Worldwide Ski Resorts • France • Morzine

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Overview

The town of Morzine, is a typical French Alpine resort that forms part of the massive Portes du Soleil ski domain. It is a charming place, consisting mainly of chalet style buildings standing alongside a deep river gorge. It is mainly family focussed and is famously friendly. It has a well defined centre around which most of the shops, bars and restaurants are to be found. Accommodation of all types and costs is plentiful here, with a wide choice of excellent catered chalets and some very comfortable 4 and three stars hotels. For the budget skier, there is also a wide choice of guesthouses and 2 star accommodation. There are plenty of self catering apartments to be found. For the non skier, there are plenty of activities on offer, including local excursions, an ice rink and horse drawn sleigh rides.

Profile

The resort stands at 1000m and provides access to 107km of local pistes that are served by a system of 67 lifts. The (rather inconvenient) access to the Portes du Soleil area increases the available pistes to an enormous 650km and 206 lifts. The area does not have a particularly good reputation for snow surety, although the Portes du Soleil has snow making facilities covering 252 acres of slopes. Experts have a number of good black runs both locally and of course throughout the region, to try.

Intermediates are particularly well served here, particularly the average skier, who will enjoy some of the nice blue cruises around the local slopes. Beginners do well to come to Morzine where the nursery slopes are among the best to be found anywhere, although they are inclined to get a little crowded. Snowboarders are made very welcome in Morzine with the local slopes being particularly well suited to beginners and intermediates. There are two good terrain parks in the region. Cross country skiers can enjoy a variety of trails within the area. There is a wide choice of ski schools and child care facilities are reportedly excellent within the village.

Mountain Information

Morzine has direct access to the slopes via a cable car or a gondola that rises from the village centre to the Le Pleny from which the runs radiate to a selection of return runs and to the links with the rest of Portes du Soleil. The immediate neighbouring resort of Les Gets can be reached easily from this point and provides further access to Mont Chery and the extensive intermediate county around Chamossiere.

Avoriez is reached by taking a separate gondola and then by a series of lifts and runs. Experts will find the best areas around Nyon and at Mont Chery where there are a number of testing blacks to explore. Further over at Avoriez, the blacks at Haut Forts present a challenge. Some of the best off piste opportunities are to be found in the Nyon and Chamossiere areas. Intermediates of a better standard should examine the same area for some steep reds, while the less adventurous will find plenty to do around Le Pleny and high up on Le Ranfolly. There are plenty of good mountain restaurants in which to take a break.

Apres Ski

For a French family resort, the scene is surprisingly lively. There are regular ‘events’ including torchlight skiing. Many of the bars have live music and dancing. The Cavern Bar is especially good and the Crepuscule comes highly recommended. For real night owls, L’Opera (striptease and lap dancing) is the place to go.

French Resort Guide

Resort Information • Morzine

Resort Height Resort Height 1000m
Top Station Top Station 2460m
Bottom Station Bottom Station 1000m
Vertical Descent Vertical Descent 1460m
Drag Lifts Drag Lifts 24
Chair Lifts Chair Lifts 18
High Capacity High Capacity 6
Opening Dates Opening Dates Dec-April
Rating Expert Rating Expert 7
Rating Intermediate Rating Intermediate 7
Rating Beginner Rating Beginner 8
Apres Ski Rating Apres Ski Rating 8
Snow Reliability Snow Reliability 6

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