Châtel, Haute-Savoie
Châtel is a commune in the Upper Savoy department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France. It is a popular ski resort. Despite its development into a major ski resort, the village still retains many of its traditional alpine characteristics. Nearby French towns include pretty La Chapelle-d'Abondance, Morzine and the Swiss town of Morgins. Châtel has an extensive ski area with runs to suit boarders of all abilities; the whole village is served by a free ski-bus. The resort is part of the vast Portes du Soleil domain - the largest international linked ski area in the world with over 650 km of varied terrain spread across eight French and four Swiss resorts; this gives skiers and boarders an endless choice of runs on their doorstep. Although famous as a winter destination, Châtel is a popular mountain bike resort with the ski lifts opening between June and September for cyclists. Other attractions over the summer months include numerous activities such as windsurfing and sailing, white-water rafting, paragliding, walking or relaxing in the sun.
More activities include the Fantasticable, a zip-line extending between two mountain peaks, spanning the valley of Pre-la-Joux, over the ski lifts and the restaurants at Plaine Dranse. It is active at specific times during the winter season. In August Chatel celebrates both the Fête de la St Laurent and the Fête de la Belle Dimanche. St Laurent is the patron saint of Châtel and the village assumes a carnival atmosphere with floats and live entertainment. La Belle Dimanche is the farmers tribute to the "beautiful sunday" and is held up in the Plaine Dranse up from the ski lift Pierre Longue; every Monday evening the village host welcome drinks. This is a key moment in the week when you can get together with the villages ski instructors and event team and meet the local community. Welcome drinks includes a rundown on the key events of the week; such as the traditional market on Wednesdays, the street shows, the torchlight descents, trips with commentary on the sightseeing train, the evening skating sessions at the outdoor rink, skiing by night at the Linga floodlit stadium, loads more.
Chatel Tourism Website
La Chapelle-d'Abondance
La Chapelle-d'Abondance is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France. Located in the northern French Alps, the village lies at the heart of a farming valley in Haute-Savoie. Nestling below the peaks of the "Cornettes de Bise" and the "Mont de Grange" which rise to 2,400 metres, the Abondance Valley is a verdant mountain pasture amongst the Alpine Peaks of the Chablais Massif; the waters of the River Dranse run through the valley, enriching the fertile pasture land before flowing out into Lac Leman near Evian. There are opportunities for rafting lower down the Dranse, where the sluice gates are opened each day to let a torrent of water down the river, In the winter, La Chapelle d'Abondance is a winter sports playground. On the edge of the massive Portes du Soleil with access via the Panthiaz telecabine. La Chapelle d'Abondance has accommodation ranging from Gites to Chambre d'Hotes. Several independently run catered ski chalets offering accommodation and meals.
La Chapelle d'Abondance has its own ski areas and ESF ski school for all levels: Cret Beni ski area – height of top lift 1536 m: In the shadow of the Mont de Grange is the Cret Beni ski area. The pistes are north boarding. There are mountain restaurants offering local cuisine. Braitaz ski area – height of top lift 1792 m: A cable car gives access to the south facing ski area, it is possible to ski to Torgon in Switzerland or ski towards the Super Chatel domain and the vast Portes du Soleil ski area. Nordic Skiing is a popular pastime in the area; the valley has 35 km of Nordic Skiing linking La Chapelle and Abondance. Equipment can be hired from the ski hire shops in the village. There are horse-drawn sleigh rides and husky dog sleds. In summer, the network of more than 720 km of marked paths provides walkers the opportunity to explore easy riverside paths, or find tranquility and solitude high in the mountains above, where local ski lifts allow easy access to paths which cross the border between France and Switzerland.
