Avoriaz (, ) is a French
mountain resort
A mountain resort is a place to holiday or vacation located in an elevated and typically at least relatively isolated area. The term resort implies integral hotel or inn accommodations, restaurants, and either or both sports facilities or sceni ...
in the
Portes du Soleil
Les Portes du Soleil (, literally "The Doors of the Sun") is a major skisports destination in the Alps, encompassing twelve resorts between Mont Blanc in France and Lake Geneva in Switzerland. With more than 650 km of marked pistes (claime ...
in the
French commune
A () is a level of administrative division in the French Republic. French are analogous to civil townships and incorporated municipalities in Canada and the United States; ' in Germany; ' in Italy; ' in Spain; or civil parishes in the Uni ...
of
Morzine
Morzine (; ), alternatively known as Morzine-Avoriaz (), is an alpine commune on the Swiss border in the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Southeastern France.
It is located in the French-Swiss Chablais historical ...
, on a shelf above the town of Morzine.
Cars are forbidden in Avoriaz; transport includes horse-drawn sleighs and
snowcat
A snowcat (a portmanteau of snow and caterpillar) is an enclosed-cab, truck-sized, fully tracked vehicle designed to travel over snow. Major manufacturers are PistenBully (Germany), Prinoth (Italy), and Tucker (United States).
Snow groomer ...
s during winter.
One of the principal owners of Avoriaz is the tourism and real estate development company
Pierre & Vacances
Groupe Pierre & Vacances Center Parcs () specializes in tourism services, providing holiday and entertainment ''villages'', leisure activity residences and hotels under the brands Pierre & Vacances, Maeva, Center Parcs Europe, Center Parcs, Sunpa ...
.
Resort history
Around 1965 former French downhill olympic champion
Jean Vuarnet
Jean Raoul Célina André Vuarnet (18 January 1933 – 1 January 2017) was an Alpine skiing, alpine ski racer from France. An Alpine skiing at the 1960 Winter Olympics, Olympic gold medalist, he is known for inventing the "Tuck" skiing position ...
planned a new skiing area on the north side of the Hauts Fort mountain and the Fornet-bowl.
Avoriaz International Fantastic Film Festival
For twenty years, from 1973 to 1993, Avoriaz was host to the Avoriaz International Fantastic Film Festival (French: ''Festival international du film fantastique d'Avoriaz''), a film festival mainly devoted to science fiction and horror movies.
Tour de France
Avoriaz has hosted a stage finish of the
Tour de France
The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage cycle sport, bicycle race held primarily in France. It is the oldest and most prestigious of the three Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours, which include the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a ...
6 times.
[Historic overview of Tour-stages: http://www.letour.com/2009/TDF/COURSE/docs/histo2009_07.pdf/]
See also
*
List of highest paved roads in Europe
This is a list of the highest paved roads in Europe. It includes roads that are at least long and whose culminating point is at least above sea level. This height approximately corresponds to that of the highest settlements in Europe and to th ...
*
List of mountain passes
This is a list of mountain passes.
Africa Egypt
* Halfaya Pass (near Libya)
Lesotho
* Moteng Pass
* Mahlasela pass
* Sani Pass
Morocco
* Tizi n'Tichka
South Africa
* Eastern Cape Passes
* Western Cape Passes
* Northern Cape Passes
* K ...
References
External links
Official tourist information siteOfficial Virtual Tour of Avoriaz2010 Tour de France preview for Stage 8 at Avoriaz
{{Authority control
Ski stations in France
Tourist attractions in Haute-Savoie