17 PRESS KIT

WINTER 16/17 PRESS KIT WHAT’S NEW / OUR PICK Resort opening dates: Friday 9 December 2016 to Sunday 23 April 2017 UNE V SUMMARY From 16 to 23 Decem...
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WINTER 16/17 PRESS KIT WHAT’S NEW / OUR PICK Resort opening dates: Friday 9 December 2016 to Sunday 23 April 2017

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SUMMARY From 16 to 23 December Christmas is coming early

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New well-being holidays from Pierre & Vacances

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Accommodation / New services

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What’s on this winter

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New Dynastar ski celebrates Avoriaz’s 50th birthday

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The pedestrian-friendly resort unveils a new mode of transport P. 10 What’s new at the ski schools

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Snowmaking facilities expanded

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New kids’ fun zone: Avoriaz launches a 3-year development plan for the Lil’Stash

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PUBLISHING DIRECTOR: STÉPHANE LERENDU / CONCEPT & DESIGN: JBL CONSEIL & JBBOX / PRINTER: IDMM SEPTEMBRE 2016 / PHOTO CREDIT: P. LEBEAU / V. DUPE / M. VITRE / P. GUERRINI / N. LAFAY / D. LEES / J. VECKEMANS / BURTON SNOWBOARDS / S. LERENDU / S. DITTEL / FUNSTORM / G. MILLER / S. COCHARD / P. VERNY / P. LECLERC / E. BERGOEND / ORELI.B /WWW.SCALPFOTO.COM / FEMMES EN OR / AGENCE ZOOM / ESF AVORIAZ / SNOWCLASH / FOTOLIA / ISTOCK / SHUTTERSTOCK

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FROM 16 TO 23 DECEMBER CHRISTMAS IS COMING EARLY WE’RE COMBINING FOUR EXCITING OFFERS 1. C  OME ON HOLIDAY AND SPEND CHRISTMAS AT HOME WITH THE FAMILY

People are often reluctant to go on holiday over the Christmas period because their main priority is to spend time at home with all the family. This year, in Avoriaz they can choose an arrival and departure day to suit them, for a minimum stay of 5 nights. For example, they can arrive on Saturday 17 and leave on Thursday 22, to give them time to get ready for Christmas Eve at home on Saturday 24. From €1,125 for a 5-night holiday in a 4-person apartment at a Pierre & Vacances *** holiday residence with hotel-style services. Information and bookings: +33 (0)4 50 74 02 11 [email protected]

2. CHILDREN GO FREE

-A  voriaz is offering children under 12 one free 5- or 6-day Portes du Soleil ski pass and one 1-week pass for Aquariaz, Avoriaz’s tropical paradise, with every adult ski pass purchased. Applies to bookings of 5 nights or more / There is no need to book ski passes at the same time as accommodation; ski passes can be purchased in the resort / this offer can be combined with our other early booking offers. Please note: for children aged 12 to 15 inclusive, in Avoriaz the cost of a one-week ski pass is 25% cheaper than an adult pass. Book online at www.avoriaz.com or purchase in the resort - For every booking of minimum 3 nights half board, the Dromonts Hotel is offering free half-board accommodation for children aged under 13 sharing their parents’ room. Offer applies from 16 to 22 December 2016 inclusive. Information and bookings: +33 (0)4 57 74 74 74 [email protected] 04 - DOSSIER DE PRESSE HIVER 16/17

3. T  HE EARLIER YOU BOOK, THE BIGGER THE SKI PASS PRICE REDUCTION

Reductions applied to Portes du Soleil ski passes for all bookings before: - 30 September 2016: -15% - 30 November: -10% - 8 December: -5% Book online at www.avoriaz.com

4. A  TOP-QUALITY PROGRAMME OF EVENTS AND ENTERTAINMENT: “MAGICAL FESTIVAL OF LIGHT” (“FÉÉRIE DES LUMIÈRES”)

- Sunday 18 December (and 1 January): Wandering street theatre group. - Monday 19 (and 26 December and 2 January): Magical Festival of Light. - Tuesday 20 December (and 27 December and 3 January): Multi-coloured torchlight descent on the Arare piste. Uninterrupted view of the resort lit up by Christmas lights. - Wednesday 21 December (and 28 December and 4 January): fluorescent night at Aquariaz, Avoriaz’s aquatic paradise. - Thursday 15 and 22 December: It may be too early for Father Christmas, but his elves will be paying us a visit, arriving on brightly lit sleighs gliding through the resort’s snowy streets. And there may be a few surprises falling off the sleighs too! - Friday 16 December (and 23 and 30 December and 6 January): Magical sledging fun on the Arc en Ciel piste, turned into a festive sledging run especially for the occasion. Zoom down this 100-metre-long run at night, through the resort’s natural surroundings, along this brightly illuminated twisting and turning run. - Saturday 24 December: Arrival of Father Christmas on his sleigh. - Sunday 25 December: Grand Pyrotechnic Show (sound and light show).

