Châtel (; ) is a commune on the Swiss border in the

Haute-Savoie Haute-Savoie () is a Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region of Southeastern France, bordering both Switzerland and Italy. Its Prefectures in France, prefecture is Annecy. To the north is Lake Gene ...

department in the

Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (; AURA) or ; or ; . is a Regions of France, region in southeast-central France created by the 2014 territorial reform of French regions; it resulted from the merger of Auvergne and Rhône-Alpes. The new region came into e ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

in Southeastern

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. In 2019, it had a population of 1,246. Situated in the northern part of the

French Alps The French Alps are the portions of the Alps mountain range that stand within France, located in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur regions. While some of the ranges of the French Alps are entirely in France, others, such a ...

, Châtel is part of the French-Swiss ski domain known as

Portes du Soleil Les Portes du Soleil (, literally "The Doors of the Sun") is a major skisports destination in the Alps, encompassing twelve resorts between Mont Blanc in France and Lake Geneva in Switzerland. With more than 650 km of marked pistes (claime ...

. Despite its development into a major ski resort, the village still retains many of its traditional alpine characteristics.

Geography

Nearby French towns include La Chapelle-d'Abondance, Abondance,

Morzine Morzine (; ), alternatively known as Morzine-Avoriaz (), is an alpine commune on the Swiss border in the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Southeastern France. It is located in the French-Swiss Chablais historical ...

and

Avoriaz Avoriaz (, ) is a French mountain resort in the Portes du Soleil in the French commune of Morzine, on a shelf above the town of Morzine. Cars are forbidden in Avoriaz; transport includes horse-drawn sleighs and snowcats during winter. One ...

. The Swiss town of

Morgins Morgins is a village in the municipality of Troistorrents in the district of Monthey in the canton of Valais in southern Switzerland. It is noted for skiing and is part of the Portes du Soleil ski resort. It is located at 1333 m in the Val de ...

in the

canton of Valais Valais ( , ; ), more formally, the Canton of Valais or Wallis, is one of the cantons of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of thirteen districts and its capital and largest city is Sion, Switzer ...

is just across the border.

Ski

Châtel has an extensive ski area with runs to suit skiers and boarders of all abilities. The whole village is served by a free ski-bus which gives easy access to

ski lift A ski lift is a mechanism for transporting skiers up a hill. Ski lifts are typically a Lift ticket, paid service at ski resorts. The first ski lift was built in 1908 by German Robert Winterhalder in Schollach/Eisenbach, Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald, ...

s. The resort is part of the vast

domain, the largest international linked ski area in the world with over 650 km (403 mi) of varied terrain spread across eight French and four Swiss resorts. This gives skiers and boarders a vast choice of easy-access runs.

Summer activities

Although known as a winter destination, Châtel is also a mountain bike resort with the ski lifts opening between June and September for cyclists. Other attractions over the summer months include

windsurfing Windsurfing is a wind-propelled water sport that is a combination of sailing and surfing. It is also referred to as "sailboarding" and "boardsailing", and emerged in the late 1960s from the Californian aerospace and surf culture. Windsurfing gain ...

and

sail A sail is a tensile structure, which is made from fabric or other membrane materials, that uses wind power to propel sailing craft, including sailing ships, sailboats, windsurfers, ice boats, and even sail-powered land vehicles. Sails may b ...

ing (on nearby

Lake Geneva Lake Geneva is a deep lake on the north side of the Alps, shared between Switzerland and France. It is one of the List of largest lakes of Europe, largest lakes in Western Europe and the largest on the course of the Rhône. Sixty percent () ...

), white-water rafting, kayaking, paragliding, or walking. More activities also include a

zip-line A zip-line, zip line, zip-wire, flying fox, or death slide''Who Really Benefits from Tourism'', Publ. Equations, Karnataka, India, 2010. Working Papers Series. "Canopy Tourism"page 37/ref>Jacques Marais, Lisa De Speville, ''Adventure Racing'', ...

which extends between two mountain peaks, spanning the valley of Pre-la-Joux, over the ski lifts and the restaurants at Plaine Dranse. It is active during the summer season and 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.

Entertainment

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 also 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, and loads more.

References

External links

Chatel Tourism Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chatel Communes of Haute-Savoie Ski resorts in France