Avoriaz

French ski station located in the department of Haute-Savoie (Haute-Savoie), in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, 617 km from Paris, 84 km from Geneva , 46 km from Thonon-les-Bains , the historic capital of the Chablais region, 42 km from Cluses . Avoriaz is located in the municipality of Morzine , close to the border with Switzerland (➤ map)(➤ map). It is the highest located and one of the most important ski resorts belonging to the so-called Portes du Soleil, a famous ski area with twelve villages in Switzerland and France. In summer is a good starting point for hiking and mountain biking. Morzine can be reached via the D902 (called Route des Grandes Alpes) from Thonon-les-Bains or from Cluses. From Morzine to Avoriaz, take the (narrow and winding) road D338 (also known as Route d'Avoriaz) to the junction at Col de la Joux Vert at an altitude of 1800 m above sea level and then take this road for another 2 km (the D338 turns left and leads to Les Lindarets) (➤ map)(➤ map). You can park in front of the entrance to Avoriaz - there is no car traffic in the town itself.

The history of Avoriaz as a ski station dates back to the mid-1960s, when Jean Vuarnet, gold medalist in the downhill at the Squaw Valley Olympics in 1960, vice-president of the French Ski Federation from 1961, came up with the idea of expanding Morzine's possibilities as a winter sports resort and acquired for his ideas, as an investor, a representative of a well-known French family of entrepreneurs, Gerard Bremont (the president of the Pierre et Vacances group, a European leader in the tourism industry).

A completely new station, called Avoriaz, designed by three then young architects (Jean-Marc Roque, Jean-Jacques Orzoni and Jacques Labro) selected by Bremont, with innovative architecture of wooden skyscrapers uniquely integrated into the Alpine environment, conceived as a ski resort for the elite, advertised as "Saint-Tropez de Neige", was built at an altitude of 1,800 m above sea level, on a plateau above the cliff (known for centuries as one of the Alpine pastures), just a few kilometers (as the crow flies) east of Morzine, near Les Haut Forts Peak (2466m) and Pas de Chavanette where is the beginning of the famous, very steep and extremely difficult route leading to the Swiss side called "Mur Suisse", "Swiss Wall" or "Chavanette".


Later, the ski infrastructure around Avoriaz, initially concentrated on the slopes of Les Hauts Forts and around the Col du Fornet , was intensively expanded in all directions. The resort itself has also changed, and even more so its role: today Avoriaz is no longer a place for "jet-set skiing", but a ski station (and a year-round resort) for mass tourism, thanks to its connection to Morzine, but also via Les Lindarets , with Châtel , and with Swiss stations Les Crosets and Champéry , one of the most important the mentioned Portes du Soleil region, offering in total - in Switzerland and France - about 650 km of ski slopes and almost 200 lifts of various types (some of these lifts also operate in summer, thanks to which the entire region is available to people spending their holidays in any town, Switzerland or France, all year round).

The Avoriaz ski areas, which offer a total of about 130 km of slopes, are generally divided into four main areas: the Super Morzine area (a series of lifts and slopes connecting Avoriaz with Morzine, considered beginner and less advanced), the Les Lindarets , Col du Fornet area and Pas de Chavanette , finally - the slopes of Les Haut Forts (with routes with a denivelation of 1400 m and mostly difficult or very difficult routes, although there are also easier routes).

Although Avoriaz was designed primarily as a ski station (and still functions primarily as a winter kingdom for skiers and snowboarders), today it is also a holiday resort open during the summer season (late June to early September), offering opportunities for golf, tennis, hiking pedestrians, but above all - downhill trails for mountain biking of various difficulty levels (e.g. in the valley of Les Lindarets , near Châtel and Swiss station Les Crosets ).

A special attraction recently opened in Avoriaz is the water park, "Aquariaz", opened in July 2012, with hundreds of species of trees and tropical plants (in an enclosed space with a temperature of 29^oC).

• For cycling enthusiasts, it may be interesting to know that, like Morzine, where the Tour de France route has run many times, also Avoriaz has been on the route of the race six times (the first time in 1975).