The new undercover Morzine swimming pool is open!

All three of the pools are open for business; the kids play pool, the beginner’s pool and the 25m, six-lane main pool. As yet the saunas and the hammams are not open to the public but the saunas are finished and the hammam rooms are not far behind.

The changing area is similar to the one used in the summer with key coded doors, so there is no need for change to lock away your clothes or an uncomfortable and annoying key on your wrist whilst you swim.

The restaurant, A La Piscine, is also open and offers Continental and full English breakfasts from 9.30am as well as a lunch menu and the option of an evening meal on Wednesdays, when the complex is open late, or by reservation.

The centre is open every week day from 12:30 until 19:45 with a late close on Wednesdays and from 14:00 ‘til 19:45 on Saturdays and Sundays and can be found next to the outdoor pool under the Super Morzine bridge.

Hot-pants and budgie smugglers only. No board shorts allowed.

We had been selected to feature in an article about cool and funky chalets in the Alps. Nice to see us up there with the £17,000 a week places where the likes of Robbie Williams have stayed – we are obviously doing something right and our prices are definitely a LOT more affordable!

This is what travel writer Tom Chesshyre had to say…

This season’s coolest places to stay have private pools, high-tech entertainment and seriously stylish interiors

France

No 1. The Loft, Morzine

“The look here is that of a slick Manhattan loft with exposed beams and lots of leather sofas. Covering two floors of a farmhouse, The Loft is a short walk from popular après-ski bars. There’s an open-plan kitchen as well as wireless internet, Sky television and iPod docking stations. A free shuttle bus to the main high-speed gondolas stops outside the property every 20 minutes. It sleeps eight and the price includes transfers from the airport.
Details The Loft (0033 686 02 1 805, www.moremountain.com) is from £4,792 a week (£599pp); dinner and B&B with afternoon tea included, flights excluded.”

If you subscribe to The Times, you can read more here.

Les Gets Bike Park Lifts Pre-open on May 28th-29th for a special pre-ride taster for the season followed by June 4th-5th where there will be a full range of Kona bikes and Marzocchi Suspensions to test for a weekend mini bike festival.

Morzine Les Gets Lift Access officially opens from June 10th until September 11th (9am-5.30pm). The Morzine and Les Gets MTB trails belong to the VTT area of Les Portes du Soleil, one of the biggest linked areas in the world with 12 resorts between France and Switzerland and 650 km of trails. For 15 years, the Portes du Soleil have been offering a unique network of 25 lifts open all summer long.

Lift Pass Prices are as follows:

1 day €21,
2 days €34,
3 days €46,
4 days €59,
5 days €71,
6 days €84,
7 days €95,
8 days €104,
9 days €113,
10 days €120,
11 days €126,
12 days €132,
13 days €137,
Season €210 (50% off with valid Winter Season Pass)

Multi Pass Morzine

This time round Summer in Morzine is even better as the Portes Du Soleil now combine access to a number of Alpine activities through the Multipass for those of you that fancy an alternative to hammering hard core downhill trails each day. More Mountain are an official accommodation provider who have signed up to the scheme. The Multi Pass is available to you all for just €1 Euro per day. All summer long, the Portes du Soleil area offers a host of fun outdoor activities: hiking, swimming in the lakes or pools, visits to cultural sites, tennis, ice rinks… all for just €1 Euro per day.

Portes du Soleil hasn’t forgotten those who live in the region and who would like to enjoy a multitude of activities all summer long thanks to the season pass: 50€

So… its time to get booking to stay this summer at More Mountain this summer…. check out all the fabulous deals we have on offer in our chalets this coming Summer.

It looks like March and April is the time for lots of powder and BIG snowfalls so make the most of it… Due to the late dates of Easter holidays this year, we have a couple of spaces available in our luxury catared chalets in central Morzine for the 27th March and 3rd April 2011.

Chalet Robin & La Cabine Fully Catered for under £550 pp Including Transfers!

w/c Sunday 27th March and Sunday 3rd April now reduced from £599 to £549 pp.

