Where to Ski And Snowboard - Portes du Soleil builds new lift link

Portes du Soleil builds new lift link

11th June 2019, by Abi Butcher

The new lifts will provide a faster link between Avoriaz and Les Crosets

Work has begun on two new lifts in the Portes du Soleil connecting the French resort of Avoriaz with the Swiss resort of Champéry - Les Crosets. The faster and more efficient connection will be welcomed by skiers tired of the Mossettes and Léchère chairlifts being closed in bad weather — or suffering from lengthy queues.

A new six-man high-speed chairlift will replace the old three-person Léchère that runs from the Lindarets bowl, but continuing to an area just off the Abricotine blue piste, some 600m further uphill than its predecessor. The bottom station is also being moved forwards to allow more space for skiers to queue, From the new offload area of the Léchère, a new six-seater called TSD6 Cases is being built that will carry skiers to the top of the Cases pistes and create a new link over the border to Champéry-Les Crosets in Switzerland.

The Portes du Soleil is investing €15million on the new the connection, which will carry up to 2,700 skiers and snowboarders per hour and drastically increase the speed at which skiers can head from France to Switzerland. A new blue piste is also to be developed, in the hope that it will ease numbers using the Abricotine piste.

The new lifts are also expected to be less affected by wind and being purposefully built in a more sheltered situation.