Other activities include river riding the Portes du Soleil mountain bike trails. Wildlife abounds in the valley from deer, wild boar and stags roaming the hills, to marmots sleeping on sun warmed mountain banks. There is a deer sanctuary tucked behind the old mill above the town center. La Chapelle-d'Abondance is located 90 minutes' drive, from Geneva airport. Communes of the Haute-Savoie department
Torgon
Torgon is a village in the Swiss Alps, located in the canton of Valais. It lies in the western part of the canton, in the region of the Chablais, at an altitude of 1,085 metres; the village sits on a sunny terrace overlooking the Rhone valley, above Vionnaz. Politically Torgon belongs to the latter town. Torgon is part of the ski area Portes du Soleil. Mountains around Torgon are the Haut Sex and the Tour de Don; as of the 2016/17 season, the two main ski lifts into Torgon village proper have shut permanently due to safety and monetary issues. Skiing is now entirely limited to the Plan-du-croix sector of Torgon. Swisstopo topographic maps Media related to Torgon at Wikimedia Commons Official website
Les Gets
Les Gets is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France. The village's first single-person chair lift was opened in 1938 with the first chair lift on Mont Chéry in 1954. Les Gets is situated on the col between Taninges and Morzine, at the western edge of the Portes du Soleil ski area. Les Gets hosts a festival of Mechanical Music bi-annually; this has been running for 25 years. During this period the streets are closed off and barrel organs or orgues fill the streets with mechanical music. Many of the organ grinders come from other European countries, such as Holland. Traditional Savoy dishes are central to Les Gets cuisine; these include a dish of potatoes "au gratin" with reblochon cheese and lardons. A traditional liqueur, génépi, is often drunk as a digestif, although the exact constitution of this medicinal drink varies as many residents produce their own. There are many restaurants ranging from the family-friendly and reasonably priced to top-end.
They specialise in local savoyard cuisine. Les Gets has many bars. In the summer, there are all kinds of evening activities in the centre of town, ranging from discos to the "Pot de Bienvenue" on a Monday evening. A lot of emphasis is given to children's entertainment, such as wooden games set out in the street, street performers and a carousel. Live bands perform on the semi-permanent stage in the centre of the village, attracting both locals and tourists. In the summer, Les Gets hosts many downhill mountain biking events. There are one on each side of the village; the downhill mountain bike run on Mt Chéry has been used in the Mountain Bike World Cups in 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, in the Mountain Bike World Championships in 2004. Les Gets has an 18-hole par 70 golf course 5,264 metres long. In the winter it forms part of the pistes. Les Gets is a linked ski resort within the Portes du Soleil. Lift passes can be purchased for Les Gets and the neighbouring area of Morzine, or for the wider Portes du Soleil.
Combined and Les Gets have around 50 lifts across several distinct ski areas. Lift passes for Mont Chéry can be purchased for that area only; the ski area consists of blue and red runs. There is an area known as "The Bowl" into which numerous ski chairlifts feed. In this area are the resort's most accessible black runs:'Yeti', accessed via the resort's slowest chairlift, La Rosta, Myrtilles accessed by the Grains d'Or Express. Mont Chéry hosts the majority of black runs having numerous red runs, with just one blue and no green pistes, it is the "locals"' mountain. There are several spots for off-piste skiing and snowboarding, including to the sides of'Yeti', the long black run off Chamossiere and one a short hike from the top of the Ranfoilly lift; the latter has been rated. The snowpark is located on Mont Chéry, on the ski area on the other side of the village. A bus connects the two sides, however it takes just as long as it does to walk; the snowpark has kickers, a spine, boxes, a boarder cross and new for 2007–08 was a large air bag.