Special Special Deal!

If you fill either chalet with 12 people we will bring the cost down to £499 per person on a fully catered basis. BARGAIN!

Happy Days…

Click Here for more information on whats included in our luxury catered holidays!

Jonathan exceeded the Nation Legal Speed Limit, clocking a mighty 75.1mph ( 120.9 kph ) on his skis last winter.

Jonathan says…
” I was lucky enough to get freshies down a usually mogulled Black piste in Les Gets. I just pointed my skis down and tried to resist putting a turn in. I knew it was fast, when my ski tips started to flap, my helmet was whistling and my eyes started to water, but I didn’t realise it was over 120kph!! ”

Will More Mountain hail any winners again this year?
We are already top of the league table with a speed of 100.2 kph!

As all of our chalets are Garmin Test Centres you too can enter the Garmin Snowclub Alpine Challenge and be in with a chance of winning.
Just take out one of the fantastic Garmin Oregon 450 GPS devices (complete with Mountain Dynamics Snowranger Resort Mapping) out for the day, then upload your stats onto the Garmin Snowclub website via Garmin Connect.

Fastest – The top prize of your stay for the following year, plus Dakoto 20 with choice of mapping
Furthest – Garmin Foretrex 310XT and Dakota 20 with choice of mapping
Highest – Garmin Dakota 20 with choice of mapping
Prize Draw – Garmin Forerunner 310XT – to encourage the non-competitive.

Journalist Jon Secret came to Morzine to experience the delights of the Portes Du Soleil Ski area and experienced first hand the excellent service from our lovely chalet hosts, Sarah and Andy, great food, fun times and attention to detail at our luxury catered chalet in Central Morzine, The Loft.

Have a read here….

The Independent Snow Traveller does More Mountain

Jon says…

“I’d never been to Morzine, so it could hardly be my favourite place to ski, but a luxury fully catered chalet? I decided it was time to try something new.

Morzine is one of the more northerly resorts in the French Alps, and within easy reach of Europe’s winter-sports hub, Geneva. Just 80 minutes after leaving the airport, the transfer bus was pulling up outside The Loft, my home for the week. It’s run by the husband-and-wife team Jon and Sam Dredge of More Mountain, an independent chalet company specialising in what they call “non pretentious” luxury chalet holidays in Morzine.

The Loft occupies the top two floors of a traditional Savoyard farmhouse, now transformed into a place of slick luxury. There’s a games and a chill-out area on one level with a large flat-screen television, DVD and satellite, heated floors throughout, an iMac computer and WiFi running the sound system. The views from the balcony over the pretty town and soaring mountains are stunning.

My chalet hosts, Andy and Sarah, wasted no time inviting me to relax on the sumptuous leather sofas, where I drank champagne and ate canapés. Then it was on to the first gourmet meal of the week, washed down with wine and homemade toffee vodka.

It didn’t take long before I was mentally redrafting my list of favourite ski resorts. The task became easier as I learned how splendidly connected everything is, thanks to an extensive network of lifts. The Super Morzine and Pleney ski lifts are just a short walk in snowboard boots from the chalet or an even shorter ride in the complimentary chalet pick-up and drop-off service. A fuzzy head dictated the latter option, using the chalet’s private shuttle: an ex-military go anywhere and do anything Land Rover Defender called “The Baron”.

Happy Days!

“Thanks to its proximity to Geneva airport, snowboard-friendly pistes and parks, and less obscene drink pricing than many other resorts, Morzine has more independent chalets than most resorts. One such offering is More Mountain, run by husband-and-wife team Sam and John Dredge, who promise “luxury but not pretentious” sleek-looking chalets in the heart of town. Each is furnished with iPods, flatscreen TVs and Garmin GPS devices so you can plot where you’ve skied and, more crucially, see how fast you’ve gone. They make toffee vodka and provide hip flasks to take up the mountain, as well as serving bacon and eggs for breakfast, for when you’ve overdone it the night before.” Sam Haddad, The Observer Sunday 12th December 2011.

