Ski area
The Portes du Soleil covers an enormous area in the corners of both France and Switzerland and combined offers 650 km of piste. As such, it offers an unbelievable amount of skiing, with pistes criss-crossing the borders at regular intervals. Avoriaz is perhaps the jewel in the crown of the area as the village has lifts and pistes fanning out in all directions. For intermediates skiers the area offers a huge variety of runs, with various challenges - trying to circuit the entire PDS in one day for example.
The resort
Avoriaz is a dramatic purpose built resort perched above a sheer rock face. Characterised by bold and modern architecture it is built to blend in with the surrounding cliff and has a futuristic quality which is both loved and derided. It is entirely car free except for the horse-drawn sledges which ferry everyone around and wherever you stay you should be able to ski to the door.