Family ski trip, Morzine - hints, tips and pearls of wisdom

[JQ]

This is going to be a skiing trip of a few firsts so I'm really keen to get as much organised as possible in advance:

First time Skiing with my kids (6 & 7)
First time staying in a catered chalet
First time skiing with my wife's family, 10 of us in total (4 kids - 3, 6, 7, 7)

Normally my ski trips are 4-7 days with the lads, so don't really require any planning, but as it's me who has pushed for the family trip I'm keen to make sure we don't miss out on anything.

So have any experienced family skiers got any pearls of wisdom they've discovered over the years, either to do with Morzine or just family skiing in general?

Cheers

[Amateurish]

Put your kids in ski school, at least for half the day! I wouldn't recommend trying to teach your kids yourself, I've seen too many shouting matches on the pistes with stressed parents and crying children. Where is your chalet? If you have any questions just ask, I have a chalet out there and have been going regularly for 25 years...

[//j17]

Lift Passes/Where to Ski

First off the easiest slopes to get to from Morzine are in the Morzine/Les Gets area and this is where anyone having lessons is likely to be and the only ski pass they will need. You CAN go up to Avoriaz for your lessons but it's a but more hastle than it's worth and you already need to hurd 4 children out of bed, into clothes, out the door, and to the snow to a deadline in the morning/get tired, hungry children back again after.

Morzine/Les Gets is a nice area but on the low side. On the negative side early/late season this can mean only limited runs open and not the best snow you've ever seen. On the positive it's basically all in the trees so nicer when the weather closes in. While there's some really good runs for all abilities the more experienced skiers may have done it all after a couple of days.

You can get the more expensive Portes du Soleil (PdS) area pass. This gives you access to the Avoriaz and Swiss areas in addition to Morzine/Les Gets but there's a reasonable travel between the runs in Morzine and Avoriaz that means you won't get the full benefit of the PdS pass if you need to get back to the Morzine slopes to meet-up after ski school every day - at which point you have some negotiating to do, as say 2 beginner mums having to hurd 4 beginner children and 6 pairs of skis while fathers and parents spend the day injoying themselves in Avoriaz may result in fathers sleeping on the chalet balcony

All lift passes can be bought online/delivered to your home in advance, some with discounts before the end of November - http://www.ski-morzine.com/GB_home.html

Hidden Gems

1. On the far side of Les Gets in a little area called Mont Chery. Only 9 runs (1 blue, 4 red, 4 black) but often empty, the blacks quite challenging (working out how to start one's often a real challenge!) and the restaurant at the top a must for hot chocolate lovers (they have a dedicated hot chocolate menu...).

2. Just at the top of the Super Morzine gondola are a pair of nice blue runs, and also the best Vin Chaud in the PdS in the 'cat and dog' cafe directly opposite the top Super Morzine gondola station.

3. If you've Avoriaz side you've got to stop by at Chez BaBeth in the Plaine Dranse bowl for at least a drink. I think "intensly Christmas" is the best I can say but it really has to be seen to be believed!

Avoriaz - Take The Bus

If you're skiing on the Avoriaz side there's 3 ways to get there; Super Morzine gondola + ski, free bus to Ardent + Ardent Gondola, free bus to Prodains + Prodains gondola. Now on the face of it why bus when you can ski? but it; Super Morzine gondola, 25m ski, chair, long 5 degree trail, chair. Boring at best and probably worse coming back (though a new chair last year has reduced the number of boarders just sobbing as they scooter along). Take either bus on the other hand and you're quickely at a gondola up to either Avoriaz or the Lindarets bowl and proper skiing. There's an even better case for coming back via the bus as rather than another boring flat run, followed by the Super Morzine down there are nice runs back to the bottom of each gondola with the bus stops right outside. Depending on where your chalet is from memory the Prodains bus loops around the bottom of the Morzine home run, then up the high street while the Ardant bus comes up through the other side of town before going somewhere (I don't know as I'd have to go past my chalet to find out!).

Edited by //j17 on Monday 16th November 16:53

Edited by //j17 on Monday 16th November 17:01

[JQ]

Cheers.

Way ahead of you on the skiing front as I'm not the most patient instructor, so they've already been having lessons as we only live 10 mins from an indoor snow slope. Hopefully both kids will be carving by the time they get there and the plan is to put them in ESF from 8:30am to 12pm, to give us some adult ski time.

The chalet is on Taille de Mas Verjus which the chalet company inform us is less than 5 min walk from the Pleney lift, so I've not got any intention to hire ski lockers or anything. We're there 3rd week in Feb, so fingers crossed for good conditions.

Interesting point about the lift passes, I'd just assumed we'd get the local ones for the kids and the Portes du Soleil Pass for all the adults. I might have to investigate whether the extra money is worth it.

Are there any must do activities in the area, not necessarily skiing? We'll have cars, so can travel. On the to-do list at the moment is to do a bit of swimming in Morzine, evening sledging, and possibly an evening skiing. I guess it will all depend on how tired the kids get, also I've never stayed in a catered chalet before so not sure how motivated we'll be to head back outside after a few glasses of wine and food.

