OAG Avoriaz ski trip

by Mollie Millington | Mar 31, 2025 | community, ski

Have you ever booked a holiday with twelve strangers? That’s exactly what I did in January when I joined the Outdoor Adventure Girls (OAG) annual ski trip to Avoriaz, France. With limited friends who ski and a husband tied up with work, I decided to try the group ski package offered by OAG. Before this, I’d only been on a few OAG trips, including hiking in the Lake District, and each experience was well-organized and, most importantly, so much fun! The OAG ski trip seemed like an incredible value for the money, and it was the perfect opportunity to take the week off work and maximize my time on the slopes. The seven-day trip included five days of skiing, delicious meals, and a relaxing hot tub—everything I wanted in a ski getaway. What I didn’t expect was to come away with several new friends, ranging from ages 21-49, and the urge to re-book asap.

What’s included for the price

When I booked the trip in 2024, the price was £1499 and payable in installments without an financial penalty (which is something that they offer on all of their trips, which I think is awesome).  The price included group transfer to and from Geneva airport; shared accommodation (twin rooms) from Saturday evening to Friday morning; ski equipment hire (which I didn’t need but since it was included in the price, I used it); daily cooked breakfast with continental options too; nightly three course dinner with wine (except on Wednesday); five day ski pass; daily afternoon tea with snacks; OAG goody bags; OAG host; hot tub, sauna, and more!  It was the little touches, such as door signs with people’s names on them, amazing goody bags (see photo below), daily itineraries texted to us every day, and a WhatsApp group created prior to the trip so we could get to know each other, that really added value by developing community before we had even met.

Flights to and from Geneva were not included but these can be affordable from London if you plan ahead.  Ski lessons were not included either but a bunch of girls organized some between themselves. We also had to cover food and drinks on the slopes but I think you could eat enough at breakfast to make it to tea time if you really put your mind to it.  I would also recommend packing snacks or stopping at the grocery store in Geneva Airport to stock up on a few things.  There isn’t a convenience store in Avoriaz unless you go up the mountain, which can be tricky if you have a craving late at night.  Luckily for us, the chalet has an honesty bar for beer, liquor, Coca Cola, and more.  This definitely came in handy for the group a few times!

Accommodation and mountain access

Our 4* chalet (run by Chilly Powder Holidays) was a 10-15 minute walk from the chairlift.  Spread over three floors, it included an indoor sauna and outdoor hot tub.  It had hard wood floors, six bedrooms with en-suites (plus one for kids with a toilet next door in which the OAG host stays), and an open plan kitchen which connected to the living room and dining room.  Balconies on each level (aside from the ground floor) gave us instant to the access to mountainous views and fresh air.  It was so hot in the bedrooms overnight, most of us ended up sleeping with the balcony door open a little bit.  Lastly, the ground floor also had a boot room where we could dry all of our wet clothes overnight.

Even though it was only a 10-15 minute walk from the chairlift, it was an uphill walk.  Add in the gradient to carrying skis and walking in ski boots, it was not an easy feat (I blame the altitude too).  Given this, we followed the advice of OAG founder, Sophie, and hired lockers for the week to store our skis, boots, and poles.  This is worth every penny!  It ended up being about £15 per person for four people to share one locker.  Since the combination was automatically emailed to you, you could for share with your group.  Therefore, you don’t need to be skiing with your locker mates in order to access the locker.  Everybody can do their own thing in terms of scheduling, which can be nice if someone becomes tired or very wet.  The locker code could also be added to your ski pass which meant a wave of your arm over the reader made the locker door magically pop open.  That was must less hassle than remembering a random four-digit code.

Some of our evening meals were served in the Chili Powder’s main chalet.  This building was about a five minute walk from our chalet, just down the main road.  The dining room featured a huge fireplace and small bar.  It was nice to leave the chalet for some meals and have the opportunity to mingle with others if we wanted to. There wasn’t a dress code for dinner and everyone kept it pretty casual in jeans and sweaters or fleece tops.  On the other hand, it was also nice to stay in our pajamas after returning from the slopes and eating pizza in our chalet on the night the Chili Powder team had off.

