Olympic hero & founder of the Portes du Soleil has died
Jean Vuarnet died aged 83
The French Olympic Committee confirmed on Monday that former Olympic skiing champion Jean Vurnet passed away, aged 83, on Sunday night in Sallanches following a stroke.
Vuarnet won the gold medal for downhill skiing at the Squaw Valley Olympics in 1960. He was the first skier to win a gold medal on metal skis instead of wooden skis as well as being the only skier in the race to pioneer the “tuck” position, a new technique he had been working on with his coach Georges Joubert.
Upon returning to Morzine, Vuarnet gave his name to a successful eyewear brand and was instrumental in the development of the Portes Du Soleil ski area.
For years Vuarnet and his friends had seen the potential of the higher areas above the Avoriaz Plateau, around Chavantettes and Haut Forts and he was keen to develop these. He also had a dream of developing a ski town similar to the ones he had seen in America. It was with this in mind that he began planning Avoriaz.
Gerard Bromond, founder of the Pierre & Vacances holiday group, partnered with Vuarnet and brought in visionary young architects Jena Jacques Orzoni, Jean-Marc Roques and Jaques Labro. Together they began to envision a different kind of ski resort,one that would integrate with the environment. The heating would all be electric. No cars would be allowed.
The Prodains cable car opened in 1963, linking Morzine with Avoriaz. Then in 1968 Telechampery constructed a two-man chairlift giving access to the Chavanettes area. That summer Avoriaz completed construction of a drag lift into the area, and Jean Vuarnet’s dream of opening that area to skiers finally became a reality.
Vuarnet was instrumental in bringing together all the separate ski areas that make up the Portes Du Soleil, understanding that they could achieve far more by working together. To manage this new group of resorts the headquarters was deliberately built in Vonnes, between the Swiss and French border. The presidents of the association are Jean Vuarnet, Jean-Pierre Beteille, Pierre-Ignace Exhenry, Jean-Pierre Calvet, Raymond Monay and Georges Coquilard.
Jean Vuarnet’s influence on the area cannot be stressed enough. He was a visionary who saw the potential for the area and for the future of skiing. The area continues to produce Olympic athletes and Avoriaz is often seen as the birthplace of freestyle snowboarding in Europe.
