How to Organise a Group Ski Holiday Without the Stress

Organising a ski holiday for a big group can feel like a daunting task. Different budgets, different skiing abilities, different arrival times and a lot of people to keep happy. But with the right accommodation and a little planning, it really doesn't need to be stressful.

There’s no getting around it — sometimes feel like herding kittens. 🐱 You set up the group chat, launch it with an enthusiastic “Ski trip to Morzine – who’s in?” and then the questions start.

So, how do you organise a group ski holiday without the stress?

When should we go? What’s everyone’s budget? Catered or self-catered? One big chalet or several apartments? Who needs lessons? Who’s hiring skis? And how on earth are 12 people getting from Geneva Airport to Morzine at roughly the same time?

At More Mountain, we've been organising group ski holidays in Morzine for 20 years. Whether you want the fully catered chalet experience, with everything taken care of for you, or the freedom and flexibility of one of our large self-catered chalets or apartments, we can help make the whole holiday easy from start to finish.

And choosing self-catered doesn't mean you're left to organise everything yourselves. Our Morzine team can help with airport transfers, lift passes, ski and snowboard hire, lessons, food and wine deliveries, flexible catering, private chefs and plenty more. You choose the accommodation and the level of support that works for your group — we'll help with the rest.

So, if you've somehow ended up as the group organiser, don't panic! From choosing the right property and collecting deposits to sorting transfers, ski passes, food and getting everyone onto the mountain, here are our top tips for organising a group ski holiday without the stress.

Simple Steps to make things easier

Start early, put one person in charge and agree the dates, budget and accommodation before getting the whole group involved. Once the main decisions are made, arrange transfers, lift passes, ski hire and lessons in advance - and remember that choosing self-catered accommodation doesn’t mean organising everything yourself.

At More Mountain, we've been organising ski holidays in Morzine for 20 years, and we've learnt a thing or two about keeping groups happy. So here are our tips for getting everyone to the mountains with your friendships still intact.

In this guide:

• Choose a lead organiser
• Find the right accommodation
• Book early
• Choose the right resort
• Agree the budget
• Arrange ski lessons, hire and passes
• Plan travel and transfers
• Organise food
• Arrange childcare
• Create a flexible itinerary
• Frequently asked questions

1. Appoint a Lead Booker to Take Charge

Being the lead booker means you need to take charge. Too many opinions can quickly make organising a group ski holiday overly complicated and drag the decision-making out for weeks.

Our advice? Nominate one or two people to do the research before you even create the group chat. Pick a couple of possible weeks, speak to a few accommodation providers and shortlist two or three solid options that work for the group.

Then present those choices to everyone else. Don't send 15 chalet links and ask, “What does everyone think?” You may still be discussing it at Easter!

Fewer options make it much easier for everyone to decide. Give people clear choices, set a deadline and make the decision.

2. Choose the right type of accommodation for your group : Catered or Self Catered?

A luxury catered chalet can often be appealing for a large group but it isn't the only way to make a group ski holiday easy. 😉

A large self-catered chalet or a combination of apartments can give your group more space and flexibility — and with the right services around you, it doesn't have to mean doing everything yourselves.

For many groups, self-catering offers much more flexibility. Modern self-catering doesn't necessarily mean spending your holiday queuing in the supermarket or organising everything yourselves.

With More Mountain, you can stay in one of our self-catered chalets or apartments and still ask us to help organise the rest of your holiday — including transfers, lift passes, ski hire, food and wine, additional meal options and plenty of other useful extras.

You get the freedom of self-catering, with a local team in Morzine there when you need us.

For multi-generational groups or several families travelling together two or three apartments close to each other can be even better as you all get your own space.

Everyone still holidays together, but grandparents can escape the children, early birds aren't waking the night owls and each family gets a little privacy.

We have several properties in Morzine that work particularly well in combination, so it's worth asking us what can be booked together.

One large chalet or several apartments?

For some groups, one big chalet is part of the fun. Large living spaces mean everyone can eat, drink and relax together at the end of the day.

A larger catered chalet is brilliant if your group wants everything taken care of. Meals are prepared for you, there's no supermarket run, cooking rota or debate about whose turn it is to clear up, so everyone gets to properly switch off and enjoy the holiday.

It's particularly good for larger groups because mealtimes become part of the holiday rather than another thing to organise. Everyone can come back from the mountain, relax together over afternoon tea, enjoy drinks before dinner and sit down to a freshly prepared meal without anyone disappearing into the kitchen.

It also takes a lot of the day-to-day decision-making out of the week — leaving you with more time for skiing, snowboarding, après and actually spending time together.

