Snow, Sun and the Swiss Wall in Les Gets

When one thinks about the Portes du Soleil ski area, the chances are pretty high that you’ll think about Avoriaz or Morzine. If you don’t though, you might look at Les Gets. As one of the better known resorts in the area, this is livelier than Chatel and quieter than Morzine, sitting at the perfect midsection between the peaceful French town and the vibrant après ski hotspot.

Les Gets isn’t the highest resort in the Portes du Soleil area; that honour goes to Avoriaz. It is however, higher than Morzine, with better access to the immediate slopes. The resort is home to good shops, charming Savoyarde restaurants and a few lively bars, foremost of which is Apreskibar located right next to the ESF building in the centre of the resort. The bar is home to exciting drinks, live music and a good mixture of seasonaires and holiday makers.

As usual though, all this is secondary to the level of skiing in the area. As a part of the Portes du Soleil ski region, this isn’t exactly as limited area. Beginners have a huge number of gentle blue runs to try out, intermediates have a range of slopes to help them improve, and experts are so flooded with challenging mogul runs that there are more dotted about than you can get through in a week.

And of course, the larger Portes du Soleil ski area is home to the infamous Swiss Wall; a run so gnarly that it has around three metres of solid warning signs posted on the approach, just to make sure you have time to back out if you want. The moguls are the size of the average hill in Wales, and there’s a chairlift that runs overhead where daring skiers who have just finished the Swiss Wall can watch your careful descent.

So when it comes to the Portes du Soleil, if you want nightlife, go to Morzine. If you want a quaint French Alpine town with cosy restaurants and bars, go to Chatel. But if you’re looking for a little bit of both, there’s nowhere better than Les Gets.