[//j17]

JQ said:

Are there any must do activities in the area, not necessarily skiing? We'll have cars, so can travel. On the to-do list at the moment is to do a bit of swimming in Morzine, evening sledging, and possibly an evening skiing. I guess it will all depend on how tired the kids get, also I've never stayed in a catered chalet before so not sure how motivated we'll be to head back outside after a few glasses of wine and food.

There's the ice rink - though just for ice skating as it looks like the Penguins ice hockey season's over by the start of Feb.

If you fancy some apres there's a good range of bars so easy to find something child-friendly.
- Le Tremplin is one of the big parties, most of it outside and touching the snow at the bottom of the Pleney piste (so somewhere for kids to burn off any left-over energy). Music's a little on the young side for me (or I'm and old git, take your pick) but as said you're outside so can sit as near or far from the speakers as you like.
- The micro brewery is nice and relaxed for more of a talk than dance apres. Beer's good too, as are a hot scotch eggs.
- The Haka Bar's quite good - and doesn't get too busy either.
- I'd probably avoid; Le Tibetan Cafe, The Cavern Bar, and Dixie Bar. They're all good apres bars for adults but tend to get rammed and probably less fun if you're spending most of your time trying to stop children getting lost/trampled/spelling of beer and Jager.


Oh, and one tip on the swimming pool, DON'T pick one of the changing rooms on the back wall - you get a view straight in to them from the wobbly bridge!
NOTE: Advice from one of our hosts the other year, not how I spend my evenings in Morzine...

Edited by //j17 on Monday 16th November 17:29

[Amateurish]

If the kids are doing morning lessons on Pleney, then you won't have time to make use of the PDS pass. Note that the kids will get discounted ski passes with their lessons. Have you booked? Anyway, in my opinion Morzine - Les Gets is all you really need for a good week's skiing.

[JQ]

Cheers //j17, great info.

Amateurish said:

If the kids are doing morning lessons on Pleney, then you won't have time to make use of the PDS pass. Note that the kids will get discounted ski passes with their lessons. Have you booked? Anyway, in my opinion Morzine - Les Gets is all you really need for a good week's skiing.

Sounds like the PDS passes will be a waste of money, which is good to know. Ski lessons and lift passes are the next thing to book, probably next week as we're seeing the family at the weekend. If we book ESF lessons now, can we buy the lift passes at a discounted rate online - the ESF website only allows the booking of lift passes with the Beginners pack which the kids won't be doing. Also do you know if you get a discount with adult lessons - Id like my wife to have some refresher lessons and I'm contemplating getting some one to one sessions?

Cheers

[Amateurish]

Yes, the discounted passes only come with the beginner package (up to 1st star). I had assumed that's what your kids would be, if it was their first time...

[Phil Dicky]

Get yourself a baby sitter and head to Buddha Bar on the evening ...infact from experience I wouldn't take the wife either

[JQ]

Amateurish said:

Yes, the discounted passes only come with the beginner package (up to 1st star). I had assumed that's what your kids would be, if it was their first time...

The beginner pack is by far the cheapest option, but the timings are a bit crap as we're there during French holidays - 9am to 11am and then 3pm to 5pm. Those times seem really restrictive to me. The alternative is to pay a bit more for standard lessons which would have them at the same level which run 8:30am to 12pm.

I'd be interested if the second option does sound better?

edited to say :

I've just gone back to the ESF website and I've completely missed another option, so I have no idea which is the best option, both for the adults and the kids. The option seem to be :
Option 1 - Beginner Pack - 11:15am to 1:15pm
Option 2 - Beginner Pack - 9am to 11am and 3pm to 5pm
Option 3 - Club Piou Piou - 8:30am to 12pm

My view is Option 3 is the best, but would be interested to hear other's views? My wife wants to go with Option 2, but I think those timings will be a pain.

[JQ]

Phil Dicky said:

Get yourself a baby sitter and head to Buddha Bar on the evening ...infact from experience I wouldn't take the wife either

The Grandparents will be attendance, so it's definitely an option - is Buddha Bar somewhere I can take the wife?

[//j17]

JQ said:

The Grandparents will be attendance, so it's definitely an option - is Buddha Bar somewhere I can take the wife?

What people call the "Buddha Bar" is actually called The Tibetan Cafe and fine with the wife.

If you're dumping the children on the grandparents letting the grandparents spend some quality time with their grandchildren for an evening there's loads of bars including:

• The Tibetan Cafe (aka Buddha Bar) - Good bar with music more rock than dance. Does get rammed but despite this once you actually get to the bar there isn't usually too much of a wait.
• The Cavern Bar - Next door/below the Tibetan and tends to kick off later in the evening. Again gets rammed with 'wedding music' mix.
• Bar Robinson - Morzine insitution with no music and just Mutzig beer. Get there early as it's usually closed by 8pm - basically the 3 OAPs that run it shut when they've had/made enough for the day.
• Dixie Bar - Irish theme pub but often has good live bands on.
• The Haka Bar - Just a nice place for a social drink. Doesn't tend to get overly busy and if there was music playing it was just inoffensive background.