Take a look at our flagship Catered Chalet - Chalet Le Stade. It's a fabulous option for a large group and will keep everyone happy!

3. Book early, especially for large groups 

The larger your group, the smaller your pool of suitable accommodation becomes.

If you need a property sleeping 10, 12 or 14 people — particularly during February half term, Christmas or New Year — don't leave it until the last minute.

The same applies if you'd like several apartments in the same building or neighbourhood.

Start the conversation early, work out who's genuinely committed and get your accommodation secured.

When is the best time for a group ski holiday?

The time of year you choose can make a big difference to your holiday experience. Do you want to soak up the festive atmosphere over Christmas or New Year? Or do you want a week of slush bashing in April, with longer days to enjoy apres drinks in the sun?

Take a look at our guide to the Best Times to Go Skiing in the French Alps, so you can decide when is best for you and your group.

4. Agree the budget and collect payments early

Money can be one of the trickiest parts of organising a group ski holiday, so agree on a realistic budget before you start looking at accommodation.

Before booking, make sure everyone understands:

• the accommodation cost
• the deposit required
• when the final balance is due
• what's included
• which extras they'll need to budget for
• the flight or travel costs and transfers to resort

Give everyone a firm deadline for paying their share of the deposit.

A WhatsApp message saying “Can everyone send me the money when they get a minute?” is unlikely to end well.

TOP TIP: For larger groups, use an app such as Splitwise or Revolut to keep track of shared holiday costs. You can record who's paid for what, split bills between the group and see exactly who owes what — much easier than someone trying to keep track of everything in a WhatsApp chat or spreadsheet.

Getting the right Price Point

Self-catered chalets and apartments can work out considerably cheaper, particularly for larger groups, and give you much more control over what you spend once you're in resort.

However, always worth considering is that a catered chalet might initially look considerably more expensive, but once a self-catered group has paid for supermarket shops, wine and beer, restaurant meals and takeaways, the difference can become much smaller.

Take a look at a recent blog we wrote about Catered Chalets v's Self Catered Chalets and Apartments. You may find this very useful!

A catered chalet will usually have a higher upfront cost, but you're paying for a much more luxurious and effortless experience. Breakfasts, afternoon tea, dinners and drinks are generally included, there's no shopping or cooking to organise and far fewer extras to think about during the week.

You may even find you've spent less overall with catered — and you've had the benefit of being looked after all week.

Ultimately, it's about deciding what matters most to your group: keeping the initial accommodation cost down and having more flexibility, or paying more upfront for a holiday where much more is already included and taken care of.

And remember, self-catered doesn't have to mean doing everything yourselves. With our flexible catering, food and wine deliveries and concierge services, you can choose where you want to save and where you'd rather pay for a little extra help.

Don't forget the additional costs of the holiday: flights or travel, transfers, lift passes, ski hire, lessons, insurance, meals and spending money.

Getting everyone clear on the approximate total at the beginning avoids awkward conversations later.

5. Choose a resort that works for everyone : We ❤️ Morzine

Unless you've somehow assembled a group where everyone skis at exactly the same level and wants to do exactly the same thing every day, resort choice matters.

You might have complete beginners, confident intermediates, powder-hunters, snowboarders, young children and someone who has absolutely no intention of putting ski boots on.

This is where Morzine works particularly well for groups.

Beginners have accessible areas to learn, while experienced skiers and snowboarders can explore the enormous Portes du Soleil ski area. There are plenty of restaurants, bars and activities away from skiing too, so non-skiers don't have to spend the week waiting for everyone else to come home.

And nobody needs to ski together all day.

In our experience, the happiest groups split up, do what they fancy and reconvene for lunch, après or dinner.

6. Don't leave the ski admin until you arrive

This is one of the easiest ways to make a group ski holiday less stressful. You can see everything we feel is super important for forward planning on a ski holiday in our practical information section. 

Ski and snowboard lessons

We are big believers that anyone can benefit from proper lessons, from first timers to advanced shredders. And learning to ski as an adult doesn't have to be scary.

You can book lessons as part of a group with others of a similar level, or you can go with private individual lessons to have one on one time with an instructor. You can also book guided off-piste sessions to find those secret spots on powder days!

Morzine has some great ski and snowboard schools. We recommend booking lessons as soon as you've confirmed your holiday dates so you don't miss out.

Beginners should absolutely have proper lessons — teaching your partner to ski is rarely conducive to a harmonious holiday.

Ski and snowboard hire

Get everyone's height, weight, shoe size and ability sorted beforehand and arrange equipment before you arrive.

Even better, depending on the service you choose, equipment can be fitted or delivered with minimal disruption to your first day.

