Any tips, Dos and Don’ts while skiing in Morzine, Les Gets (PORTES DU SOLEIL)?
May 17th, 2009 by admin
We are arriving there 22.12.07 for a week and will stay in self catered chalet in Les Gets. Is it worth buying the whole Portes du Soleil skipass (is there something exeptional to see/experiance other side of border (Les Crosets) or is Morzine/Les Gets area big and exciting enaugh for enthusiastic average experianced skiers (blues and reds)? We'll be driving and some of our group are non-skiers so is there any "must visit" places close-by? In case there will be no snow at that altitude at Christmas period, what is the nearest around 2500 – 3000m altitude skiing resort? Thanks
Here's a tip from personal experience wherein I used one of my 9 lives . . .
Mountain ridges separating France from Switzerland in the Portes du Soleil region can be really icy a few feet down on the Swiss side. I stopped on a short, narrowish switchback trail on the Les Crosets side from Avoriaz to wait for my girlfriend to catch up. After she did, I turned to ski down the mountain but slipped and started immediately tumbling head over heels. I TUMBLED ALL THE WAY DOWN THE MOUNTAIN, TWICE TUMBLING AIRBORNE FOR WHAT SEEMED LIKE 10 SECONDS EACH TIME. Through the grace of God I was not hurt. Just bruised a bit. Tucking into a fetal position certainly helped. After I stopped, knocked off the snow that encased my head, and looked up the mountain, not a soul was skiing — they were all watching me. So what was was there to do but throw up my arms and yell "VOILA". As people skied down and brought pieces of my gear, they looked at me like they were seeing a ghost. My girlfriend was pretty freaked and although a good skier, she really skied slower the rest of the day. I took off the "wet look" ski pants I had over my jeans (their slickness had been part of the problem) and enjoyed skiing the rest of the day, but saw a rescue helicopter airlift an injured skier from the area where I had tumbled.
You can get to the highest runs in the region from Avoriaz 1800.
We had the pass for both French and Swiss resorts, but except for the coolness factor of skiing back and forth between countries, I found skiing on the French side was better.
Neat stuff to do when not skiing . . . kicking around/exploring Morzine. I didn't make it over to Les Gets, but you can no doubt alternate between the hot tub and rolling around in the snow there too.
Have fun and hope you are lucky with the snow base. Regardless, you will be enjoying a Disneyland for adults.