Mega Start to Portes du Soleil Ski Season

Christmas celebrations are a little different this year, with both Morzine and Avoriaz still wanting to maintain good Covid practices, but you will still find the Christmas cheer flowing around Portes du Soleil. There will still be the chance to see Papa Noel, although sitting on his lap might be out this winter. Instead, you'll likely see him moving about the pistes with his little helpers. And you'll still have the chance to tell him you've behaved yourself this year. Plus, the week will still be filled with the opportunity to drink endless cups of Chocolat Chaud and enjoy candy canes by the bucket load. You can see our rundown of Christmas events here:

• Morzine
• Avoriaz

Snow Updates
The snow conditions continue to be pretty great after one of the heaviest snowstorms to hit the opening week in as long as we can remember. We now have well over 1m of snow depth on the pistes.

The temperatures have warmed up from chilly -15℃ to a milder -2/+3℃. This has meant that it's stayed cold enough to keep the snow in good condition on the pistes, but around the pedestrian areas and on the roads, the snow is now freeze-thaw, meaning that it is pretty icy and slippery out there. So keep a hand on the bannisters and hold on tight to any children.

Plus, these early weeks have been pretty quiet. And so, the snow has been well-groomed and maintained by our top pisiteurs.

But of course, it is getting much busier this week, with the crowds arriving, ready to celebrate the festive holidays ahead.

Jen's top tips?

• Get out early each day before the ski schools start - usually, before 10am
• Ski through lunch. The time between 12 - 14his much quieter as the masses stop for lunch. Plus, then in reverse, you can enjoy lunch in a more peaceful restaurant later on.
• Try to find different routes to the ski schools as they can be swamped with children and their instructors. Explore the scenic trails, less taken by the organised lessons.

Perhaps sadly, though, although we will, of course, have a white winter, it seems the wish for another dump of fresh powder for Christmas isn't looking likely. The forecast is clear of all snow and even clouds for the next 7 days.

Merry Christmas to all. I hope you have a great week!

Updates
If you head to the bottom of this page, you can see the day by day forecast of what to expect in your ski resort. But, we will also be updating this snow report page every Wednesday, so check back in with us next week to see how the pistes are doing and what you can expect from the snow forecast for the next 7 days.

We need you!
If you're in Avoriaz or Morzine this week, we want to see your images, especially videos, of what you've been up to. So when you post to Facebook or Instagram, tag us. Every week, we'll be posting our favourite and top videos here to share, along with our weekly resort snow report.

Bon Ski & we'll see you on the pistes!

Jen