Ski conditions

Given the trip was in late January, I was fairly confident there would be good snow conditions while we were in Avoriaz.  Day one was a good day on the slopes.  We headed off in groups to find our ski legs and learn where the best runs were in the resort.  On day 2 it was raining so I stayed at the chalet to recharge and read my book in the morning.  The rain was meant to stop but when it didn’t, I headed out after lunch.  The group was at La Folie Douce for lunch (organized by OAG but you had to pay for the set meal), so I skied on my own.  Everyone was soaked from skiing in the rain that morning, but I managed to stay warm and dry in new TOG24 jacket (which also had the benefit of making me easy to spot in a crowd).  We got sunshine and fresh snow on Wednesday which made it the best day to head to Switzerland.  Lauren, Lilly and I paid a big extra to upgrade our passes so we could dip in and out of Switzerland.  This day had the best conditions so we focused on the skiing rather than content creation.  The Swiss side didn’t have any trees which meant that sunshine and snow was all we could see.  It also meant that on Thursday my legs were dead.  Luckily, my roomie packed a miniature massage gun.  Between that, my massage stick, and the hot tub, I managed to keep my legs going for the next two days.  Next year, I will do more training beforehand so I am ready for five days on the mountain.

The. Food.

In short, it was amazing.  Every morning, a chef and our chalet host would put out an incredible spread of hot breakfast, continental choices, pastries, and fruit.  My meal was the same format each day: hot breakfast, two hard-boiled eggs, small yogurt, a mini pain au chocolate (trying to be good!) and a Lemsip (I had a cold the entire trip).  On our first day out, we all met for lunch in town.  To keep costs down (and after paying 4 Euros for a Red Bull that morning), I only ordered chips and a Pepsi Max.  My ski buddies, Lauren and Lilly, were a bit more adventurous with a ham and cheese and a local dish in a clay bowl and covered with cheese (can’t remember what it is called), respectively.  Since we had to cover costs of lunch, the other days of the week we ordered ham and cheese sandwiches from the local hotel.  At only 7 Euros each and with fresh French bread, they hit the spot after a busy morning on the slopes.  I also had brought GORP and Snickers bars in my suitcase for emergencies and stocked up on Diet Coke at the convenience store.

As mentioned above, dinners were three courses and served with (free) paired wines.  As we arrived the Chili Powder main chalet, we were offered bite-sized appetizers.  The first course was sometimes a soup or salad, which was then followed by a large portion of protein (pork, lamb, steak, chicken) with various vegetable and salad sides.  Dessert always hit the spot (even though it didn’t always have chocolate in it).  Those with food allergies and sensitivities were well catered for too.  Our group had people who were gluten-free, dairy-free, and even someone who didn’t eat fruit.  None of us ever had room for the post-dinner cheese board, so I think that is a testament to how filling the dinners were.  My roommate suggested that the cheese board could be shared at afternoon tea, which I think it a great idea.  Although it would probably affect how how much dinner the group ate later that evening.

It wasn’t all glitz and glam while we were there.  The chalet team does have Wednesdays off, which meant that morning there was just a continental breakfast that morning and then pizza in the evening along with a rom com at the chalet.  Wednesday was that powder day at the top of the mountain and they deserved the day off to play!

Would I book it again?

Absolutely.  The only reason I have not yet is because I am nearly out of annual leave for next year.  I had the best time and met a fantastic bunch of women.  In my experience, the OAG trips are always fun because you are with women who are interested in the same things as you.  The adventurous spirit in all leads to fantastic stories of travels and dreams of what to hike (or in this case, ski) next.  The trip was so inspiring, I am now volunteering my time with OAG to continue to grow the community and help women find their intrepid circle of friends.

If you are keen to register, click here and see all of the overseas trips offered by OAG.

I paid for this trip.  All opinions are honest and my own.