Chalet-Hotel Les Alpages

Portes du Soleil: sunny snow in two countries

by Pavlik_NL

"Or waterskiing on the water of Lac Leman?"

Just South of Lac Leman / Lake of Geneva the mountains of the Alps rise to it's summit at the Mont Blanc. The largest ski-area of the world is stretching from France into Switzerland and is called "Les Portes du Soleil" (the gates of the sun). Approximately 160 kilometres of connecting skisloops can make long skisafari's possible and centre of this all is Avoriaz, a hotelconcentration at the top of a steep cliff, especially made for skiers. From here you can ski endlessly around. Lac Leman is amazingly situated on the foot of the high mountains and on it's Northern shore the hills are just high enough to prevent the water from leaving the reservoir. Actually the lake is a part of the river Rhone, that later ends in the Mediteranian Sea close to Marseille. Geneva is the French-Swiss city at the far West-side of the lake. This famous congresscity is easily to be visited from the ski-area by organised tours, especially when the skiconditions by weather are less good.