White Water Rafting Morzine

• You're knackered

Riding in the alps is tough. Unless you live here or somewhere similar, or get to ride all week for a living, chances are the riding is going to take it's toll on your body. Hands hurt, fingers ache and muscles you didn't even know existed burn afew minutes into a run.

Taking a break from the bike is actually one of the best ways to make the most of your time on it. It's a great way to get a mid week rest morning or afternoon, but still doing something rad. Hitting the refresh button in the cool alpine water on the boat and jumping off cliffs and rock outcrops on the way down will make you feel a million dollars again!

• You want some awesome memories

We've lived and ridden in the alps for more than a decade. I guarantee you each of us and those that have been there, remember the days that we didn't ride and did something awesome. Wakeboarding, paintball, rafting, they all stick the memory. Not that bikes aren't why we're here! But i challenge you to remember every run you do on a bike trip.

Make sure you hang onto those memories with that GoPro, it's a sick way to polish off that holiday edit, or with photos that the guys from Frogs rafting can take for you. all the photos you see in this blog were taken by them on a staff day out at the end of the 2018 summer a season.

• You're not all mountain bikers

Alpine tourism has come a long way, over the years the appeal of action adventure holidays has become on of the fastest growing sectors in the holiday industry. We see it every week as our client base grows. Groups who have holidayed with us since the beginning now want to bring their growing families and friends. We all grow old and we want to share the places we love with those we love. Awwwwwww.

This of course means that the family will want something to do while you're off riding or you'll be wanting to do something the whole family can enjoy. Rafting is available to all ages and abilities over 8 years old on the Dranse, and 6 on the Giffre river in Samoens. Of course you need to be able to swim, but life jackets, helmets and all equipment is provided. The guides love what they do and live for the outdoors, they know the river like the inside of a croissant and can make the tour as relaxed or wild as you'd like.

It had been an amazing summer season. We had a great team, the first year of our new Chalet La Chapelle was sold out for our catered Riders Weeks and the reviews were rolling in! We'd organised a morning out on the river for the Sunday, last day of the Pleney's opening, so we could go for a post raft shred and have a few beers to celebrate the season.

We packed up the last few bits of the chalets on the Saturday and headed off for a quiet beer and burger at Le Bec Jaune. None of us really know what happened in the proceeding 8 hours, but suffice to say it was not one beer. Getting the troops together in the morning was definitely a task, with some of us surely more ready than the others! Well, no better cure for the dusty heads than a dip in the fresh alpine waters!

Frogs Rafting has it's base toward the bottom of Dranse River on the way to Thonon and Lake Geneva. The drive from Morzine takes around half an hour winding through the rivers course (You cannot start in Morzine due to the rather large dam that regulates the river flow and powers the hydro electricity station).

Once at the office you'll get kitted out with a full drysuit with boots and gloves, helmet and life jacket and given a briefing from the team. Hopping back in the van you'll head around 15 minutes back up the river to start your journey, which takes around two and a half hours.

Starting with an orientation and a baptism jump of around 5 metres from a large rock into a plunge pool, all taken on infront of your buddies, you'll get in amongst the action straight away, and any hopes of finishing the day with dry hair are of course gone, don't bother putting the gel on!

You'll definitely have woken up by now so off down the river you go. Within about 3 minutes you'll have realised the paddles make perfect cattle prods, so if you're looking for a bit of payback pushing your nemesis into the river is easy. Best to get the nod from the mischievous guides first, who though are more than willing to add to the fun, would rather everyone were in the boat for some of the bigger rapids!

You'll send the boat full tilt into rocks and sideways into the white water on your way down. If you've got a willing crew and a fast river it's possible to get some air and flip the boat, all controlled of course.

There's a couple more stopping points that give you the chance for a back or front flip, after a little bit of scrambling through the rocks and installed metal ladders. The river has 10 or so pinch points where you'll be following the instructions of the guide, paddling and steering the boat through the bumps, sideways, backwards and in standard mode. It's a fair amount of effort, especially if the crew aren't good at following orders! Luckily for us despite the hangovers our team are well drilled at working together!

We had an absolute blast on the day and left feeling refreshed and ready to hop on the bikes and make the most of the last day of Pleney! Thanks to Frogs Rafting!

We can arrange white water rafting for you and your group in Morzine, just speak to any member of our team. We can also arrange a huge array of other activities while on holiday here, to find out more read our Beyond the Bike blog here.