Lift passes

Nobody wants to start the first morning of their ski holiday standing in a queue while 11 friends ask who's buying which pass.

More Mountain guests can organise lift passes in advance, so you can arrive with another job already ticked off the list.

7. Keep your airport transfers simple

If everyone is travelling from different places, don't try to control every journey.

Let people organise their own flights or trains, but encourage anyone flying into Geneva to choose arrival times that are reasonably close together.

That can allow several people to share a transfer rather than organising separate vehicles.

And this is another area where using a local accommodation company helps: you don't need to research every transfer operator yourself. We can help organise the journey from Geneva to Morzine as part of your holiday planning.

How To Travel

Fly, drive or take the train? How you get to the resort all depends on where people are travelling from, how much time they have, and budgets.

Getting to Morzine is simple and one of the easiest resorts to access. Our top tip is to let everyone arrange their own travel!

If you're all flying into the same airport then you can ask everyone to try and book flights that arrive around about the same time so you can share a transfer from the airport to the resort, but anything more than that can be a bit of a nightmare.

We've written a handy guide to help you decide whether you fly or drive. Or for an alternative option, have a look at our blog, How to Travel to Morzine by Train.

8. Plan the food, but don’t assume you have to cook

One of the big advantages of a self-catered group ski holiday is the freedom to eat what you want, when you want.

But let's be clear: self-catering doesn't mean somebody in your group has to spend every evening cooking dinner for 10 or 12 people!

We think the best group holidays mix things up. Cook together one night, head out to one of Morzine's brilliant restaurants the next, order dinner in, or treat yourselves to a private chef for a special evening.

At More Mountain, we've also created our Flexible Catering options specifically for guests who love the freedom of self-catering but don't necessarily want to do all the catering themselves.

Our Meals on Wheels service brings freshly prepared restaurant food from our friends at La Grange directly to your chalet or apartment. You can simply heat and serve it when you're ready, or upgrade to our Hosted Meals on Wheels, where our team delivers your dinner, serves the food and wine – and even clears everything away afterwards.

There are plenty of other options too, from local meal-delivery services and private chefs to cakes and treats, and we can even do your food shopping before you arrive so the fridge is stocked with the essentials when you walk through the door.

For a large group, having this flexibility can make a huge difference. You still have your own space, your own timetable and your own kitchen – but nobody has to become the designated chef for the week.

That's really what modern self-catering should be: all the freedom, without having to do everything yourself.

Our tip: If you're planning to eat out as a large group, book your restaurants well in advance, particularly during peak weeks. A table for 12 at 7.30pm is considerably harder to find than a table for four! 

We have a number of restaurants that we love here in Morzine - Read our handy restaurant guide here for all the up to date information!

9. Organise childcare in advance

Some groups can consist of multiple generations of the same family. This really works for many people, as they take it in turns to look after the kids. But sometimes childcare is essential for everyone to enjoy their holiday.

For multi-generational groups, grandparents can sometimes help with childcare — although we'd recommend checking they've actually agreed to this before announcing the arrangement. 😉

If you need professional childcare, this really needs to be booked well in advance, as childcare providers are very busy during the winter, especially in peak weeks. 

And remember to think beyond childcare. If you've got children of different ages, ski schools, lesson times and meeting points all need to work alongside the adults' plans.

Group Ski Holiday Checklist

A few weeks before you travel, send everyone one final checklist.

Sort before you travel

• Flights, train or driving arrangements
• Airport/resort transfers
• Travel insurance including winter sports cover
• Lift passes
• Ski or snowboard hire
• Ski/snowboard lessons
• Childcare if required
• Restaurant bookings for large groups
• Food/catering arrangements
• Any activities for non-skiers

Don't forget to pack

• Passport
• Ski/snowboard jacket and trousers
• Thermal layers
• Gloves
• Helmet
• Goggles and sunglasses
• Suncream
• Suitable winter footwear

Enough socks and pants — because apparently somebody always forgets them.

Start planning your group ski holiday in Morzine

Choose accommodation that genuinely suits your group, rather than simply finding somewhere with enough beds. Get deposits collected early. Pre-book lessons, ski hire, transfers and lift passes. Think about food before you arrive. And don't attempt to organise every waking minute of everybody's holiday.

Most importantly, remember that choosing self-catered accommodation doesn't mean you have to organise the entire ski holiday yourself.

That's very much how we approach things at More Mountain.

We have a collection of luxury self-catered chalets and apartments in Morzine, alongside our fully catered Chalet Le Stade, but the accommodation is only one part of what we do.

Contact our team in Morzine for help with everything else that turns a collection of flights, lift passes, skis, and beds into an actual holiday.