Skiing between Christmas and New Year in Champéry

My year ended with a perfect ski holiday in Les Portes du Soleil. Although the slopes are a bit more crowded between Christmas and New Year (everyone has the same idea and uses the non-working time between Christmas and New Year to get a taste of the mountain air), you still like to go on a skiing holiday with friends. This year we were incredibly lucky with the weather and enjoyed beautiful winter weather for almost three full days.

Skiing in the Les Portes du Soleil region

The ski region of Les Portes du Soleil is located between France and Switzerland and is huge with over 600 kilometers of slopes. We stayed in Champéry, Switzerland. For the fourth time, I have relied on the nice accommodation in Chalet l’Agache. This bed and breakfast is centrally located in the centre of the village, just above the gondola lift. For 65 CHF per person per night (from 2 nights 60 CHF) you get a lovingly furnished room and a great breakfast. Since there were four of us this year, we even got a whole chalet including a balcony with a view of the “local mountain” – Les Dents du Midi – to ourselves (for the same price).

After 10 years of snowboarding, I wanted to try skiing again this year. That’s why I decided to rent the ski equipment. In Champéry, the sports shop Borgeat Sports (Intersport) is ideal for this, as it is located right next to the valley station of the Croix de Culet gondola. Totally uncomplicated and quickly I got my ski equipment. Pre-registration is not necessary. Depending on the choice of material, the cost is between 60 – 70 CHF/day. By the way, if you have a Snow’n’Rail ticket, you can still enjoy a 15% discount.

After renting the ski equipment and buying the ski ticket (155 CHF for 3 days, valid for the whole region of Les Portes du Soleil), the adventure could begin. As you can see in the pictures, there was enough snow and a lot of sun :-).

Dinner in Champéry

In addition to skiing, a proper dinner is of course important. We “dined” in the following restaurants:

Restaurant / Pizzeria Le Farinet: Good pizza at fair prices (between 18 – 22 CHF) in a rustic ambience.

Restaurant Le Centre: 15 Gault Millau points / 1 Michelin star – don’t worry, you get decent portions at affordable prices despite the gourmet sign. I had a Dents-du-Midi salad and a veggie burger, both of which cost around 20 CHF.

Mitchell’s: Wok menus / Thai curries in a modern environment, actually great food but unfortunately we had to wait half an hour for the reserved table and then another ONE hour for the salad … the enthusiasm was therefore limited.