NEW WELL-BEING HOLIDAYS FROM PIERRE & VACANCES WELL-BEING PACKAGE Need to recharge your batteries and indulge in some pampering? Pierre & Vacances is offering its customers staying at the Amara***** Premium holiday residence, which boasts a Deep Nature® Spa, the chance to enjoy its programme of relaxing treatments wrapped up in its new Well-Being package. Provided by the professionals at our partner brand, this package comprises one Signature Immersion Massage (50 minutes), one Exfoliating Treatment (25 minutes) and one Radiant Facial Treatment (25 minutes). This Well-Being package is available for just €154.85, a 10% reduction off the public price. Please note: all guests staying at the Amara holiday residence also enjoy free unlimited use of the wellbeing centre with indoor and outdoor pool, relaxation area, sauna and steam bath.

DETOX SERIES Detox Series: > Detox Facial Treatment (50 min.): FatigueReducing, Oxygenating, Firming + M arine Detox Body Treatment (75 min.): choice of slimming, firming, lightness, vitality or relaxation + I mmersion Massage (50 min.): unwinding, soothing, relieving + choice of massage (50 min.): draining, boosting, revitalising or relaxing. The Detox Series is available for just €302.40, a 10% reduction off the public price. Information and Reservations: +33 (0)4 50 74 35 35 [email protected]

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ACCOMMODATION / NEW SERVICES PIERRE & VACANCES’ NEW HOTEL-STYLE BED-AND-BREAKFAST PACKAGE Because you want to be free to enjoy your holiday the way that suits you, this winter Pierre & Vacances have launched an innovative new option: its Hotel Formula. Available at the Amara***** Premium holiday residence, it includes a range of services offered to customers at the time of booking their apartment: beds made before arrival and every day, and a change of bed linen and bathroom towels every other day. A cleaning kit and end-of-stay cleaning are still included in the apartment rental charge. And with the Bed & Breakfast package, guests are served breakfast every day too. Hotel-Style Package price: €18 per person per night Bed & Breakfast Package price: From €19.50 per person per night Information and Reservations: +33 (0)4 50 74 35 35 [email protected] 06 - DOSSIER DE PRESSE HIVER 16/17

NEW BOOKING PLATFORM: AVORIAZ.TRAVEL The Avoriaz Holidays rental agency has introduced a new booking platform, avoriaz.travel, which will enable customers booking their flights to book transfers(car hire and taxis), ac-commodation, ski passes and equipment hire all at the same time. www.avoriaz.travel

WHAT’S ON THIS WINTER 9-11 DECEMBER: ROCK ON ULTIMATE The Big Event of opening weekend for snowsports and music fans that attracts more than 10,000 people to the resort every year. Saturday 10 December at 5pm: one-off concert by Cassius (DJ SET). Following the Number 6 Festival and Rock en Seine, the duo is all set to take the controls of Rock On Ultimate and electro-cute the crowd! Make a date for 10 December under a starry sky for another chance to experience the legendary “I Love U So” and all the titles on their new album Ibifornia, which features a mixture of genres half way between experimental house and Californian pop.

As every year, the weekend will also feature all the latest ski and snowboard trends in the huge test village featuring 50 exhibitors. There will also be lots of events, competitions, happy hours and more, and not forgetting the live concerts in cult venues around the resort. Information and Reservations: +33 (0)4 50 74 02 11 www.avoriaz.com New: Connected Technology exhibition in the Festival Hall!

“Cassius, the rare birds of French electro”: “Like Air and Daft Punk, the Parisian duo personify the very best in French electro. Ibifornia shows just how eclectic they are.” (Le Monde, 28 August 2016) DOSSIER DE PRESSE HIVER 16/17 - 07

WHAT’S ON THIS WINTER

11-17 DECEMBER: BUSINESS WEEK A range of options on offer, including “tailor-made” and “off-the-shelf” events in a snow-covered, car-free resort that will give your corporate event a new twist: end-of-year events, team building, customer relationship events, networking, product launches, brand launches, press relations and more... We work with businesses to create their own customised event, tailored to their format and budget. Our team of professionals personally supervise all the arrangements in the resort, offering an unrivalled choice of activities. We offer the full range of accommodation, from 2* to 5*. Information and bookings: +33 (0)4 50 75 94 00 [email protected]

