MORZINE SEASONAIRE - THE FULL SUMMER SEASON

Morzine sits in Portes du Soleil, Europes biggest bike park with over 60 official downhill tracks spread over 12 resorts and enough enduro routes and hikes to keep a rider busy for a whole summer. It's this variety that makes the riding here so awesome. No other resort in the world has this much variety at it's fingertips.

From the hucks of Chatel to the steeps of Pleney, and the worlds best berms in Morgins and chilling on the flow trails of Super Morzine, there is enough to keep any rider stoked for weeks, months and years.

Morzine is famous not only for it's riding but for the mountain bike scene aswell. Supportive, welcoming, friendly and BIG, Morzine has been the birthplace of life long friendships, relationships and has become home for countless seasonnaires that decided to make the town their new normal.

Morzine is a diverse town, a melting pot of hippies, business owners, pro athletes, ski bums, young families, freelance professionals, French, British, Spanish, German, Italian, so on and so on, it doesn't matter where you are from or what you do, just be a decent person and be good to your fellow humans and you'll find your way here.

There are hundreds of riders in the valley, swelling to thousands in peak summer. The trails, lift queues and bars are full of new mates and atmosphere. Best way to describe it? Think about going to a race weekend, but there's no arrogance, no clock, and only practice laps. It doesn't matter what bike you ride, how you like to ride it or how good you are on it, you'll fit into the scene somewhere.

Now there's the official tracks, and then there's the secret tracks. Everyone knows they are there, but not everyone knows where they are. Built by locals over the last two decades, if you've ridden in Morzine over the years you probably know afew, but you don't know them all, you can't. Locals don't know where they all are there is so many.

Every resort has it's hidden gems and when you come across one, hear about it in the bar, or maybe even put the shovel to dirt to make one, we're talking the stuff dreams are made of.

Just don't be a douche about them. Keep them secret, don't film entrances or exits, and if a landowner has put up a sign, respect it.

You're on the MTB Beds website, so as a holiday company we have an agenda. That doesn't mean there aren't multiple ways to spend a season in Morzine;

OPTION 1 Van Life

Becoming the most popular way of spending a season in Morzine. The Vanzacs made is look cool and the fans followed suit, clapped out Transits and converted Sprinters soon made Carrefour car park into it's own hamlet of camping chairs and sweaty body armour. Showers were taken in the river or some upgrade to a pass at the swimming pool, all share the 1 communal toilet.

Times have changed, in 2019 the town made the camper vans move to the Nyon car park, and now to another location just out of town, which has a water supply and is the official spot in Morzine for vans parked up for the season, with a couple more on the way, but all out of town.

Is it cool? It's cheap, and it's fun, you'll come back with some stories no doubt. You have the freedom to drive wherever you want and if where you stop lets you, that's home for the night. If your van is decked out nicely it can even be comfy, you will make friends for life. But, it smells, all the time. Your phone is your life, if it has battery. Chilling, cooking, washing yourself, bike and kit becomes a chore. If it rains there is nowhere to get dry or escape the rain drops on the van roof and you'll sleep on top of to your bike. 

OPTION 2 Rent an apartment

If it's just you and you have the cash, it's an option. If there are afew mates it can work too. You'll have a roof over your head and you'll have a kitchen to cook in, somewhere to chill, aswell as peace and quiet, depending on the mates!

You'll often find rents high. If you're here for the year Morzine is expensive to rent as it is. Those properties that are up for seasonal or weekly rental need to make up a shortfall in not being rented in September to December, or the majority of Spring. They are becoming harder and harder to find. So getting one with space, the extras you need like a decent garage at the right price is tough. You also run the landlord gauntlet, some are cool, some are not, some don't fix problems, some do.

OPTION 3 Specific Seasonal Accommodation

The most flexible option and the one where you'll find the best memories. This is where you'll be best placed for your first and second seasons in Morzine, and if you're a Brit it's the best option before you decide if you'd like to move to Morzine. It gives you all of the above with the added bonuses of a property that has the basics covered and a company that will look after the things you need taken care of.

You'll be staying with like minded mountain bikers so there will always be someone to ride with, hang with, watch edits with, go to the bar with, help get that tyre on the rim or get you out of bed when you have a hangover.

Secure bike storage, bike wash, strong wifi (a rare thing in Morzine), battle hardened accommodation with somewhere to wash and hang your kit, a place to cook, store your stuff and be a base for the best summers of your life. In our case you also have the security of a company with flexible payment plans available.

