Avoriaz
Why Avoriaz Ski Resort?
- Part of the massive Portes du Soleil (650km of piste) ski network with one of the largest local areas
- One of the most easily accessed resorts by car from the UK or Geneva
- It is the only village that is completely car-free and skiable in Europe
- Jura horses act like taxis pulling sleighs as taxis around the resort
- Avoriaz is home to Aquariaz, a very large aquatic centre for swimming and leisure
Avoriaz (Portes du Soleil) Resort
Completely freed of cars, the streets of Avoriaz become part of the ski area and are shared by skiers, horse-drawn sleighs, children on sledges and pedestrians. The masterplan placed Avoriaz 1800 on a gentle slope and ensured it was an entirely ski-in/ski-out resort. There’s no need to check whether your accommodation is ski-to-door because, in Avoriaz 1800, you never have to take off your skis. You can even ski to the bakery!
Shortcuts and public lifts allow you to get from one end of the resort to the other on foot in less than 15 minutes which makes it pretty convenient. Avoriaz 1800 is still adding to this pioneering plan in which every new building is located within 10 minutes of the centre.
There is also another method of 'transport'! There are now 20 sleigh drivers and 100 horses providing the daytime taxi service. The independent sleigh drivers are all members of an association. Each owns 5 horses and, in the interest of the animals’ wellbeing, no horse works for more than 2 hours at a time.
Originally when the resort opened in 1966, some reindeer from Lapland were brought to Avoriaz 1800 to tow the sleighs, as this was only means of transport there at the time. After a presentation tour of the main cities of the regions, which included parading down the Champs-Elysées, the reindeer finally arrived. Unfortunately, even though the reindeer loved their new home in Avoriaz, the sloped streets meant they had to be replaced by the robust Jura horses which are still helping holidaymakers to get around the resort today.
Since its creation in 1966, Avoriaz 1800 has always been ahead of its time, adopting a responsible approach to mountain tourism. Jean Vuarnet (a downhill skiing World Champion and Olympic Champion) along with Robert Brémond inaugurated the Prodains cable car in 1963.
The architecture mimics the surrounding landscape. The resort’s unique contours have earned Avoriaz official recognition as one of the great architectural achievements of the 20th century. Wood is found everywhere. The facades are covered in tiles made of red cedarwood, like those traditionally used on the rooftops of Savoie. Sloped roofs helped the snow to fall off and provide a snowy landscape. You will find 95% of the main living spaces in the apartments of Avoriaz face South. It's a good way to retain heat within the building (thus saving energy and shutters are forbidden!), leaving hallways and such to face North. Even more impressive, a whole sector of Avoriaz has been awarded the 'Clef Verte' label, the top international label for environmentally friendly tourist accommodation. Morzine and Avoriaz have worked together for over a year on projects in 2020 that work towards the Flocon Vert award. As of September 2021, these efforts were awarded the 'Flocon Vert certification' for sustainable resort.
Why the name 'Avoriaz'? Originally the plateau on which the resort is built used to belong to a family of the Chablais region (the counts of Rovorée). After becoming the property of the village of Morzine, the Alpine pastures were known as the 'Rovorée' land which the variations over time in pronunciation gradually changed the name to firstly 'Avorée' then 'Avoréaz', before finally it settled on Avoriaz (with a silent 'z'!).
