A technicolour twist on the slopes: How small ski resorts are getting creative and reinventing the sport

  • Size counts for ski resorts, prompting some to think outside of the box
  • Les Gets, a traditional chalet-style French resort, introduced SkiColor
  • Villars in the Swiss Alps has announced other snow sports to its slopes

Size counts when choosing a ski resort, which is why the smaller or lesser-known destinations are having to think outside the box if they want to entice families to their slopes.

Although connected to the huge Portes du Soleil ski circuit encompassing 13 resorts and 400 miles of pistes between Lake Geneva in Switzerland and Mont Blanc in France, the compact village of Les Gets has taken to staging innovative events to outdo its better-known neighbours Morzine and Avoriaz.

Last winter this traditional chalet-style French resort created a magnificent splash with SkiColor, hosted on the sunny, south-east-facing slopes of Mont Chéry.

Last winter Les Gets created a magnificent splash with SkiColor, hosted on the sunny slopes of Mont Chéry

Last winter Les Gets created a magnificent splash with SkiColor, hosted on the sunny slopes of Mont Chéry

Participants of all ages, but mostly teenagers, donned overalls and skied or snowboarded through jets of powder paint hoping to impress judges with their psychedelic outfits at the end of their run.

Good for spectators too, this unique ski bonanza transforms into a spring party at the base of the lifts, with live music, dancing and pretty much anything from pop-up bars to pom-pom girls. 

The second SkiColor event is on March 12 next year.

This winter the ‘brainstormers’ of Les Gets have also hidden boxes of ‘treasure’ around the ski area and challenged visitors to find them. 

‘Geocaching’ is not unique to ski resorts, but it makes a change from cheese fondue followed by a torchlight decent.

To take part, you download the app and use your GPS and orienteering skills to locate each cache. 

This winter the ‘brainstormers’ of Les Gets have also hidden boxes of ‘treasure’ around the ski area

This winter the ‘brainstormers’ of Les Gets have also hidden boxes of ‘treasure’ around the ski area

After signing the logbook inside to prove you found it and recording your achievement on the app, you replace the cache exactly where you found it for the next hunting party. 

Find as many as you like. Discoveries are logged by a global geocaching movement enjoyed by some two million geocachers in more than 220 countries.

Les Gets also boasts a new, lantern-lit walk for star-gazing (Wednesdays) and a relaxation and wellbeing snowshoe trek culminating in meditation in a yurt (Thursdays), as well as an opportunity to cheer on the world’s best mushers when they race their husky sleds (January 23, 2016) through the Les Gets stage of the long-distance Savoie Mont-Blanc Grand Odyssée.

ACCOMMODATION IN LES GETS

Ferme de Montagne (fermedemontagne.com, 0844 6698652) – award-winning chalet-style hotel.

Grande Corniche (consensiochalets.co.uk, 020 3393 0833) – crowned Best Ski Chalet in France at last month’s World Snow Awards. 

Villars, in the Swiss Alps, is adding a whole host of additional snow sports, including a mountain biking race 

Villars, in the Swiss Alps, is adding a whole host of additional snow sports, including a mountain biking race 

The Swiss resort of Villars, which is visible from some pistes in the Portes du Soleil and which is only 90 minutes’ drive from Geneva airport, is a modest-sized ski area that also bangs an event-packed drum to successfully embrace the family market.

This winter the interactive entertainment menu includes a mountain-biking race on snow with after-party, new ‘ski joring’ (involving being towed on snow behind horses), a biathlon (snowshoeing or cross-country skiing before shooting at targets with laser rifles), and Abbamania (a live band licensed by the genuine Abba). 

There’s also the 150th anniversary Villars Vintage Ski Race – fancy dress obligatory – and the Ski & Snow Spring Fiesta. 

ACCOMMODATION IN VILLARS

Chalet RoyAlp (royalp.ch, 00 41 24 4959090) – a top luxury hotel. 

Le P’Ti Tzi-Mé (luisier.org/b&b/Flyer_B&B.pdf, 00 41 788 806871) – unrivalled traditional ‘mazot’ ski lodge in the resort. 

For more information on events and prices, go to villars.ch

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