16 DECEMBER-6 JANUARY: MAGICAL FESTIVAL OF LIGHT

4 FEBRUARY TO 3 MARCH: SNOW CARNIVAL

Three weeks devoted entirely to light with lots of free events and shows in the heart of the pedestrianised resort that will make the children wide-eyed with wonder: light trails in the snow, children’s torchlight descents, a big sledging event down a snowy piste lit up in a host of colours, fireworks, the Elves’ Grand Light Parade in the Avoriaz horse-drawn sleighs, snow sculptures, wandering street theatre groups, and more. Information and Reservations: +33 (0)4 50 74 02 11 - www.avoriaz.com

Four weeks when children are king, with a host of free events: sledging races, carnival fancy-dress parades, lanterns and light sticks, snowmanbuilding contests, sleigh parade, fireworks, concerts and more. The end of every day is all set to be party time in Avoriaz. From €684 for a week for a 3-person apartment located near the Village des Enfants. Information and Reservations: + 33 (0)4 50 74 02 11 - www.avoriaz.com

18 TO 25 MARCH: ROCK THE PISTES FESTIVAL A free festival the only one of its kind in Europe. The concerts take place during the day on temporary stages set up around the Portes du Soleil ski area. After Selah Sue, The Do, Charlie Winston, Keziah Jones, Shaka Ponk, Brigitte, Christophe Maé, Izia, Skip the Use, Lily Wood et al., you can be sure that the 2017 line-up will also live up to expectations, up in the mountains! From €569 for the week for a 4-person apartment in a 3-star holiday residence Information and Reservations: + 33 (0)4 50 74 02 11 - www.avoriaz.com

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WHAT’S ON THIS WINTER

18 TO 25 MARCH: SNOWBOXX FESTIVAL While the Rock The Pistes festival is getting the Portes du Soleil pistes buzzing, the Snowboxx Festival will be setting the resort alight with a breathtaking international line-up. More than 5,000 people are expected to come along for this festival-within-a-festival. To hold the massive après-ski electro events, Avoriaz will be building a giant box in the middle of the old mountain chalets. This festival hub will be complemented by stages around the car-free centre, providing different kinds of music around the resort every evening. Plus daily après-ski fun unique to Avoriaz: snowball fights, human bowling, water slide and more... Information and Reservations: +33 (0)4 50 74 02 11 - www.avoriaz.com

21 TO 24 APRIL: PIPE GROUND For its closing party, Avoriaz is trying out on an original concept: a Pipe Carve-Up! The Avoriaz superpipe is one of the latest of its kind in France, a beast of a pipe 120 metres long with 6-metre-high sides. Every season it attracts the crème de la crème of pro riders for training and competitions. At the end of the season a group of local youngsters who are big pipe fans have decided to hold a “destruction party”, an off-the-wall event attracting pro and amateur riders for one last crazy time, in a mix of skiing and snowboarding. The pipe will be carefully cut up, reshaped and customised, turning it into a totally new and innovative snowsports venue! Over two weeks, a digger bucket, chain saws and shovels will be busy completely re-shaping the pipe to create a new snowpark of a design never seen before: a “snowsports bowl” made of snow with an infinite number of possible lines for skiers and boarders, similar to a skateboard bowl but on a massive scale! Information and Reservations: +33 (0)4 50 74 02 11 - www.avoriaz.com

NEW DYNASTAR SKI CELEBRATES AVORIAZ’S 50TH BIRTHDAY To mark the resort’s 50 th birthday, Dynastar has come up with a special limited-edition ski, producing just 200 pairs of men’s skis and 200 pairs of women’s skis. The men’s model is the Speed Zone 9. Incorporating racing technology and developed for hard snow conditions, the brand new SPEED ZONE 9 CARBON, delivers a new level of comfort, power and precision with its very versatile shape aimed at intermediate to advanced-level skiers. For women, they have released the completely new Dynastar INTENSE 10, an on-piste ski designed for good and very good energetic skiers looking for a high-tech ski that will help them improve. These two models of ski boast brand new POWERDRIVE INSIDE active suspension technology, which functions like a sports car chassis. The design is 100% inspired by the Avoriaz 50th birthday visual identity.

