Avoriaz off-piste & powder guide

Haute-Savoie, France · 1800m to 2466m · 5 documented zones

Finding powder at Avoriaz

Avoriaz is built around freeride terrain, with a set of marked but ungroomed snowzones alongside genuinely serious unpatrolled ground. Take the closures seriously here: a shut snowzone is the resort telling you the snowpack is not safe.

Lift-accessed zones — no walking

Ride up, drop in. These 5 zones need no hiking, which also means they are the first to get tracked out after a storm.

Secteur Chavanette

Chavanette sector

Marked itinerary - not controlledAdvanced

North-facing terrain with several descents that feed back to the lifts, which makes it easy to lap while the snow lasts.

Signed or numbered on the piste map, but ungroomed and generally not avalanche controlled. The marking tells you where the route goes, not that it is safe today.

Lift access
Express Lac Intrets or Express Choucas or Express du Fornet
Walk in
No hiking — Lift-accessed.
Getting back
Multiple descents return to the lifts for repeat runs.
Aspect
North-facing· Holds powder longest
Known hazards
  • Cliff features in places

Canyon du Pschott

Chavanette sector

Marked itinerary - not controlledExpert

Natural canyons and half-pipes with cliff drops and natural kickers, the most feature-heavy zone in the resort.

Signed or numbered on the piste map, but ungroomed and generally not avalanche controlled. The marking tells you where the route goes, not that it is safe today.

Lift access
Express du Fornet
Walk in
No hiking — Lift-accessed.
Getting back
Returns to the Fornet lift.
Known hazards
  • High-risk cliff features

Vallee de la Manche

Fornet sector

Backcountry - no patrolExpertGuide recommended

A vast north-facing powder field with long open descents, and completely unpatrolled.

Outside the ski area boundary. No avalanche control, no patrol and no rescue service. Full avalanche equipment, training and a partner are the minimum, and a guide is strongly advised.

Lift access
Express du Fornet
Walk in
No hiking — A traverse in from the Express du Fornet.
Getting back
Ski out to the valley road and take the bus back to Morzine; expect flat sections requiring poling.
Aspect
North-facing· Holds powder longest
Known hazards
  • Unpatrolled terrain
  • Flat run-out
  • Finishes outside the lift system

Col de Bassachaux

Lindarets sector

Backcountry - no patrolAdvanced

Tree skiing in the lower Lindarets valley with small and large cliff features near the lift base.

Outside the ski area boundary. No avalanche control, no patrol and no rescue service. Full avalanche equipment, training and a partner are the minimum, and a guide is strongly advised.

Lift access
TS Chaux Fleurie
Walk in
No hiking — Lift-accessed.
Getting back
Returns to the Chaux Fleurie lift base.
Known hazards
  • Cliffs of varying size close to the lift

La Frontaliere snowzone

Lindarets sector

Marked itinerary - not controlledAdvanced

Technical terrain in the higher Lindarets valley with drop-ins, wall rides and snow-covered kickers.

Signed or numbered on the piste map, but ungroomed and generally not avalanche controlled. The marking tells you where the route goes, not that it is safe today.

Lift access
Express Mossettes or TS Cubore
Walk in
No hiking — Lift-accessed.
Getting back
Returns to the Mossettes and Cubore lifts.
Known hazards
  • Technical natural features

The avalanche danger scale

Every European bulletin uses this five-level scale. The column that matters most is the last one: around half of all avalanche deaths happen at level 3, not at the extremes, because that is when the snow still looks worth skiing.

1. Low

about 5% of fatalities

Generally stable snowpack. Triggering is only possible with high additional loads, and only in extreme terrain. Natural avalanches are small at most.

The most favourable conditions of the season. Terrain choice still matters in isolated extreme spots.

Forecast on about 20% of the season

2. Moderate

about 30% of fatalities

The snowpack is only moderately well bonded on some steep slopes. Triggering is mainly possible with high additional loads. Very large natural avalanches are unlikely.

Conditions look benign and catch people out. Roughly a third of fatalities happen at this level.

Forecast on about 50% of the season

3. Considerable

about 50% of fatalities

The snowpack is moderately to poorly bonded on many steep slopes. Triggering is possible even from a single skier. Large avalanches are possible.

The most dangerous level in practice. It carries about half of all avalanche deaths, because the skiing still looks good and the snowpack no longer needs much provocation.

Forecast on about 30% of the season

4. High

about 10% of fatalities

The snowpack is poorly bonded on most steep slopes. Triggering is likely even from a single skier, and numerous large natural avalanches are expected.

Off-piste travel should be limited to low-angle terrain well away from anything steep above you.

Forecast on only a few days a year

5. Very High

rare enough that no share is published

An extraordinarily unstable snowpack. Numerous very large and often extremely large natural avalanches are expected, even on moderately steep terrain.

Do not go off-piste. Roads and parts of the resort itself may be closed.

Forecast on very rarely forecast

Scale and statistics from European Avalanche Warning Services - Avalanche Danger Scale.

What you need to carry

Transceiver

Worn on your body, not in your pack, and switched to transmit before you leave the lift. Every member of the group needs one; a single person without makes the whole group less safe.

Probe

Pinpoints the burial once the transceiver has brought you close, so you dig in the right place first time rather than in a hole beside them.

Shovel

A real collapsible avalanche shovel. Digging is the slowest part of a rescue, and it is what actually gets your partner out.

Airbag pack (optional)

Helps keep you nearer the surface in a moving slide. It supplements the three items above and never replaces them.

How to ski it

Read the bulletin before you go, every day

The danger level, the problem type and the aspects and altitudes it applies to matter more than anything on this page. Conditions change overnight.

Practise with your kit until the search is instinctive

Owning a transceiver is not the same as being able to use one under pressure. Run search drills at the start of every season.

Never ski off-piste alone

Companion rescue is the only rescue fast enough to matter. Burial survival drops sharply after about fifteen minutes.

Ski steep slopes one at a time

Exposing one person at a time keeps the rest of the group free to dig, and reduces the load on the slope.

Hire a guide for terrain you do not know

Local guides know which aspects have loaded, which lines cliff out and where this season's weak layer sits. Every resort guide on this page says the same thing.

Plan the exit before you drop in

Several classic routes finish in a different valley or a long way from a lift. Know how you are getting home, and what time the last lift and last bus run.

Keep planning

Avoriaz snow report & forecastSnow history & depthMore resorts in France