I find that almost every ski area that I visit has something good to say about it and something that everyone can enjoy. Chatel is no different, and there is certainly a lot of fun to be had in this resort. Unfortunately the week that I visited yielded very little fun. It is quite a low lying resort and can therefore have some occasional "lack of snow" issues although it does surprisingly well considering its altitude.

It really doesn't take that much effort to get up high though and there would be some excellent skiing on the lower mountain when the snow is good. When I go on holiday though- I really want to have the guaranteed good skiing as close to my door as possible. For this reason I usually favour higher resorts.

Chatel is the lowest well known resort in the massive group that is the Portes du Soliel. It is often favoured because it is close to the Swiss city of Geneva and is therefore perfectly placed for a quick weekend away. A taxi should cost about 120 Euros to cover the driving time of just under one and a half hours. For those of you who are shorter on money than time for your skiing break, there is a bus which costs about 30 Euros which goes from the airport to the resort.

When snow allows there is some fantastic intermediate skiing to be had on the north east facing slopes just above the village. I have heard that the red and blue slopes under the “Super Chatel” gondola are particularly wide and good fun; they even allow for some forays into the realm of tree skiing as the slopes are lined with fir trees. I suppose the tree skiing is definitely one of the pluses of the resort being at a low altitude.

For the more advanced skier, I feel there is very little extreme terrain near the village of Chatel. It is worth noting that there are some hidden stashes of off piste out there if you are prepared to do just a little walking. There is also a good park which is serviced by the les bosses drag lift. The park, combined with some fun cat-track hits can make for an entertaining enough time at these slopes.

It wouldn't be my choice of resort to visit in France, but those of you who are more interested in pottering around quaint little French villages than skiing will probably really enjoy Chatel. Ski holiday companies usually run very cheap holidays to this place so if you really just want a slice of mountain air, a relax, and a visit to some very pleasant little restaurants, then this could be the ideal budget location. Surely not great for the enthusiastic skier though?

 I would recommend instead the neighbouring resorts of Avoriaz or Morzine.