Champéry

Champéry's 1,222m vertical and 600km² skiable area sit within the Portes du Soleil, so you're not confined to a single mountain—but you need to be honest about what that means for four months. The resort itself is intermediate-friendly terrain; if you're an expert looking to lap steep couloirs and technical terrain day after day, you'll spend a lot of time riding the bus to Avoriaz or Châtel rather than skiing from your doorstep. That said, 800cm of annual snowfall and a 108-day season are solid, and the Portes du Soleil's linked terrain means you can genuinely vary your day without leaving the pass. If you're intermediate or working on progression, you'll find enough to stay engaged; if you're an expert who needs constant challenge, you might feel the limitation after a few weeks of repetition.

Living in Champéry is living in an actual village, not a resort bubble, which is both the appeal and the trade-off. Rent averages CHF 1,500 per month (~£1,376), and groceries around CHF 110 (~£101) weekly—expensive by global standards but typical for Switzerland—so budget carefully if you're not earning a strong wage. The town has everyday shops and services, and it's genuinely walkable, but nightlife is modest; if you want late-night bars and a buzzing social scene, you'll head to Morzine or Châtel. Geneva airport is 90km away, making it accessible but not on your doorstep—factor in transport costs and time. The real challenge is accommodation: staff housing isn't guaranteed by employers, and you'll need to hunt early through the tourist office's seasonal list, expect to pay premium prices for anything decent, and possibly share or compromise on location.