Morzine has a special vibe, especially in Summer. 9/10 people who move here prefer the summer to the winter after afew years of living here, the other 1/10 are know it's better but don't want to admit it. They might prefer skiing but the atmospehere is definitely more relaxing.

It's got that chilled vibe of a town that has everything you need, you don't have any reason to leave the bubble. Don't like one bar? Head next door, don't want pizza for dinner? There's 10 other joints open. Want some peace and quiet? head up to the lake for an evening swim. There's alot more to Morzine in the summer than just riding your bike....

There's always someone about at any one of the popular bars in town, from a craft beer at the Bec, apres on the deck at Haka to a Mutzig at Robinsons, punk night at Cafe Chaud or watching the football at Tibetan, popping in to see Rose at Crepu or the salty old dog Mandin at Rogers, you'll find a great atmosphere somewhere, maybe you'll be the ones making it!

The bike shops are well stocked and helpful, seasonnaires often become flys on the wall at Torico and The Woods, either taking up all the mechanics time chatting about the latest Pleney single or looking at the goggles they can't afford.

Don't want to ride all day? There's more to Morzine than the bike. There's lake Montriond, eveyone's favourite summer chill spot, all day, down day or post ride, it's a stunning place to hang out.

Bring the deck? Morzine has a big skate scene and there are always shredders at the park. There's also a brand new pump track going up in St Jean D'Aulps, ready for July. This is just a 5 minute drive from Morzine.

The Dereches leisure complex includes a big indoor and outdoor pool for olympic laps or summer relaxing, alternatively head up to Nyon waterfall for a dip in the pools that's cost less and is a whole lot fresher! If water ain't your bag then pack up and hike Ressechaux, the peak that dominates Morzine, it's all here.

• OVER 650kms OF OFFICIAL TRAILS
• OVER 55 OFFICIAL DOWNHILL MTB TRAILS
• 24 MECHANICAL CHAIR AND BUBBLE LIFTS
• 2 COUNTRIES LINKED BY 12 RESORTS
• OVER 20 BIKE SHOPS
• HUNDREDS OF UNOFFICIAL TRAILS
• HUNDREDS OF KM'S OF XC AND ENDURO TRAILS

If you woke up in Morzine on July 1st, and went riding on Le Pleney all day, assuming you took 15 minutes to turn a lap (up the bubble and ride down), the drop being 400m and the average run around 1.8kms long, and you took an hour off for lunch. and a couple of lie downs you could ride Pleney 28 times in one day. 28 LAPS IN ONE DAY. That's 28 laps of 400m descent and 1.8km in length, meaning you drop 11.2 kms in a day and ride 50.4 kms, all down, no up, and those figures are for the soft, just ask Chris Kovarick....

In a Morzine season you could turn enough laps to last a lifetime. you'll put in thousands of metres of descent over the course of the season if you're motivated.

There's so many reasons to make your Morzine summer season happen. Too many to list, we don't know you, why you're reading this or what is motivating you to consider a season in Morzine, other than that you are a mountain biker like us.

Here's just afew reasons to spend a summer in Morzine.

• You will do more riding in one summer than you'll do in a lifetime otherwise
• You will get better on your bike, faster and more stylish
• You will make friends for life
• You will make memories that will last a lifetime
• You will open up new doors and opportunities if you look for them
• You will eat more BBQ than a Texas truck driver

Here's some reasons not to.

• You will rinse tyres and brake pads
• You will probably get hand cramps
• You will probably get sick of BBQ and baguette
• You will get hangovers
• You will put your bike through hell

For British eyes only. Brexit. The thorn in our side. Maybe one day we'll see some sunny uplands but for the moment it's a bit of a pain.

But Brexit will not stop you riding for a summer in Morzine, you have 90 days after entering the Schengen EU zone to spend as a tourist, within any 180. So you could arrive 10th June, leave 6th September, for a total of 88 days, being eligible to return to the EU for the winter season on December 6th.

Use this calculator to work out your dates - https://schengen-calculator.com/visits

You can't overstay without risk of repercussions, and you cannot work without a visa. Works visas at the moment are nearly impossible to get hold of quickly, so just stick that one on the back burner till next year.

If you've been waiting for a good time to do a full summer season in Morzine, then there is no better time. Really.

Even the most pessimistic forecasts have the vaccination programs on track to complete by late summer, meaning the strongest chance of quarantine free travel abroad is actually to return as late as possible. France intends to open this summer and we have the opening dates from the lift companies, there's alot of catching up to do after over a year of holding back, lets make this summer count.

#ONEPEDALAHEAD