Will I get bored with a Morzine / Les Gets ski pass ?

A snowHead

Hi all, first time posting here. Never been on a ski trip before but all booked up arriving on Morzine on 2nd Jan for 6 nights so 5 full days on the slopes. We are definitely beginners but are reasonably comfortable skiing down from the top of the Glasgow indoor ski slope. We have a full day lesson on the 3rd Jan. Fully expecting to remain on green and blue pistes for the remaining 4 days and cant see us going anywhere near a red.

I know there appears to be uncertainly over the next few weeks around snow conditions at lower altitudes. But ignoring that for now, assuming snow conditions were perfect, would skiing all 5 days in Morzine / Les Gets pass have enough variety to keep skiers at our ability level occupied ? Or is it likely that by the end of the trip, we'd be repeating pistes we've already done ?

Just not sure whether it would be a waste of money to spend the extra and go or the full PDS pass.

Also, is it the case that the Morzine / Les Gets pass only gets you access to the lifts on the Pleney side of Morzine rather than on the Super Morzine lifts on the Avoriaz side of Morzine ?

Thanks a lot.

A snowHead

For somebody who has never skied on an actual mountain, the area in Morzine and Les Gets will be plenty to keep you entertained.

You're correct about not being able to access the avoriaz side with the morzine pass.

What's the difference in price between the morzine and full PDS passes?

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

There are a lot of local experts here - but my view is that for the first time on real outdoor snow you will be fine with Morzine-Les Gets. There is actually quite a lot there, particular if you end up doing laps to improve technique. I guess if you progress well, you might want to be a little more adventurous on your last day, no doubt someone can tell you whether a one-day upgrade is possible.

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Welcome to snowHead

@gavman99, unable to answer the super area access for you (someone will reply soon no doubt) but the terrain Morzine/Les Gets for someone of your skill is easily good enough I feel with very extensive gentle piste network to build skills within.

There's quite some travelling to reach all the parts in that sector with very good graduation of pitch to help progress and test your skills. It's not that Avoriaz area is unsuitable, but for early skills it certainly can have greater severity at its extremes more suitable perhaps after a decent week aquiring those in gentle area.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Thanks both. For our family of 4, it would work out at approx. an extra 180 euros in total.

I did read something somewhere about being able to do a last day full area upgrade but unsure on the costs.

The other option is we buy a 1 day Avoriaz pass which for us 4 would be approx 118 euros.

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Apologies, crossed over with @NBH, @j b, while typing.

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Skied Morzine and the PdS many times, great area, you'll love it. If you're a relative beginner I wouldn't recommend the full area pass. There will be plenty to ski in Morzine and Les Gets and a full pass will be a waste of money. Be sure to try out the Mont Chery area of Les Gets. The Morzine pass doesn't allow access to the Super Morzine lift which is the main access route to Avoriaz.

After all it is free

It's easy to think of Morzine/LG as a small area, just because the whole of the PdS is so big, but in fact it's a fairly large ski resort in its own right. We don't often get over there, but I did my BASI L3 tech (6-day course) there a couple of years back, and really it contains pretty much all types of terrain and plenty of it.

For beginners over five days there should be plenty, and it's also great for progression to become more familiar with some of the runs that you'll ski each day, so you will remember what worked or didn't work last time and use that to build on.

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I would personally go with the morzine pass to begin with. If you're all progressing well and enjoying it then consider upgrading to Avoriaz pass for the final day (if conditions and weather are good).

The scenery is a bit different on the Avoriaz side and the completely pedestrianised nature of the resort will be an interesting spectacle to end the holiday

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My better half learned to ski there not so long ago and it was more than enough to keep her occupied on just Les Gets and Morzine trails. There’s nothing wrong with skiing the same trails again and again, in fact once you’re more familiar with some trails it’s one less thing to think about and allows you to focus on your skiing. Stuff like Choucas on the Nyon side are nice long winding trails which will take you some time to cover and do a lap on back to Chavannes side (from memory). You’ll not get bored!

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You may end up skiing the same pistes but the line you take will be different, it can be an advantage to ski the same thing and instead of concentrating where you have to go spend more time on technique.

Don't waste your money on the full PdS pass, there's more than enough to the M-LG area to keep beginners amused. And if you do feel the need to try something new later in the week you can just buy a day/half day pass for the PdS area. You need to be hitting the wider area for at least 2 days for a PdS pass to be cheaper the local+day passes, if you decide you need them.

You know it makes sense.

Thanks all, really good advice. The chalet owner was surprised when I said we were likely going with all 5 days in Morzine / Les Gets as she said it can be a quite "moguly". is that the case ? Can it get quite bumpy on the pistes ?

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

A snowHead

no more "mogully" than anywhere else. Odd thing to say.

