Avoriaz Opens Early

Early Snow

Avoriaz opens early and it has been SNOWING!

With all the early snow we have had in the recent couple of weeks Avoriaz is to open its lifts early this weekend (2nd December). We have a great base now for the coming winter. Serma, the lift company, have announced that the Arare, Fornet and Lindarets sectors in Avoriaz will be open for the weekend.

The photo here is taken last weekend 26/11/17 by Andy our resort manager. Andy got up early to make the most of the fresh snow.

Chatel also announced earlier this week that they will also open this weekend. Locals will be able to make the most of the snow. Champery opened early last weekend so it looks like the Portes Du Soleil is all set for Winter.

We have availability for pre Christmas short breaks and New Year. We also have on offer a great Cheap Week for the week commencing 13th/14th January in association with Gypsy Snowboarding.

Start of the season.

All of our staff arrive this weekend for the start of staff training. We will be putting them through their paces so we can deliver the usual great service for your holiday. We cant wait until our first guest arrive and winter really does start. The long range forecast is looking good. We are hoping that, as predicted, there will be snow and cold snaps every 2 – 3 weeks across Northern Europe. So, let’s give praise to the snow gods and keep our fingers and toes crossed that they will deliver powder days until April.

Avoriaz Opens Early

Lift passes are €20.50 per day or €39 for the weekend, who could resist.

Lifts open are Prodain Express, Du Tour, Prolays and Lac Intréts.

Dont miss out on what will be an epic winter info@ridersrefuge.co.uk

Come Spend Christmas in Morzine with Riders Refuge.

We are now taking bookings for Christmas 2017.

Why do the dishes? Fancy spending Christmas in Morzine? Come and stay in one of our beautiful catered chalets this Christmas and we’ll take away all the hassle that comes with preparing and cooking and clearing away Christmas dinner.

We have six different chalets available the smallest being Chalet Emile sleeping 8 people to our largest chalet Chalet Carclion that sleeps up to 21 people.
All our chalets will be decorated for Christmas with a real Christmas tree. Christmas dinner is served on Christmas day with all the trimmings.

• Your day will kick off with bucks fizz, while you open your presents. We will serve breakfast with a festive twist to set you up for a day skiing or snowboarding, then enjoy your day up the mountain.
• There will be mince pies and Christmas cake waiting back at the chalet on your return later that day.
• Dinner will start with some festive canapes then full on Christmas dinner with all the trimmings followed by Christmas pudding and a cheese board.

While you relax in front of the fire or go out into town to enjoy the many bars and clubs we will do the dishes.

There is also lots going on in Morzine to celebrate Christmas.

Father Christmas is in Morzine every day from 18th December for you to visit outside the tourist office. There are other activities on across the week at the tourist office including welcome drinks and face painting.

They have a big fireworks show and the traditional torch lit descent on Christmas Eve at 18:30. This takes place at the bottom of the Pleney slope. Father Christmas will arrive along with the elves, then off goes Father Christmas to deliver his presents.

You can go and visit Pere Noel in Les Gets where he lives.

So come a treat yourself this Christmas!!

Our Christmas holidays are the same price as an off peak week and start at £449 per person including return transfers from Geneva airport.

Now is the time to book your Christmas getaway, email us – info@ridersrefuge.co.uk or call +33682635591.

See you soon.

Rock the Pistes 2017 is back again, the festival returns to the Portes du Soleil for its 7th year 19th – 25th of March! This year there are over 30 concerts taking place over 5 days across the whole resort. Five well known artists will be playing in various locations on the slopes from the 19th to the 25th March with the most glorious backdrops only accessible by ski. With free access with your Portes du Soleil lift-pass, all you need to do to enjoy the festival is to get yourself there!

The festival offers 5 days of free gigs for everyone. Each day a major artist will be on the main stage atop the slopes at 1:30pm, with a DJ playing from 12:30pm. There will be drink stands where you can enjoy a beer or soda whilst boogying out to your favourite artist. Every evening there will be après concerts playing in the resort villages from 6pm so you can continue the festivities off the slopes!

