Portes du Soleil

What is the Portes du Soleil like?

The Portes du Soleil is a ski area of 12 resorts on the border between France and Switzerland, in the Chablais mountains between Lake Geneva and Mont Blanc. One lift pass covers all of them. The association that runs the area counts 600 km of skiing and 307 runs; the Swiss lift company, Portes du Soleil Suisse, gives the same 600 km and puts the lift count at 208.

On the French side are Morzine, Avoriaz, Les Gets, Montriond, Saint-Jean-d'Aulps, Châtel, La Chapelle d'Abondance and Abondance. On the Swiss side, in Valais, are Champéry, Morgins, Les Crosets, Champoussin and Torgon.

The area is a loop of linked valleys rather than one bowl. Several villages reach it by a shuttle or a lift from a nearby hamlet, and one, Abondance, is not lift-linked at all.

Where should you stay?

The choice is between being on the circuit and being near it. Les Gets has lifts on both sides of the village, at 1,172 m, and shares its local skiing with Morzine. Châtel sits on the border with its own 120 km Espace Liberté, the Châtel lift company's figure, which reaches into Switzerland. Morgins, at 1,350 m, has a gondola from the village centre. Champéry, at 1,050 m, has a cable car and a railway station. Montriond is a lake village a free winter shuttle away from the Ardent gondola.

• Les Gets

  A village at 1,172 m with lifts from the centre, a Les Gets-Morzine pass for 120 km of pistes and the Portes du Soleil beyond.

• Châtel

  A village with a gondola from the centre, 120 km of its own pistes, and lifts to Morgins, Torgon and Avoriaz on the Portes du Soleil pass.

• Morgins

  A small Swiss village with a gondola from the centre, the Corbeau lift towards Châtel, and the Swiss side of the Portes du Soleil on one pass.

• Champéry

  A Swiss village with its own cable car, a railway from Aigle and the Portes du Soleil on the Swiss lift company's pass.

• Montriond

  A small village of about 900 people beside a lake, with a free winter shuttle to the Ardent gondola and the Avoriaz, Châtel and Les Crosets lifts above.

How the villages link

The official piste map shows the main circuit running from Morzine and Avoriaz over the border to Les Crosets and Champéry, round by Champoussin and Morgins to Châtel, and back to Avoriaz through Pré la Joux and Les Lindarets. Les Gets joins on the Morzine side. Torgon and La Chapelle d'Abondance hang off the Châtel end.

Several of the joins are not continuous lifts, and the member guides spell them out:

• Les Gets to Avoriaz. Les Gets links on skis to Morzine's Pleney side. To reach Avoriaz you cross Morzine to the Super Morzine lifts, on foot or by the Little Train that the Morzine tourist office runs in winter.
• Morgins. The two sectors meet in the village but are not joined by a lift. The gondola climbs to La Foilleuse on the Swiss side; the Corbeau lifts lead to Châtel. A free winter shuttle runs between the two.
• Champéry. The Croix-de-Culet cable car and the Grand-Paradis chairlift take you up. Skiing back ends at Grand-Paradis, where a free winter shuttle runs to the village, or you ride the cable car down.
• Montriond. A free winter shuttle runs to the hamlet of Ardent, where a gondola climbs to Les Lindarets and on towards Avoriaz. The Abricotine run comes back down to Ardent. The sources checked do not mention any other way back.
• La Chapelle d'Abondance. The Panthiaz gondola leaves the village for a sector that links to the rest of the area through Torgon. The village's Crêt-Béni sector is linked only by shuttle.
• Abondance. Not lift-linked. The Portes du Soleil says Abondance has its own Essert ski area and a regular shuttle service to the rest of the Portes du Soleil.

Skiing the Portes du Soleil

Each resort sells its own local pass as well as the full area pass, so the skiing works at two scales. Les Gets and Morzine share 120 km on their local pass. Châtel's Espace Liberté is 120 km and 56 lifts on the Châtel lift company's figures, and takes in the Morgins Corbeau sector and Torgon. The Swiss lift company runs Champéry, Les Crosets, Champoussin and Morgins.

The full circuit, the Tour des Portes du Soleil, appears on the official piste map in both directions. It crosses the border twice and depends on every link being open, so check the live lift openings before you set out and the last lift back to your village.

The Swiss Wall is above Les Crosets on the Avoriaz border. The Portes du Soleil describes it as 1 km long, ungroomed and steeper than 70%.

Lift passes

There are two lift companies' price lists to choose from, and each sells the full Portes du Soleil pass as well as its own local passes. At the time of writing:

• French side: Solegets in Les Gets lists an adult Portes du Soleil day at €69 and six days at €352. The Châtel lift company lists €59 to €69 a day and €254 to €352 for six days, depending on dates.
• Swiss side: Portes du Soleil Suisse lists an adult day at CHF 75 and six days at CHF 383.

Children under five ski free on both sides. Prices vary by date, so check the Châtel, Les Gets or Swiss price lists before you buy. If you plan to stay mostly on one side, compare the local pass first.

Getting there

Geneva is the airport for both sides. For the French resorts, Les Gets is about 1 hr 15 min from the airport on the tourist office's figure, and Châtel about 1 hr 40 min, up the Vallée d'Abondance from Thonon. Winter tyres or chains are compulsory in Haute-Savoie from 1 November to 31 March.

For the Swiss side, the Région Dents du Midi gives Geneva Airport to Champéry or Morgins as 128 km, about 1 hr 20 min, from the St-Triphon exit on the A9. A Swiss motorway sticker is needed. By rail, trains run to Aigle and the AOMC railway climbs to Champéry; buses continue from Monthey to Morgins. Timetables change each season, so check SBB before you travel.

When to go

For 2026/27 the whole Portes du Soleil is listed as linked from 19 December 2026, and the Châtel lift company runs until 18 April 2027. The villages open and close on different dates: Les Gets closes in mid-April, Champéry on 11 April 2027, and Morgins on 4 April 2027. Check each resort's dates, and the closing time of the links, before booking a late-season week.

For conditions, use the official pages rather than any figure copied here:

• Portes du Soleil webcams
• Portes du Soleil weather
• Slope and lift openings