 Poster: A snowHead
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As a teacher, who only ever goes skiing in the Easter holidays, I've been visiting the same higher up resorts (Tignes, Lech, Ischgl, Cervinia) for the past few years, and with the holidays being a bit earlier I'm excited about going somewhere different. I'll be going on 28th/29th March and I'm trying to choose between Sestriere and Morzine. Any advice on these would be welcome - is there likely to be enough snow to ski over to Claviere at that time in the season? Is Portes Du Soleil likely to still have a good snow coverage? Any advice greatly received, thank you.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Welcome to snowHeads 
Morzine can take you up to Avoriaz where I went at the start of the season while snow accumulated lower down.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Big Generalisation here but........
Best skiing in Morzine area could well be be in Avoriaz, Parts of Chatel (Pre la Joux, Linga) and over around Les Crossets on the Swiss side of the PdS.
Morzine and Les Gets might well be fine but there deffo will be lots to get at in the higher up parts of the PdS I've just mentioned.
Im a seasonaire of 10 years and still think Avoriaz/Chatel etc will still have good enough snow for me to be booking a trip out there on the 12th April for a week.
If you do go Morzine, one idea could be to ensure you stay somewhere where accessing Avoriaz is easy via the free Navettes ('A' or 'M' bus) or via Prodains or Ardent, or maybe the Super Morzine telecabin in town.
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@Cazza Goughski, Sestriere could be suffering by then. We drove over 22 - 24 March last Winter. Lovely weekend but the snow was very, very slushy. Pretty sure skiing to Claviere wasn't possible.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Thank you everyone. The accommodation I'm looking at for Morzine is Le Viking at the top of the Pleney gondola, so I'm hoping that would be high enough for me to access slopes and get across to Avoriaz. It's the last week of the season for that hotel.
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@@247snowman, @Orange200,
This is the first time I've posted on a forum so not sure if I have to tag you to see my reply or if you get notified automatically. Is Le Viking at the top of the Pleney gondola high enough to get me over to Avoriaz if the Morzine snow is starting to fade?,
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Le Viking is indeed at the top of Pleney. This is in the Morzine/Les Gets sector. To get to Avoriaz involves crossing Morzine.
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Is the route from Le Viking to Avoriaz high enough to be skiable at that time?
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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@Cazza Goughski, there is no route. you have to get over the other side of town, no biggy though, theres the puffer train or 5 min walk to Super Morzine gondi. Dont sweat about it, its all easy
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oh and deffo go PDS over Sestiere,
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Le Viking is quite unique in Morzine that’s it’s at the top of Plenny Bubble.
It’s great for accessing Morzine and Les Gets slopes each day but is cut off after the telecabin closes.
It’s a bit ‘cut-off’ on an evening.
And yep to get to the Avoriaz slopes from the Viking you have to get to the bottom of Plenny slopes (either ski down or use telecabin to get down)
Then at the base of Plenny you
1) either use a free little train like they have at amuzment parks (some people call it the puffer train or choo choo train) to get you across town to Super Morzine telecabin.
2) get the free and regular And bus to Prodains telecabin.
What type of skiing do you do? Do you want to be near bars? Restaurant etc?
Also do you want self catered, B&B or catered? Package tour or DIY.
I ask as I could make some recommendations
Last edited by snowHeads are a friendly bunch. on Sun 12-01-20 12:40; edited 1 time in total
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Sorry, obviously didn’t explain that well. To get to Avoriaz from LeViking involves skiing down to Morzine and either 1. Navette or walk across town to SuperMorzine (walkable in ski boots but not the best). Then Zore, then Proclou chairlifts and you arrive into Avoriaz. 2. Bus to Prodains and a Cable Car up. 3. Bus to Ardent and gondola up then either Lindarets or Prolays chairlift. All will take you to slightly different places but in Avoriaz. Piste map
http://www.portesdusoleil.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Plan_des_Pistes_2016-2017.pdf
Don’t let the relative closeness of Prodains and Proclou fool you, they aren’t close IRL.
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Morzine town is in a valley. Up one side via Pleney gondola is Morzine / LG ski area. Up the other side, via SuperMorzine gondola and a chair, is Avoriaz.
I did carry my skis and walk in boots from SuperMorzine to Pleney but wouldn’t want to make a habit of it. I think less than 10 minutes.
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You know it makes sense.
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Just wondering how many on here have actually skied Sestriere, whilst it's evident many have skied the likes of Morzine / Avoriaz.
I've skied PdS a fair bit, also have a friend who lives slap bang in the middle of Morzine so we often compare notes*
So let me wave the flag for Sestriere if I may, for a start the center is at 2,035m a tad higher than Morzine, and Avoriaz.
Highest summit 2,840 again higher than Avoriaz.
Sestriere is also in the Via Latea and again back end of March many links are open, though Sestrierre , Sans Sicario would probably suffice.
Whilst Morzine back end of March can start to look green Sestriere is still very white.
As for crowds, Easter will see PdS engulfed by Brits and Belgians and other lowlanders who are probably attracted to it due to the low altitude where they probably feel more at home 
I'm always amazed at just how many UK / Belgian reg cars are there.
On the other hand, I doubt you'll see more than a handful of Brit/Belgian reg cars in Sestriere.
And then look at the costs, food n'drink in Italy is probably at least 35-45% cheaper, and Italian food and general ambience is way better.
