Morzine Luxury Ski Resort

Morzine is a typical, traditional year round Savoyard town, superbly situated in the Portes du Soleil, one of the largest linked ski areas in the world. The resort is set in a picturesque valley, and has a distinct charm with its traditional chalet style architecture.

Les Portes du Soleil takes its name from a mountain pass just above the Swiss hamlet of Les Crosets. The trans-frontier ski area dates back 40 years. Jean Vuarnet from Morzine, gold medallist at the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley, was given the job of creating the futuristic resort of Avoriaz on the cliffs above the town. Vuarnet, better remembered for his sunglasses than his skiing prowess, saw the potential for expanding his ski area across the Swiss frontier down to Les Crosets, and the first link was installed in 1968 and a regional lift pass introduced in 1974.

Morzine’s does have a fairly low altitude at 1,000m. However, lift links to the higher resort of Avoriaz at 1,800m, with its top lifts at 2,350m, ensure that skiing continues throughout the season.

Morzine is also linked on the other side of town to Les Gets, which has a further extensive ski area with upgraded lifts. This attractive old farming community has expanded almost out of recognition, boasting a large and under-used floodlit piste. Parts of the ski area and many of the mountain restaurants are accessible on foot. By road, the two resorts are only 6km apart.

Unlike purpose-built Avoriaz, Morzine has all the appeal of an old-style chalet resort set in charming, wooded surroundings. The town covers a large area on both sides of a river gorge and is on several levels. It has seen considerable growth in recent years, and the resort has becoming increasingly popular with British skiers, who enjoy the fact that Morzine is a real market town with a life that goes beyond tourism

The Morzine – Les Gets Sector
Directly accessible from the village centre, this sector links the Pléney and Nyon to Morzine, Chavannes and Mont Chéry in les Gets, offering 107 km of ski runs between 1000 and 2020 meters in altitude. Three new 6 seater high-speed detachable chairlifts will be installed in this sector, two chairlifts to replace draglifts which were taken down during the summer of 2002 and one new chairlift. What’s more, the cabins on the Mont Chery gondola lift are to be replaced.

The Morzine – Avoriaz Sector
Equally accessible from the village centre by the Super Morzine gondola lift which is equipped with new cabins, it is comprised of 70 km of ski runs between 1000 and 2350 meters in altitude. This is paradise for those liking the more modern forms of snow sports, as there’s a snowpark with a half pipe and a “snowcross” where you can practice off-piste pursuits in total safety. This sector is also home to the Lindarets village, a hamlet of high mountain farms, which have been turned into restaurants, to the great pleasure of all good-food lovers, and is the gateway to Switzerland.