The park is small and served by a two-man chairlift. Les Gets has an area of le Grande Cry; this has all themed around trappers and Native Americans. They hold. Many companies offer ski lessons for adults and children and public; the main company operating in the area is ESF, which has a building situated at the foot of the slopes, adjacent to Les Gets Village itself. There is an open-air ice skating rink in the centre of the village. List of highest paved roads in Europe List of mountain passes Communes of the Haute-Savoie department INSEE Official website
Champoussin
Champoussin is a village in the Swiss Alps, located in the canton of Valais. The village is situated in the western part of the canton, near Champéry, in the municipality of Val-d'Illiez. Champoussin lies at a height of 1,597 metres above sea level, on the eastern flanks of Pointe de l'Au. In winter it is part of the international ski area of Portes du Soleil. Swisstopo topographic maps Official website
Gondola lift
A gondola lift is a means of cable transport and type of aerial lift, supported and propelled by cables from above. It consists of a loop of steel cable, strung between two stations, sometimes over intermediate supporting towers; the cable is driven by a bullwheel in a terminal, connected to an engine or electric motor. They are considered continuous systems since they feature a haul rope which continuously moves and circulates around two terminal stations. Depending on the combination of cables used for support and/or haulage and the type of grip, the capacity and functionality of a gondola lift will differ dramatically; because of the proliferation of such systems in the Alpine regions of Europe, the French language name of Télécabine is used in an English language context. Gondola lifts should not be confused with aerial tramways as the latter operates with fixed grips and shuttles back and forth between two end terminals. Both are types of cable car. In some systems the passenger cabins, which can hold between two and fifteen people, are connected to the cable by means of spring-loaded grips.
These grips allow the cabin to be detached from the moving cable and slowed down in the terminals, to allow passengers to board and disembark. Doors are always automatic and controlled by a lever on the roof or on the undercarriage, pushed up or down. Cabins are driven through the terminals either by a chain system. To be accelerated to and decelerated from line speed, cabins are driven along by progressively swifter rotating tires until they reach line or terminal speed. On older installations, gondolas are accelerated manually by an operator. Gondola lifts can have intermediate stops that allow for downloading on the lift. Examples of a lift with three stops instead of the standard two are the Village Gondola and the Excalibur Gondolas at Whistler Blackcomb. In other systems the cable is slowed down intermittently to allow passengers to disembark and embark the cabins at stations, to allow people in the cars along the route to take photographs, such as Lebanon's Téléférique which offers an exceptional view to the Mediterranean, the historical Jounieh Bay and the pine forest at the 80% slope which this gondola lift goes over.
Such a system is called Pulse Cabin because more than one cabin are loaded at a time before the trip begins. Systems where a single cable provides both support and propulsion of the cabins are called monocable gondolas. Another type of gondola lift is the bi-cable gondola, which has one other stationary cable, besides the main haul rope, that helps support the cabins. Famous examples of this type of lift include the Ngong Ping Cable Car in Hong Kong, the Singapore Cable Car, the Sulphur Mountain Gondola in Banff, Canada; this system has the advantage that the stationary cable's strength and properties can be tailored to each span, which reduces costs. There are tri-cable gondolas that have two stationary cables that support the cabins, they differ from aerial tramways in that the latter consist only of one or two larger cabins, moving up and down, not circulating. Bi- and tri-cable systems provide greater lateral stability allowing the system to operate in higher cross-winds. Open-air gondolas, or cabriolet as called, are uncommon and are quite primitive because they are exposed to the elements.
Their cabins are hollow cylinder, open from chest height up, with a floor and a cover on the top. They are used as village gondolas and for short distances. An example of these are the Cabriolets at Mont Tremblant Resort in Quebec, at Blue Mountain Ski Resort in Ontario, The Canyons Resort in Park City, Mountain Creek, the new Village Cabriolet at Winter Park Resort in Colorado. Open-air gondolas can come in a style similar to a pulse gondola, like the Village Gondola at Panorama Ski Resort, British Columbia; the first gondola built in the United States for a ski resort was located at the Wildcat Mountain Ski Area. It was a two-person gondola built in 1957 and serviced skiers until 1999; the lift was demolished in 2004. The lift and its cabins were manufactured by a former Italian lift company: Carlevaro-Savio. One of the longest gondola rides in the world, Gondelbahn Grindelwald-Männlichen, is in the Bernese Oberland in Switzerland and connects Grindelwald with Männlichen. A ropeway conveyor or material ropeway is a subtype of gondola lift, from which containers for goods rather than passenger cars are suspended.