And finally not that I think the OP is too bothered, the off-piste potential is huge compared to the PdS and there is even a heli operation.
The only negative is that the shops, unlike Morzine don't sell umbrellas
*take the wee-wee out of how bad their conditions are
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Thank you everyone. I wish I'd joined this forum a long time ago, it's certainly more sociable and far less time consuming than Googling everything!
Thanks very much to @what...snow for the piste map. I can't get over how clear it is. I can never find good ones online. Thank you also for the instructions on how to get from Le Viking to Avoriaz. I didn't realise it wasn't possible to "just ski over" like you can from Cervinia to Zermatt, Tignes to Val D'Isere etc. I'm not a fan of taking my skis off and having to get on a bus and try to avoid that at all costs! But it doesn't sound like too much of a drama and the puffer train could be fun.
Does the bus from Morzine to Avoriaz run in the evenings. I'm asking because I love the sound of the Aquariaz water park, but don't want to sacrifice skiing hours to visit it, however could I swim there once the lifts closed for the day and then get the bus back to Morzine?
@@247snowman, I am a solo skier and so always look to stay in a chalet or hotel where I can find people to chat to in the evenings, but I'm also quite happy with my own company and often have an early night on skiing holidays to make sure I get up for first lift the next day (it feels weird writing that because in my real life I never go to bed early!!). I've never done ski in, ski out before, but am quite tempted by the idea of Le Viking because it sounds like I can get the gondola down to town until 8pm four times a week and 2am the other 3 nights, so I would be able to go and do some exploring sometimes. I am also excited by Le Viking's heated pool being open until 9pm. So I think I would be happy there and not feel isolated.
Thanks to @Weathercam for flying the Sestriere flag. Back in my teens I visited Sauze D'Oulx, Claviere and Montgenevre and have very happy memories of all three places. But I've always been there at Easter and I've never seen the route between Sestriere and Claviere open, we're talking 20 years ago though so things may have changed?
Lots to think about, but in a good way! 
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Poster: A snowHead
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| Weathercam wrote: |
As for crowds, Easter will see PdS engulfed by Brits and Belgians |
Really? Easter late this year, can't see PdS engulfed by anyone...
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Fair play to To weathercam for sticking up for Seatriere.
Re:Aquariaz: I’m
Not sure in opening times for Aquariaz but to get back from Aquariaz after the slopes have closed its use Prodains express gondola to get down from Avoriaz to Prodains then the free App bus from the base of Prodains express to Morzine.
Aquariaz is ok. I’ve only been once with my nieces and nephews but would not rush back without having any kids in tow.
It’s a ‘fun’ pool and is pretty compact really.
They seem to also keep the water temp pretty cool in there. I think it could be to stop folk spending too long in their.
The municipal pool in Morzine is fab (which I’ve used lots) for a ‘proper’ swim and also has a Hamam (which I’ve never used).
It’s tight fitting ‘short’ shorts or Speedo’s in the Morzine municipal thought. No board shorts allowed.
Maybe look at Hofnar or Cold Fusion for single ski hols in the MorZine area.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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We skied in Pragelato/Sestriere 2018 end of March (Easter hols) with Clubmeb, and have also skied in Val Thorens later so can provide a comparison. We found Sestriere generally less busy compared to France, and snow conditions were excellent due to the height. All of the links were open and the whole area was open/white (Claviere and Mont G was open although we didn't venture out of Italy). Have also skied in Morzine 10 years ago in half-term and found that whilst the town had more character than Sestriere, wasn't easy to navigate from one side of the valley to the next, i.e. didn't enjoy getting buses to go from Nyon to Pleney with kids etc (wasn't helped by the teenager leaving the ski's behind). Think I would favour Sestriere for end March skiing as is less busy than France, and potentially more snow sure in resort....
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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@Cazza Goughski, for end of season in the Morzine neck of the woods you are better off cleaving to the Avoriaz side of things, e.g, in accom. at the bottom of Prodains, Ardent, or Super Morzine cable cars. If Morzine/LetGets is still open and still has good snow, then you can still get there. Then again, you might as well stay in Avoriaz itself.
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| Cazza Goughski wrote: |
| Thank you everyone. The accommodation I'm looking at for Morzine is Le Viking at the top of the Pleney gondola, so I'm hoping that would be high enough for me to access slopes and get across to Avoriaz. It's the last week of the season for that hotel. |
Personally, I wouldn't stay in Le Viking, just because as mentioned, once the Pleney lift stops turning, you're stuck in the hotel. No option to go for a drink somewhere in town, or meal etc.
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Well I've not been to Sestriere however I've been to the PDS numerous times and the runs are great - IF you get the weather! I've skied lots of rain in Morzine unfortunately so I'd personally go high in March/April shame because given good conditions its hard to beat.
Although Avoriaz is higher, in poor conditions elsewhere in PDS it does get very busy.
I would stick with your previous high resort list - maybe add Solden too?
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| Cazza Goughski wrote: |
| I'm excited about going somewhere different. I'll be going on 28th/29th March and I'm trying to choose between Sestriere and Morzine. |
Sestriere is more likely to have snow. I've only been to PDS once in late March, (it was the 21st) and it was pretty dire. Unless you can do a half term trip in Feb, I would go somewhere higher and more sure of late snow.
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