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THE PEDESTRIANFRIENDLY RESORT UNVEILS A NEW MODE OF TRANSPORT THE RESORT OF AVORIAZ IS A CAR-FREE RESORT. On arrival, holidaymakers unload their luggage onto the transfer platform (a large covered area) and then go to their accommodation using one of two snow-based modes of transport. There are 25 horse-drawn sleighs which are very much part of the resort’s iden-tity, but there are not enough of these to satisfy demand at busy periods. To complement the sleighs, a number of VISA transport modules were designed especially for Avoriaz in 2000. With their ‘polar explorer’ look, the VISAs also contribute to the resort image. In December 2016, Avoriaz is bringing out a prototype snow transport vehicle. This new tracked vehicle with a futuristic design is designed to transport up to 12 people in comfort, along with their luggage (housed in a large baggage compartment). The capsule features full suspension on a crawler track unit, giving it excellent grip on the snow for the safety and comfort of passengers. The vehicle is powered by an engine that complies with the Euro 5 emission standard. 10 - DOSSIER DE PRESSE HIVER 16/17

WHAT’S NEW AT THE SKI SCHOOLS CHAMPION JOHANN BAISAMY OPENS A SNOWBOARD SCHOOL Avoriaz snowboarder Johann Baisamy has retired from international competition to open his own snowboard school: Avoriaz Snowboard School. From all his experience it is clear that Johann, twice French champion (halfpipe) and semifinalist at the Sochi Winter Olympics, has what it takes to provide top-notch instruction! Avoriaz is THE snowboarding resort: 20% of its snowsports visitors are boarders, a proportion similar to that found in North American resorts. www.avoriazsnowboardschool.com +33 (0)6 80 61 25 61

WHAT’S NEW AT AVORIAZ ÉCOLE DU SKI FRANÇAIS -S  nowboarding from the age of 4: ESF is now going to be offering introductory snowboarding lessons for children from as young as 4 year at the Burton Riglet Park on Place Jean Vuarnet: a group lesson lasting 1 hour 30 minutes on Sunday afternoons and private lessons tailored to the little ones. - ESF helps students with their baccalaureate! ESF is introducing group lessons on Saturday mornings for 17 and 18-year-olds studying the ski option in their last year at school. Information et réservation : + 33 (0)4 50 74 05 65 [email protected]

SNOWMAKING FACILITIES EXPANDED Avoriaz enjoys exceptional natural snow cover, with an average of 8 metres every season over the last 10 years. The resort has always opened its ski area on the scheduled date (10 December) and is often one of the few resorts able to provide enough skiing right from the start of the season. This is due to its favourable geographical location between Lake Geneva and the cold barrier formed by Mont Blanc, which leads to early snow falls in the area. Nevertheless, like all the big European ski resorts, Avoriaz has an extensive network of snowmakers enabling it to produce a base layer at the beginning of the season to ensure better retention and stability of the snowpack (220 snowmakers covering 64 hectares, including 20 pistes). This autumn, the ski area operating company SERMA is extending its snowmaking network to include the blue Abricotine piste (1.5 km), the blue Fornet piste (0.5 km) and full access around the resort centre. SERMA is also widening the Combe à Floret piste and carrying out finishing work on Blue Velvet, which was a new addition last winter.

NEW KIDS’ FUN ZONE AVORIAZ LAUNCHES A 3-YEAR DEVELOPMENT PLAN FOR THE LIL’STASH From next winter onwards, Burton snowboards and the resort are developing a dedicated junior Stash for children aged 6 to 14 with age-specific features, layout and decor. The zone is in the Proclou sector and covers a landscape of natural side valleys, part of which is forested. Like its big brother The Stash, Lil’Stash will boast a series of features made of snow and wood: a mini boarder cross, a snake run, an XS-sized kicker, whoop-de-doos, a zone of slides and fun boxes, a zone of ‘snow surfaces’ for practising turns, a wooden bridge and an undulating forest zone. The layout and décor, featuring the special Stash character, “Shreddie” will be an import-ant part of Lil’Stash. The idea is to create a scenario that will feed a narrative about this amazing character: does he have any family, friends or enemies? Where does he live? Why is he concerned about the environment? All of the narrative elements: signage, totem pole, characters, hut, bridge, etc. will be made of wood. Signage will be erected to mark out different versions of Lil’Stash suitable for different age groups. PLUS: “Finding Shreddie”: during the school holidays the resort and Burton will be organising a madcap hunt around the centre of the pedestrianised resort on which the kids have to find Shreddie through a succession of puzzle workshops and clue-hunting in the snow. DOSSIER DE PRESSE HIVER 16/17 - 11

Your press contacts •V  irginie Dupé Press & promotions, Avoriaz: +33 (0)6 13 30 79 39 [email protected] •S  téphane Lerendu Resort director, Avoriaz: +33 (0)6 09 08 06 02 [email protected]

Media resources Copyright-free photographs available from our online photo library, press releases and press packs, plans and logos accessible 24 hours a day: www.avoriaz.com ’Media’ page. We have an audiovisual production service. This library of professional-format video images is available on request.

Press trips and individual hospitality We can organise your press reception, from writing draft features to creating a programme in the resort.