Read more here…

http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2010/dec/12/ski-travel-owner-run-chalets

"The Baron"

The time has come to replace our trusty Mazda Bongo and our not so t’rusty Mitsubishi Shogun!

We had been looking at various 4X4 vehicles that could comfortably transport 8 guests around Morzine, and to and from the ski lifts.

The decision was made. A classless yet quality vehicle, The Landrover Defender is an iconic and Uber Cool vehicle to ferry our guests about town and as their slogan says they are…

” The Best 4 X 4 by Far “

For those guests staying at The Loft “The Baron” – an ex RAF Landrover Defender 110, will play a big part in your winter holiday with us, transporting you to and from the lifts each day.

"Junior"

“Junior” – an ex “Cheshire Set” Landrover Defender 90, will be used as an additional vehicle to the 2 minibuses that we have at our larger chalets, Chalet Robin and La Cabine

Here’s hoping for plenty of snow this year, to put the 2 newbies to the test!

If you fancy your own Defender, contact Marple Road Garage in Stockport for some great advice and help. Ask for Pam!

BREAKING NEWS…
Passportes du Soleil 2011 will be taking place over THREE days meaning that there will be more entrance tickets available for next year

Come and stay with us at More Mountain for that weekend as we guarantee entrance into the event for all our guests.
Click here for more details and watch this space for dates, prices and more info…

Garmin^® celebrates a successful winter season and rewards the fastest, highest and furthest travelled in the Alps. More Mountain Morzine, one of Garmins hand selected Alpine test centres for the new Garmin Foretrex GPS, are thrilled to announce two of the three winners as their own!

Garmin^® the global leader in satellite navigation celebrated its first and successful winter season in snowsports by announcing the 3 champion skiers and snowboarders from the Alpine Garmin Test Centres that travelled the fastest, highest and furthest. It turns out that 2 of the 3 winners stayed with us here at More Mountain in our luxury chalets in Morzine this winter.

Throughout the Winter 09/10 season, over 5,000 guests swooshed through the doors of Garmin Test Centre Chalets across the Alps and snapped at the opportunity to trial the Foretrex 401 GPS devices, as sported last season by BBC Ski Sunday’s Graham Bell.

The practical wrist-worn device provided thousands of trialists with immediate speed, height and distance feedback, as well as extensive navigational capacity. More than simply enhancing the users’ slope-time, at the end of the day trialists uploaded their daily tracklogs to Garmin Snow Club for automatic entry into the season’s league table and chance to win a week’s winter holiday and Garmin devices. After 5 months, and well over 10,000 tracked miles, Garmin can reveal the Test Centre Champions for Winter 09/10:

How Fast? – Jonathan Brothers, 75.1mph – More Mountain Chalets, Morzine

*A week’s winter holiday for two at More Mountain, plus a Foretrex 401 device*

How High? – Andy Fisher, 10,585m (vertical descent) – Pleisure Holidays, Courchevel

*A Foretrex 401 and Dakota 20 device*

How Far? – Ben Lakin, 45.07miles – More Mountain Chalets, Morzine

*A Foretrex 401 device*

“In our first year of presenting the brand to the snowsports market, we have been overwhelmed with the response” said Chris Merrell, Garmin’s Marketing Manager. “We knew that the Foretrex 401 filled a gap in the market, but for demand to increase 10-fold on last year has taken even us by surprise. We now intend to push on into Winter 10/11 taking the learning’s gained from our excellent Test Centres and ambassadors Graham Bell and Ed Leigh to further increase the benefits that Garmin brings to snowsports.”

Both Garmin devices are available at all Snow + Rock and Ellis Brigham stores nationwide.

Foretrex^® 401 – SRP £199.99

Dakota^TM 20 – SRP £279.99

For a chance to win a FREE HOLIDAY or Garmin GPS next season, book your stay at More Mountain and join the winning team from this year!