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Avoriaz or Meribel, France

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Slettalaen
Posts: 366 - Karma: 120
someone been there before, and can tell me about the snowparks?
Aug 30 2010 4:41PM
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JibbaTheHutt
Posts: 2132 - Karma: 1,597
havent been to avoriaz but i have been to meribel twice


meribel it self has 2 parks one of which is called the moon park and is really good for beginners and intimidates but not so good for people who want something bigger( although i went in April last year and they built a massive like 75fter). the second park i forget the name but is got a decent superpipe which you don't get to many people riding so it stays nice( at least the times i rode it it was) they have rail fetures from beginner to expert but not so many jumps from what i could remember.

The advantage of meribel is that you can also ride val thorens park which is good. also if you get good snow its a massive area to ski( 3 valleys and all)

hope this helps
Aug 30 2010 4:50PM
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Slettalaen
Posts: 366 - Karma: 120
thank you very much +k for you

but yeah i like very big jumps, and i hate big queues for the lift
Aug 30 2010 5:03PM
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flexpattern
Posts: 1090 - Karma: 45
I've been to both, but can only really comment on meribel because I haven't been back to avoriaz since starting park, the parks in val thorens are good, I would personally go to meribel because it is a huge area to ski, as you have access to the trois vallees so loads of extra area to ski around and loads of different parks etc. Stay in les menuires because it far cheaper, not very pretty though compared to other resorts in the trois vallees, but thats up to you I guess! go later in the season for the bigger hits, most resorts won't open their parks until after christmas/january, Hope that helps!
Aug 30 2010 5:36PM
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JibbaTheHutt
Posts: 2132 - Karma: 1,597
yeh that is the disadvantage of meribel and the 3 vallees in general is that they are expensive.....if you are staying in a hotel and don't get lunch make sure you make a make packed lunches cos you will pay a good 15 euros for a pizza in meribel
Aug 30 2010 5:42PM
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kingskier
Posts: 1045 - Karma: 11
there are not very many queues for lifts as the lift system is really good in 3 valles
Aug 30 2010 5:46PM
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Moon_Park
Posts: 413 - Karma: 110
I was in Meribel in 09 where I first learnt to ski in the park (hence my name) as said its very progressive - lots of features for beginners/intermediates but only a couple for expert/pros. As well as Meribel Mottaret which has a few boxes a couple jumps and a superpipe. Also Val Thorens has a decent park in the next valley with big jumps and a few boxes. - google it
I went to Avoriaz for a few days this season from Verbier and it has a supepipe a mini park ( which isn't really that mini - very progressive for intermediates) a pro park which has one really big jump and two decent sized jumps and a few rails and boxes and the "stash" which is a park inbetween the trees, where all the rails/boxes/wallrides/bonks are made of wood - its really cool. Plus there another decent park in Les Crosets in the Portes du Soliel. - google it

Conclusion - If I was JUST skiing park I would go to Avoriaz due to the variety of parks but As I enjoy skiing the whole mountain I would chose the three valleys - Its alot better connected then the Portes du Soliel and has a lot terrain
Aug 31 2010 5:24AM
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Morginsfreeski
Posts: 129 - Karma: 10
basically this... the pipe in avoriaz is basically always empty and it has a button lift at the bottom so you can shred it over and over real quick. The only problem with avoriaz is that the ques can be very big if you go in the peak times in the season.
Aug 31 2010 7:35AM
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genuinelarry
Posts: 7 - Karma: 16
This. I was in Meribel last season and skiied both parks alot.

The moon park shapers seem to be pretty temperamental, sometimes the jumps were so kicky, the first couple hits of the day were always a bit sketchy cos you never knew what you were gonna get. The lifts for both are allright,

I guess if you're already a good park skiier then you might get bored with meribel, the bigger jumps don't appear until past halfway in the season, but Val thoren is always just over the hill,The Val thoren park is alot better than either of the meribel parks and is much higher so its open longer Can't really help you with avoriaz but i've heard its really good

Also Meribel nightlife is ridiculously good if that sways you at all
Aug 31 2010 11:13AM
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Slettalaen
Posts: 366 - Karma: 120
i am there in begining of march with my family, me and my brother love to shred park, so my dad want to find a place where it's a good park, but it still can't be to far away from geneva. he thinks that Meribel is a bit far, and have looked alot on Avoriaz lately
Aug 31 2010 11:55AM
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JibbaTheHutt
Posts: 2132 - Karma: 1,597
meribel is quite a long drive from genever but it is a good drive, really spectacular scenery the whole way up
Aug 31 2010 1:33PM
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Martins10
Posts: 31 - Karma: 11
Avoriaz has a good snow park, with several parks located around the area. It also has the burton stash located in les lindarets, just down the over side of avoriaz, which offers lots of natural terrain park features, and lots of natural rails. The burton stash only uses wood features to reduce the environmental impact of the natural park.
The park situated in avoriaz offers 3 jump lines, green, blue and a red line, with features that commonly change integrated into them, such as rails and fun boxes.

The Arare park located on the high peaks of Avoriaz, is only a 5 minute ski and lift away from avoriaz, with a selection of three lifts to take you, however these lifts can get extremely busy in peak season.
The Arare park offers a black jump line and snowboard/ski X.
I was recently there and the local park snowboarders had recently constructed an enormous lip.
The Arare park offers the more challenging features and jumps, and stays in good shape during the spring due to it's altitude and cooler temperatures.

There are more parks scattered all across the Avoriaz ski area, with another park also in les lindarets, offering more rails and one relatively small triple line.

I hope this helps, and am sorry i can't comment about Meribel.

Thanks.....
Dec 23 2011 6:22PM
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=nick=
Posts: 10471 - Karma: 2,182
currently in meribel, spending the season here : )

they havent set up much yet, cuz its been dumping snow for 2 weeks, but this year the mottaret park got sponsored by DC and is gonna be sick. but again they havent had time to set up yet
Dec 24 2011 2:18PM
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TheGnarwhal
Posts: 871 - Karma: 49
meribel is probably better but with avoriaz you get the full porte du soliel which is one of the biggest ski areas in the world.. go to avoriaz mate
Dec 24 2011 5:49PM
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hEmZoRz
Posts: 34 - Karma: 10
Haven't been to maribel but i can definetely recommend avoriaz, the parks are nice and a lot of skiing area. oh and its almost always sunny
Dec 25 2011 5:45AM
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