Your guide to the world’s largest ski area
The most popular resort we know for people who have skied everywhere looking for their perfect resort
Ski Morzine and the Portes Du Soleil – The world’s largest ski area
The sought after historical town of Morzine sits in the centre of the Portes Du Soleil, a snow-filled microclimate with more pistes than anywhere else, 9 snow parks and fantastic off-piste.
The Portes Du Soleil ski area stretches a whopping 650km across 13 different resorts in France and Switzerland. The Morzine ski area is one of seven resorts on the French side including Avoriaz, Les Gets, Montriond, St Jean D’Aulps, Chatel, Abondance and La Chapelle D’Abondance. Morzine is the largest resort on the French side and has a lively collection of bars and restaurants alongside the fantastic skiing it has on offer in the daytime.
View our Chalets in Morzine >>
Top 5 to ski, Morzine
There’s a lot of ground to cover in the Morzine ski area and plenty of variety for both skiers and snowboarders! If you’re into carving up the piste or prefer to head over to the park, we’ve got you covered.
- Ski across the border to Switzerland for lunch! Reward yourself with Swiss fondue, rostis and Fendant wine before heading back to Morzine!
- Tour the entire Portes du Soleil ski area including Les Gets, Avoriaz and Abondance, to name but a few! Or try to beat the boss’s record of the smallest loop possible: 1hr 55 minutes.
- Ride the Burton Stash, voted by CNN readers as the best piste in the world! Try out the three slopes of varying levels, which cater for a mixture of freestyle and freeride.
- Ski through and stop at one of the many mountain hamlets that are now clusters of wonderful restaurants such as Petite Lindarets (also know as the goat village) or Plaine Dranse.
- Ski the Swiss wall, agreed by all to be one of the hardest pistes in the world! Access it from Avoriaz and ski down the Swiss side of the mountain towards Les Crosets.
Top 5 Après Ski, Morzine
There’s something going on most nights of the week, these are our highlights and the places you may see our team! The night life in Morzine is lively with plenty bars to keep you entertained throughout your stay. Here’s our top 5 après ski activities.
- Wednesday afternoons at the Tremplin is Basscamp. Expect DJs playing big and bouncy bass lines, and special guests each week.
- Sample the Bec Jaune microbrewery it is our team’s favourite hang out!
- The famous Mutzig beer has got to be on your check list so head to Bar Robinson. Don’t drink too much though, it’s around 8%!
- Get cosy in the vaulted wine cave at the Chaudanne, beware though there is a glass floor below you as you come in so dress appropriately!
- Hide away in the wine and cheese cellar La Chamade. Try out lots of local cheeses and some Italian, British and Swiss ones too.
Top 5 relax, Morzine
If our massive ski area has tired you out there’s plenty on offer to rejuvenate you. And if for some reason you aren’t able to ski whilst you’re staying with us, there are lots of other things to do in-resort. Here’s our top 5 relaxing activities.
- No 1 has to be Morzine’s swimming pool with hammam. Stretch it out in the sauna or relax in the spa area and loungers
- In house, chalet massages have to be a close second, however! Contact us or speak to your chalet host in-resort to book a local masseuse
- Snowshoeing gives you access to quiet pockets of the mountain full of nature. Either grab a map from the tourist office or book a guide
- Lunch by the fireside of one of the lift accessible restaurants (i.e no ski gear needed) such as the Marais de Grenouille
- Chilling out at the chalets! They are all lovely places to spend the day.
Morzine Piste Map
Click on the map link below to view a piste map of the entire Portes du Soleil ski area. We are lucky enough to have 600km of pistes spread across 13 ski resorts.
In the whole ski area there are 34 green pistes, 119 blue pistes, 101 red pistes and 32 blacks. And if the 286 pistes aren’t enough to occupy you, then you could try one of the 9 snowparks in the region!
Morzine has a great range of pistes for beginners and families, with wide tree-lined blues and reds.
Head to Avoriaz for the Burton stash and a few more snowparks. And if you’re all about the off-piste then you’ll love the Hauts Forts area and Chatel!
What the press say
Avoriaz (a short ski from Morzine) “upper slopes have the highest snowfall average in France (nearly 8 meters a season)”
– Sean Newson, Sunday Times ski supplement
“Morzine is the most northern of the French Alpine resorts and benefits from the regional microclimate between Mont Blanc and Lac Leman”.
– Wikipedia
Morzine Snow vs Val D’Isere
The historical snow graphs here constructed with data available from www.snow-forecast.com (you will need to subscribe) show that the upper slopes of Morzine are more snow sure than even Val D’Isere’s.
It is worth mentioning that Val D’Isere was chosen as a comparison because it is the resort most visited by snow seekers from Britain, therefore it has more of a chance of being familiar and also it is higher than Morzine.
This comparison is by no means damning of Val D’Isere (we love it there) however hopefully it will make you think twice about dismissing a resort for being too low.
Displaying a sample of the Morzine snow depth on the upper slopes vs the depth of snow on the upper slopes of Val D’Isere. Evidently there is more to being ‘snow sure’ than altitude.
