Set in the beautiful Alpine landscape of France’s Vallée d’Abondance, a valley which follows the river Dranse through stunning mountainous scenery, Châtel is a resort which could have been designed for cross country skiing.

The long valley creates the perfect flat terrain for exploration on Nordic skis and the resort certainly makes the most of its natural advantages with a network of 40km of tracks spreading out from the resort.

Part of the Portes du Soleil ski area, the Nordic tracks at Châtel link with those of neighbouring resorts Abondance and La Chapelle Abondance. The result is an extensive network of tracks suitable for a range of different levels, making it the perfect place to try cross country for the first time.

Those who are new to the sport will enjoy the range of easy tracks including 2.8km of green routes, 9.6km of blue, and 11.4km of reds. And for those who really want to push themselves, there’s the notorious Noire du Moulaz, a 1.9km black level route.

Largely undiscovered by the Brits, this remains a reassuringly French resort in which many of the hotels and restaurants are family owned and many of the buildings along the valley are still being used as farms and to house cattle. Exploring the area on Nordic skis gives a unique insight into the traditional Alpine culture of this beautiful area.