With more than 80km of its own pistes, Châtel ski holidays take place in the vast Portes du Soleil ski area which has a total 650km of pistes. With a lift pass for skiing in Châtel, you have access to the Massif du Linga/Pré-la-Joux, the Massif du Super-Châtel and the Swiss villages of Torgon and Morgins.

For most on a Châtel ski holiday, the ski areas available are sufficient enough to head out and have a fantastic ski holiday. However, we advise advanced skiers skiing in Châtel to extend their pass to include the Portes du Soleil area. This allows you to make longer trips and visit the famous resort of Avoriaz. Although skiing in Châtel is more viable for less advanced skiers and snowboarders, the Portes du Soleil still has a number of fun slopes available for those with less experience.

Another perk about using these lift passes when skiing in Châtel is that they can be ‘self-serviced’ as the pass can be scanned automatically at the ski lift. Unfortunately you cannot extend your Châtel lift pass to include Les Portes du Soleil once at the location.

The vast ski area of Les Portes du Soleil consists of a total of 12 villages spread over the boarder of France and Switzerland. All together it is linked together by 650km of ski slopes, making it one of the largest ski areas in the world.

Skiing in Les Portes du Soliel

There are around 200 different ski lifts in Les Portes du Soleil. Every year the ski area is expanded with new modern chairlifts and gondolas. Due to sheer size of the ski area, there is usually very little waiting for the lifts in comparison to other resorts.

Les Portes du Soliel is a perfect ski holiday choice for both beginner and advanced skiers/snowboarders. Beginners will love the great mix of blue slopes, and for the advanced there is 300km of red and black slopes.  The super adventurous can even try conquering the formidable Mur Suisse, also know as the Swiss wall.

Les Portes du Soliel has 9 fun parks, perfect to practice your jumps and tricks. There also great activities for non skiers including paragliding, husky sledding and some great après ski bars. Guided snow walks with breath taking views are also an option. The high altitude combined with the use of a lot of snow cannons means that the area is very snow sure through the season.

There are three main ski areas in Les Porte du Soliel:

Avoriaz

Avoriaz is one of the most popular ski holiday destinations in all of France. Due to its high altitude and car free village, most of the accommodations are ski in/ski out throughout the winter. Avoriaz itself has around 77km of ski slopes, however with the full Les Portes du Soliel lift pass you have access to over 650km. Avoriaz is also famous for its indoor water paradise park, called Aquariaz.

Châtel

Châtel is a traditional, picturesque and atmospheric mountain village located right on the French-Swiss border. It has over 80km of slopes, which are mainly suited for beginners and young children. More advanced skiers should upgrade to the full Les Portes du Soleil pass where there is a much larger variety of advanced slopes.

Les Gets

The area of Les Gets has over 120km of ski slopes. It is perfect spot for beginner to intermediate skier/snowboarders. Thrill seekers and freestylers will love the Deborah Anthonioz border slope, which is dedicated to the 2010 Olympic silver medalist in Vancouver. The longest slope in Les Gets is 11km.

Sunweb has a great range of different ski packages in Les Portes du Soliel. From cheap, simple apartments - to luxurious all inclusive hotels. There are options for all group sizes and budgets.