Ropeway conveyors are found around large mining concerns, can be of considerable length. The COMILOG Cableway, which ran from Moanda in Gabon to Mbinda in the Republic of the Congo, was over 75 km in length; the Norsjö cable car in Sweden had a length of 96 km. In Eritrea, the Italians built the Asmara-Massawa Cableway in 1936, 75 km long. Conveyors can be powered by a wide variety of forms of power sources: electric motors, internal combustion engines, steam engines, or gravity. Gravity is common in mountainous mining concerns, directly employed. Gravity can be used indirectly, where running water is available. While gondola lifts are traditionally used for ski resort purposes, in recent years they are finding increased usage in urban environments. Cable cars used for urban transit include the Metrocable in Colombia.
Saint-Jean-d'Aulps
Saint-Jean-d'Aulps is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France. Situated in the heart of the Vallée d'Aulps, as well as being the home to an active farming community, it is popular with holiday-makers in the Summer, for walking, in the Winter for skiing as it is a part of the massive Portes du Soleil ski area; the inhabitants are called the "Jovanétiens". The commune is spread over 40,2 km2 has 1,189 inhabitants, 6,900 beds for tourists, 464 main residences, 1,358 secondary residences; the population density is 29,58 inhabitants/km2. Saint-Jean-d'Aulps is surrounded by the communes of Seytroux, Le Biot, Essert Romand and Bellevaux; the closest town is Thonon les Bains 25 km away. The river "la Dranse de Morzine" is the main water course through the village. In the commune, at an altitude of 805m, is the ski-area "l’Espace Roc d’Enfer". One can ski between 900m and 1800m above sea-level and offers, amongst wild and preserved terrain, 20 pistes givings a total of 40 km of tracks.
A large portion of these tracks are covered by artificial snow-making machines to make the skiing more snow-sure in lighter Winters. Saint-Jean-d'Aulps offers many summer-time activities, namely: rock climbing, via ferrata and hiking, mountain-biking routes and para-gliding; the village grew up round Aulps Abbey, a Cistercian monastery founded at the end of the 11th century and suppressed in 1793 during the French Revolution. The buildings were reduced to ruins in 1823 when they were quarried for stone to rebuild the village's parish church. Being a Winter skiing resort town and Summer holiday destination activity in the town tends to be seasonal with an influx of tourists twice a year; as for the permanent residents, there is a higher-than-normal percentage of non-French residents. These residents are involved in the skiing and tourism industry in the Portes du Soleil serving clients in their local language. In addition to this type of work there is an active sheep and dairy farming community.
The skiing area in Saint-Jean-d'Aulps is situated above the town and is called Espace Roc d'Enfer, or La Grande Terche. The skiing area covered by the larger Portes du Soleil lift pass which includes 14 resorts in France and Switzerland; the ski area does not link directly to the other Porte du Soleil stations however. There is a shuttle bus from the tourist office in Saint-Jean-d'Aulps to Morzine, Les Gets and Avoriaz in the winter season; the local ski area, La Grande Terche, is around 8 minutes from the town centre by car. A free shuttle bus brings people from the village to the skiing area. Although the area is limited in terms of lifts and marked pistes, the pistes offer a good variety of varied skiing and in particular a large amount of off-piste terrain; this tends to remain unskiied days. At the base of the gondola lift there are a couple of a ski hire shop. Le Roc d'Enfer is home to the Circuit Roc d'Enfer, a marked, pisted set of red ski runs, broken into two 5 km sections of uninterrupted Alpine skiing set in a calm valley.
The two 5 km sections are linked by a chair- and drag-lift at the village of La Chevrerie in the Vallee Verte. Saint-Jean-d'Aulps is twinned with Finistère, France. Communes of the Haute-Savoie department INSEE Town website Bar Le National - Well established local Bar
