Morzine mountain biking
What a treat mountain biking in Morzine is. As part of our summer break my son and I were lucky enough to enjoy a few days of riding the Alpine trails at the Super Morzine, Avoriaz and Pleny bike parks, I suspect we hardly scratched the surface but that really didn’t matter. I may be middle aged and broken but there’s fun and improvement to be had on them there trails. After three days on the trails it wasn’t my long suffering ankle ligaments that let me down, or my post appendicitis aches and pains but instead my poor old forearms that eventually decided, ninety minutes before the end of our three day rental, that they could take no more braking. Next time I’ll try more focussed strength training before I go.
On day one we popped up the Super Morzine gondola to explore the many trails that cross the high alpine meadows above the West of the town. Once up, you can make it across to Avoriaz and back using a different trail every time. Something for everyone, with easy poppy greens and blues through to the bigger berms, jumps and roots of the steeper reds and at the end of the day return back down to Morzine in the gondola. There are plenty of cafes up there so need to lose altitude for lunch.
Day two was the similar although with added distance, the trails of Lindarets and the ridge above Chatel were reached. On day three we took the Pleney gondola multiple times as we sessioned the Blue and Black trails that descend (as you head right out of the station) or usually a combination of both, back down to town until the forearms eventually gave up. Sitting here two weeks later this was the best trail of the week but I wouldn’t have missed exploring the high meadows on the other side of the valley. We’ll be back I’m sure. Trails to try again and we didn’t even head towards Les Gets.
We arranged our accommodation through More Mountain, the apartment was faultless and the staff happy to help with any questions we had about the area and activities on offer.
We arranged our bikes and lift passes through Bike Morzine, again seamless service but perhaps there a few pounds to be saved going direct. Worth the research next time but amazing for the first time visitor who doesn’t know the lay of the land. The bike were from by The Woods bike shop in Morzine who looked after the bikes each evening and gave some great trail tips.
Swimming in Lake Montriond eased the tired limbs and cooled the hot bodies the day before and the day after our riding adventures and my wife and other son enjoyed using the activity passes to explore the mountains via the lift network. Thanks More Mountain. They also experienced paragliding with Morzine Parapente.
Tolerate Geneva Airport if you have to but it’s one of the least customer friendly airports I’ve ever been to and 14 euros for a single slice of pizza is a bad joke. Don’t hire your car from the Swiss side of the Airport as apparently after a short train ride you can hire from the French side of town with better terms and conditions and friendlier staff.
My photos from the trip were average. Two have made it to the gallery but I guess I’ll just heave to visit the Alps again soon.