A snowHead

Agree with what has been said there are plenty of pistes in the Morzine area and you won't get bored .Pistes often change significantly during the course of the day in their condition and there are different lines down any one piste.

The one thing I would say is you caveated your initial question with this statement:

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

@MikeM, Not sure I would be suggesting Mont Chery for beginners who think they will be on blues at the end of the week. Mont Chery is virtually all reds and blacks. Think there is only one blue piste.

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As beginners, there is definitely more than enough to keep you entertained for a week.

I've been skiing for years and am only going for the M/LG pass when I go out in January. It will keep me and my equally proficient son well entertained.

As for moguls, some of the runs do get very mogully. The ones in particular are the top of Violette in the afternoon (on the way down to the Les Gets bowl), the bit of Gentiane under the grand cry by about 11am (top tip, go down the top of the Red run, Orchis, then cut immediately right down a little side route back to Gentiane). There is also a run on the way back to Morzine from Les Gets (I think it's Bruyere, in the afternoon) which is also gets congested and mogully.

The top of Campanule will get mogully in the afternoon, but then all of the runs on that side are only worth doing in the morning.

One run that never, ever, ever gets mogully is the bit of Gentiane known as the White Cross. In fact, the snow stays in tip top nick all day long on that run. That part of it isn't particularly long, and is served by its own 4 man lift. There is also a variety of terrain from fairly flat (especially if you make use of the bottom of Piste 64) to reasonably steep to help improve your techniques. Just choose whether you want to turn left or right from the top of the lift. I can thoroughly recommend spending a few hours on this run to just practice, practice, practice. You can get in the Yeti cafe at the bottom of the white cross for a nourishing pint too.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

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Thanks all.

So concensus appears to be that with perfect skiing conditions, Morzine / Les Gets is more than adequate for us.

However, if temps remain milder than usual with no decent snowfall between now and 2nd Jan, is it a no-brainer for us to go for the wider PDS resort pass ? Like I said above, for the 4 us it would cost an extra 170 euros versus the local Morzine/Les Gets pass (648 euros v 818 euros).

Enjoyable skiing is definately very high up on our list.

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After all it is free

@gavman99,
If you want to spend more money, get more ski lessons. Far more benefit to you than skiing a bigger area for 1st timers.

I’m going to offer an alternative view. If staying in Morzine with just the Mz/LG pass and you progress beyond the nursery slopes (which you will if you can ski an indoor slope) every day will start the same and you’ll ski the same runs a lot.

Up Pleney, up Belvedere, ski the blues either down to LG or towards Charniaz.

That is a great holiday so if you can only afford the local pass you won’t be disappointed. A day over to Mont Chery is with it if you progress to easy reds (easily doable)

But if you’re not in lessons every day so don’t have a fixed meeting point then I think the upgrade to the PDS pass is worth it. It means you can start and end each day with some variety (start at Super Morzine or Prodains) and Avoriaz has some brilliant routes based on blues and easy reds.

It is also insurance against crappy weather. Morzine is a brilliant resort but it can rain so spending those days in Avoriaz can be a lot nicer and would justify the £180 immediately.

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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

Nobody, and I mean nobody, would be disappointed by the amount of piste available in an area the size of Morzine/Les Gets for their first ever ski trip.

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Lessons, lessons, lessons. Morzine Les Gets is brilliant but its not the easiest debutante skiing. A few proper lessons will see you enjoy it a great deal more safely.

You know it makes sense.

@gavman99, I agree with most of @Timmycb5, comments but would add that the last part of the Lievre piste which takes you down to the Pointe de Nyon telepherique can get nasty late afternoon. If your chalet is that end of Morzine then I would recommend either taking the Retour de Nants back to the main village and then the bus or taking the Fys chair, turning right heading across to either of Piste B or the Pleney bubble depending on how tired you are.

As @Flet©h, says your days will start and end with the same runs, where you go after that will depend very much on your ability and desire. Will you get bored? That will depend very much you, if you are (or turn out to be) a "been there, done that, whats new?" kind of person then probably you will get bored. If you are the type who at the bottom of a run thinks "oh that was nice, I'll do that again" or "I was really poo-poo going down there let's see if I can do it better" then you won't get bored. It's more about you than the resort.

We're normally in Les Gets for 2 weeks in Jan and 2 weeks in March and buy the season lift pass and haven't got bored with it yet, we will occasionally buy a day pass for the PDS to do the circuit through Avoriaz to Chatel and back through Switzerland but most days are spent circuiting the whole area skiing my favourite pistes at their best time of day. 20+ weeks on season passes in LG-M over the last 7 years and not bored yet.

