Avoriaz, France

Avoriaz and Morzine are two out of the 12 resorts on the Portes du Soleil which link together to provide an enormous 650 km of high altitude skiing in both France and Switzerland. Avoriaz is set very high at 1800 metres, characterised by its bold, modern architectural style and is entirely traffic free and offers doorstep skiing and first class snow, Morzine is a picturesque old-style Savoyard town with an unspoilt town centre which has retained much of its character, charm and strong French flavour with excellent facilities for après ski. In 2008 Avoriaz brought to Europe a new generation of 100% natural snow playgrounds - 'The Stash’. A new concept in snowparks, it was developed by Jake Burton himself (famous for his visions on the future of the snowboard). Burton chose Avoriaz as the only European resort capable of managing this ambitious project. Situated in the middle of a large expanse of un-groomed snow it is ideal for trying out wide turns in powder snow. These slopes wind in and out of the trees in the forest and are punctuated with hidden wooden obstacles all around the circuits that skiers stumble across when hurtling down a ‘secret passage’. You have to ski or snowboard down the same slope many times to discover all the concealed modules! Length = 1.3 km Total vertical descent = 470 m