Your best Morzine tips

Don’t want to leave tomorrow! (definitely not a stealth bump!)

When’s the best time to visit Morzine?

2 months ago

I’d heard it was busy at the beginning of July?

Now is a good time. Queues are likely non-existent. He braking bumps will likely still be there, mind.

Honestly… I’ve spent the last six weeks visiting various parks between Morzine, via Pila and La Thuile, down to Valloire and Briançon (although I missed the last day of Serre Chaviler) and Morzine was the low point…..

Low point of Morzine was followed by Valloire, but the non bike park trails made up for it and it was less than half the price of a day in Morzine.

When’s the best time to visit Morzine

Lifts open in June and close early September. Peak weeks are French and English school holidays.

While there’s certainly plenty of better riding in other resorts, what Morzine has is a vibrant social scene all summer long. I’ve ridden plenty of alpine resorts that have better riding but the villages or towns are absolutely deserted with most shops and restaurants closed up for summer and very few tourists.

“Morzine” is a catch all term for a huge area but the town itself is fantastic. Lots going on for non bikers and just a great place to spend time. The trails are IMHO great. I’d happily bang out laps of the Pleney black all day every day with no complaints. There’s loads more riding in the PDS if you want to explore. For me, it really does everything for what I want from summer alps riding. Loads of riding options during the day and loads of apres riding options plus a ton of non biking stuff for anyone who isn’t riding

People criticise Morzine because it’s the popular choice. Especially on STW because everyone is so unique and couldn’t be seen to hold such mainstream opinions. But it’s popular for all the reasons mentioned above. It’s one of the few towns that isn’t a total ghost town in the summer months. ‘Morzine’ is just the central point of a vast area with loads of lifts and if you’re based near town you can usually roll home when disaster strikes. Plus if you drive there it’s an easy day out to somewhere else for a change of scenery.

Disclaimer :The official trails are a bit dull and repetitive. Lots of smooth flow trails and endless berms with massive breaking bumps. Most of the ‘jumps’ are just trail centre style speedbumps, although they have started building actual kickers in recent years. You have to go off the map for all the really interesting stuff. I’ve been there a dozen times and feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface. I’m frothing to go back after a long break.

This week will be a fun week to go if you want to play ‘chase the world cup racer’.

Lifts open in June and close early September. Peak weeks are French and English school holidays.

While there’s certainly plenty of better riding in other resorts, what Morzine has is a vibrant social scene all summer long. I’ve ridden plenty of alpine resorts that have better riding but the villages or towns are absolutely deserted with most shops and restaurants closed up for summer and very few tourists.

“Morzine” is a catch all term for a huge area but the town itself is fantastic. Lots going on for non bikers and just a great place to spend time. The trails are IMHO great. I’d happily bang out laps of the Pleney black all day every day with no complaints. There’s loads more riding in the PDS if you want to explore. For me, it really does everything for what I want from summer alps riding. Loads of riding options during the day and loads of apres riding options plus a ton of non biking stuff for anyone who isn’t riding

I agree.
If you are family and want quieter, stay in Les Gets. It has the school lake for swimming in post ride and has less nightlife, but accesses all the same trails.

@kramer I’d say early July is best. Season starts in June but they don’t open everything at the same time. August tends to be busiest and trails will have had loads of traffic already. Sept has more chance of rain and lifts starting to close (although they do appear to be getting better at lengthening the season). Avoid the Harley Davison festival if you plan on staying in Morzine.

Honestly… I’ve spent the last six weeks visiting various parks between Morzine, via Pila and La Thuile, down to Valloire and Briançon (although I missed the last day of Serre Chaviler) and Morzine was the low point…..

You’ve already admitted you ignored all the tips and advice in this thread, so it seems a bit counter productive telling people Morzine was the low point.

There is very good reason Morzine is the default European go to for both weekend warriors and the best riders in the world.

“Morzine” is a catch all term for a huge area but the town itself is fantastic

This is the important bit to note. I refer to “Morzine” as a base for riding the huge area the (admittedly more expensive than most) lift pass covers – Morzine, Les Gets, Chatel, Morgins, Champery etc

Holy thread resurrection…

I’ve been to Morzine before (lucky me) and ridden with mates who have been many times, but this year for a bit of piece of mind I‘d like to plot some previous Strava rides on an old-school paper map. Plus some suggestions from this thread. My thinking is I’d get some context before I go, as well as having a backup in the camelback when I’m there. Plus I wouldn’t be wholly reliant on others to suggest a ride each day. 

Sooo, would this one cover most of the wider Morzine area? We will go over to Switzerland one day to do the ex Swiss DH run I’m sure, but for us being based in Morzine and using just lifts (i.e. no other transport), would that cover most runs?

Cheers

Yeah, that’ll cover pretty much everything. Only thing missing is possibly some of the Swiss side and if you do the Samoens route (but that needs a drive back)

I must admit I’m a map fan but didn’t really find that map that useful for riding. It’s great for hiking but the riding is so terrain driven. Won’t hurt though and maybe helps focus what you want to do a little.

The Vtopo guide has IGN (French version of Ordnance Survey) maps for each of the routes in it. My copy is quite old and looking at the Vtopo website it seems that the new edition includes gpx files too. Best of both worlds it seems.

VTOPO MTB Portes du Soleil

Thanks both!

Not much to add but I’d give my left nut for a sunny weekend on Pleney right now.

I’d give both.

I’d give all your nuts for a sunny weekend in PdS now!