As for lift passes always cheaper to buy direct online before you go, you can collect either from the collection point or an automated machine, just need to have the card that you paid with to verify in the machine. Its perfectly feasible to pre-book the first 3 days then on the night before your 4th day go online and charge your pass with the next days skiing either PDS or LG-M

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

A snowHead

No one has mentioned the snow pack as yet. In early December we had reasonable snowfall above 1500m but not a huge amount below. Most of the Morzine skiing lies between 1000m and 1600m and Let’s Gets skiing between 1150 and 1800. For the last two days it has been raining hard below 1900 and I’m watching the bottom of Pleney rapidly turning green. They did manage to make snow before all the rain but with the current warm temps forecast to continue, certainly until after xmas and possibly beyond, they wont be making anymore for a while. Raining today and forecasting REALLY heavy rain tomorrow up to 2200m!

If you’re staying in Morzine then a PDS pass will see you up to Avoriaz via Super Morzine where the skiing starts at 1500m and goes to 2200m. The snow isn’t fantastic there either but it’s certainly better than the Morzine side.

If the snow was ok I’d say you’d have more than enough skiing with a local Morzine pass but the snow isn’t ok and looking at the current forecasts, is likely to get worse before the end of the year.

Sorry to sound a bit gloomy but better to know what it’s like. Having said that, you’ll certainly ski and it will be a lot better than a dry slope!

A snowHead

My first ever (two day) ski trip was in Morzine, I didn’t make it as far as Les Gets Laughing

That said, wise words about the state of the snow, but that’s a decision you can take when you are there. In any event I’d download from Pleney as a beginner; Piste B home can also be dicey unless the snow is really good.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

@zzz, those were my thoughts given arrival of 2/1 (though there looks to be some hope of colder weather and maybe even a bit of snow after boxing day?).

We’re arriving 5/1 for a long weekend and I’m expecting to be up in Avoriaz, Lindarets or Plaine Dranse most of the time.

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Thanks everyone, thats really good info. I think we'll leave it as late as we can to order our passes online for collection in Morzine. That way we can make an up to date decision on what ski conditions are likely to be.

Bearing in mind our first day of skiing is 3rd Jan, what is the latest date we can place our online ski pass order ?

Also, I'm organising/ordering/paying everything for our large group but one of the families is due to arrive into Morzine a few hours before everyone else and before the chalet check-in time. After dropping off their, bags they'll need to go for a wander so I was hoping to be able to place an order for everyones ski passes but then have my friend collect them (which saves me doing it later on after I arrive). Is it possible when placing an online order to specify that someone else will collect them ? Would he need to show the credit card used to pay for them or does he just need to show his passport ?

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

There’s a 24hrs machine for lift pass collection isn’t there? There’s certainly one at Super M. If you collect them at the office I think you just need the receipt.

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It might be worth having a word with the ski school you're having your first day's lessons with. They will be able to advise and will have the best intel on the state of the snowpack - if the weather carries on being dismal they will probably be shifting round some of their usual routines. But phone them, rather than email - they'll be snowed under (metaphorically at least).

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

@gavman99, Webcam links for Les Gets and Morzine

Les Gets https://www.lesgets.com/en/webcams/
Morzine https://en.morzine-avoriaz.com/webcams.html
Morzine and Avoriaz https://www.seemorzine.com/webcams/

Plenty to click on and view between now and when you go Toofy Grin

After all it is free

There used to be a morzine/avoriaz pass available, basically covered morzine/Les gets/nyon then avoriaz as far as top of mosettes and chaux fleurie. Not sure it still exists but worth a look if it looks like the lower slopes are not going to be good. On the other hand, most reds around Les gets are fairly mild and nice and wide, when I learnt to ski i was getting down them in a timely manner after a day or two( disclaimer, I had been snowboarding for a long time before Smile

)
In short, unless the conditions below 1500m are terrible( i.e. pistes closed due to lack of snow, or worse still raining at that altitude) the morzine Les gets pass will be absolutely fine as beginners

I think given the 10 day forecast I would buy a pass that has access to Avoriaz for at least some of the days.

Doesn't have to be the full Portes du Soleil pass - could be the Avoriaz only one, or a combination of Morzine + Avoriaz (a few days of each).

There are lots of online discounts depending on days of the week and how far in advance you book, so worth having a look online.

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I was only there once over 30 years ago, so regulars are much better positioned to give more detailed info. It was in the Spring and there was a lot of rain and little snow on the lower runs. So....I agree with much of what has been said:

- Lots of lessons....where the Instructor will know where to go
- Snow coverage should determine which Ski Pass to get. Under normal circumstances, you don't need the full PDS pass
- Depending on the online saving, it may be worth leaving the Pass until you get there and you see what you are dealing with
- Alternatively - I am assuming you could get the Online Morzine Pass and upgrade if necessary; or get the Avoriaz/Morzine pass (discounted online) due to the mild weather, as suggested by@denfinella. This sounds like a sensible compromise.

Help!!

Will I get bored with a Morzine / Les Gets ski pass ?

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