Châtel is located centrally in the 2nd largest snowboard area in the world; the Portes du Soleil. This vast area, linking together 650kms of snowboard runs between France and Switzerland, offers something for everyone. There are many snow parks, snowboard cross tracks, marked safe off-piste areas and even the Burton Stash, which is a forest shaped into a snow park.
The village of Châtel has it's roots in farming and wood production. As it is situated at the top of the Abondance valley, made it the perfect place to log trees down stream. It's also known for it's local cheese - Abondance AOP, named after the Abondance valley. This cheese can be found in it's local dish - Berthoud, which is a combination of melted cheese, white wine, garlic, and madiera, served with hot potatoes, meat, and salad.
Châtel has excellent snow conditions, especially in comparison to other resorts at a similar altitude that are neighbouring it, and even in comparison to other countries with similar altitudes. Don't be fooled by the high altitude game, resorts where pistes are packed and everything has been scraped off by people or extreme wind.
With climate change, the snow canons put down an artificial base layer first, this helps to protect it, that even in the last week of April, there will be no rocks on the pistes! And, with it's orientation to the sun, when other valleys are green, Châtel still has plenty of snow depth, as it grabs the suns rays only for when you are on the slopes. This helps to prevent thermal degradation of the snow. Due to these factors, the reputation of Châtel as a snow sure resort keeps growing and growing for people who visit.
There are 4 main areas to explore the 130 kilometres of slopes that Châtel has to offer, all lift connected:
There's also another 520 kilometres of slopes linked to Châtel in the Portes du Soliel, which spans France and Switzerland... This is only the marked runs!
Our local snow park, is Smooth Park, located in Super Châtel area, and guess what? Yes, it has super flowy jumps and lines that you can easily spend your week in there. It has 2 button lifts to access the park, so there are never long queues, plus, enjoy everything, from boxes, to rails to jumps, on a top to bottom shred.
Plus, there's also a snowboard cross course at the side for speedsters to race on. This is an entry level snowboard cross track, which at times can be up to a high level of features to train on, with help from our friends at the park. There are also gates to train starts from.
It's also only a 3 lift journey to Avoriaz, the centre of the Portes du Soliel, where you will find the Burton Stash, a terrain park with natural jibbing elements, plus and other fun snow parks.
Depending on what you want from the evening and night, there is plenty for everyone.
This map shows our home office location.
Our meeting point is in the Pre la Joux area, at the very top of the car park, next to the map with time and temperature.
From start of December to end of April. Check out the official guidance here: https://www.chatel.com/ouvertures-du-domaine-skiable.html