pistes that weren’t too hard – maybe a little flat at times for boarders, but very open and offering beautiful views. There are 212 interconnected lifts servicing 650 km of runs spread across 12 areas; eight in France and four in Switzerland. There are 273 marked ski runs and varied skiing terrain. The Avoriaz part of the skiing area alone consists of about 130 km of piste.
After a morning’s skiing we headed to the ice bar under the Chaux Fleurie lift, at the Lindarets Bowl, for an afternoon of thumping hip hop, funk, disco, house, techno, drum & bass and UK Garage. DJs from the ‘Alpages’ crew built a snow stage, with an extra large soundsystem as well as offering seasonnaire prices on beers. At last lift we headed for a few après drinks at Globetrotters. Winter might be winding down, but parties like this are keeping the end of season excitement on a high.
For more information:
www.pv-holidays.com
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