Most of these are based around the central square/road from the square up to the bottom of the Pleney gondola. The excaptions are Dixie's and Robinson's that are on the road out the top of the square that loops around the head of the valley.

Edited by //j17 on Tuesday 17th November 12:07

[NorthDave]

JQ said:

The beginner pack is by far the cheapest option, but the timings are a bit crap as we're there during French holidays - 9am to 11am and then 3pm to 5pm. Those times seem really restrictive to me. The alternative is to pay a bit more for standard lessons which would have them at the same level which run 8:30am to 12pm.

I'd be interested if the second option does sound better?

edited to say :

I've just gone back to the ESF website and I've completely missed another option, so I have no idea which is the best option, both for the adults and the kids. The option seem to be :
Option 1 - Beginner Pack - 11:15am to 1:15pm
Option 2 - Beginner Pack - 9am to 11am and 3pm to 5pm
Option 3 - Club Piou Piou - 8:30am to 12pm

My view is Option 3 is the best, but would be interested to hear other's views? My wife wants to go with Option 2, but I think those timings will be a pain.

Hi JQ

I'm pretty sure Piou Piou is just a glorified creche for very little ones. Your youngest might be alright but I think the older ones will be too big for it. With three of them it might be worth looking at private lessons too - the costs might not be too different.

[Amateurish]

JQ said:

The beginner pack is by far the cheapest option, but the timings are a bit crap as we're there during French holidays - 9am to 11am and then 3pm to 5pm. Those times seem really restrictive to me. The alternative is to pay a bit more for standard lessons which would have them at the same level which run 8:30am to 12pm.

I'd be interested if the second option does sound better?

edited to say :

I've just gone back to the ESF website and I've completely missed another option, so I have no idea which is the best option, both for the adults and the kids. The option seem to be :
Option 1 - Beginner Pack - 11:15am to 1:15pm
Option 2 - Beginner Pack - 9am to 11am and 3pm to 5pm
Option 3 - Club Piou Piou - 8:30am to 12pm

My view is Option 3 is the best, but would be interested to hear other's views? My wife wants to go with Option 2, but I think those timings will be a pain.

Piou Piou is the creche, so they do wrap-around child care before and after the lessons.

Morning lessons times are 9-11 or 11:15 - 13:15.

[JQ]

Amateurish said:

Piou Piou is the creche, so they do wrap-around child care before and after the lessons.

Morning lessons times are 9-11 or 11:15 - 13:15.

Aha, this is all starting to make sense now - I wish the website was a bit clearer, or I was intelligent enough to work it out for myself. I've got no interest having them babysat for 90 mins a day when they could be skiing with us. Looks like the beginner session of 9-11 and 3-5 is the best option, even if they don't make it to the afternoon session a couple of times. I'll also look into private lessons to see if that might be worthwhile.

Cheers for the help all.

[C0ffin D0dger]

Possibly daft question as I've never been skiing before and apologies for the slight thread hi-jack....

When my kids are a little bit older (say between 6 and 10 years old) I'd quite like to go on a family skiing holiday. As neither the wife, myself or the kids can ski can we all have lessons together or are they usually split into adult and children groups?

[marcosgt]

C0ffin D0dger said:

Possibly daft question as I've never been skiing before and apologies for the slight thread hi-jack....

When my kids are a little bit older (say between 6 and 10 years old) I'd quite like to go on a family skiing holiday. As neither the wife, myself or the kids can ski can we all have lessons together or are they usually split into adult and children groups?

Most places will probably split you, although you could probably get private lessons as a family.

Kids tend to learn in a different way and faster - Women tend to learn faster imo too, as they're less gung-ho and listen and copy better than men, in general - so you'll probably be glad to not have them showing you up!

M

[hotchy]

C0ffin D0dger said:

Possibly daft question as I've never been skiing before and apologies for the slight thread hi-jack....

When my kids are a little bit older (say between 6 and 10 years old) I'd quite like to go on a family skiing holiday. As neither the wife, myself or the kids can ski can we all have lessons together or are they usually split into adult and children groups?

Id suggest have a couple lessons well before you decide to teach your kids. If not by day 3 they will be zipping by you like there pro's while your still pizza slicing down the mountain at a snails pace.

[JQ]

Holy thread resurection. The preparations are going well for our trip. The kids are still doing their lessons on the local indoor slope and Mrs JQ got lots of kit off Father Christmas. However, I've reaised we'll have one evening to eat out while we're there and it'll be our intention to treat my father-in-law to a nice meal. He's a real foodie, so does anyone know if there are any very good restaurants in Morzine? Cheers.

[//j17]

Might be better to ask over on SnowHeads.com as there's a few people who live and work in Morzine/Les Gets on there.