This years performers are a mix of international and French pop-rock artists.
Sunday 19th kicks us off in Morgins with Matmatah and on Monday 20th, Chinese man headlines in Châtel. The gigs continue on Thursday 23rd in Avoriaz with Rag’N Bone Man and on Friday 24th Caravan Palace rocks out in our very own Morzine/Les Gets! Saturday sees the last of the big performers with Julian Peretta playing in Champery/Les Crosets.

Rock the Pistes festival has always been a favorite of ours at Riders Refuge as it brings something different to your average ski holiday. Rocking out to famous artists on top of the mountains in all your ski gear with the most magnificent backdrops is something you don’t want to miss out on. This is such a fun festival that adds something special to your ski holiday.

This year, there is a ski slope treasure hunt with full area ski passes up for grabs! On Tuesday 21st and Wednesday 22nd, all you have to do to take part, is to pick up a game card from the ticket window in your resort and find at least 5 hidden markers located all over the resort. The last marker will be located on the Swiss side of the Col de Portes du Soleil. Once the last marker is found, you have until 3pm to validate it for a chance to win your prize. For more details on the rules and regulations and how to enter, head to the main website HERE.

With the main stage starting in the afternoon, it gives you a chance to do some hard skiing in the morning with the option of chilling out with some open-air concerts for the rest of the day. If you are feeling particularly merry by the end of the day or your feet are aching from all the dancing, our shuttle service can pick you up and drop you right back to your chalet with dinner already prepared by our fabulous hosts.

If you haven’t already booked a holiday and are looking for something extra on your ski holiday this year then this is a great week to book in with us!

We can take care of all your bookings and hospitality needs so all you need to do is take care of enjoying yourself!

info@ridersrefuge.co.uk

#BringOnWinter #RidersRefuge

2016 Tour De France Morzine

Tour De France Route 2016 – On the 2nd July the 103rd Tour De France will depart from Mont Sainte-Michel, La Manche in the North of France. It will cover a total distance of 3,519 Km before it finishes in Paris on the 24th july.

There are 21 stages which cover four countries France, Spain, Andorra and Switzerland. There are alot of new places for the Tour this year 16 places never visited before. We are delighted that Morzine features in this years tour. Stages 18 & 19 are also a short drive from morzine.

The 21 stages will cover

• 9 flat stages.
• 1 hilly stage.
• 9 mountain stages including 4 summit finishes. (Andorre Arcalis, Mont Ventoux, Finhaut-Emosson et Saint-Gervaix Mont Blanc.)
• 2 individual time trial stages.
• 2 rest days.

There are 16 places that have never been seen in the TDF :-

Utah Beach. Sainte-Marie-du-Mont. Saint-Lô. Arpajon-sur-Cère. L’Isle-Jourdain. Lac de Payolle. Vielha Val d’Aran. Escaldes-Engordany. Bourg-Saint-Andéol. La Caverne du Pont-d’Arc. Villars-les-Dombes Parc des Oiseaux. Culoz. Moirans-en-Montagne. Berne. Finhaut-Emosson. Megève and Chantilly.

There will be 2 individual time trials.

Stage 13 37km Bourg-Saint-Andéol and La Caverne du Pont-d’Arc.

Stage 18 17km between Sallanches and Megève on 21st July. This is only 40 minutes by car from Morzine.

 Stage 20 Megeve to Morzine.

Christian Prudhomme’s comment. – “The Grand Final for the climbers and maybe for the Yellow Jersey will once again be played in the Alps. On a short and intense stage for which one will have to keep energy… and cold blood. Indeed after the climbs to the Col de la Ramaz, and then Joux Plane, the Tour could well be decided on a long 12-kilometre downhill portion. A first! “

Megeve has never hosted the tour but has been the start of many stages of the Critérium du Dauphiné. This stage of the Tour will start from Megeve and head through Flumet. The 1st climb of the day Col des Aravis 1487m, then on to Le Grand Bornand. The 2nd climb is Col de la Colombiére 1618m. They will then cross the valley floor and after leaving Mieussy the riders take on the Col De la Ramaz 1619m. Descending to Taninges and along to Samoen where they tackle the biggest climb of the day the Col de Joux plane 1691m. The final descend into Morzine for what we expect will be an exciting finish to the Mountain stages and the end of the penultimate day.

The Tour de France 1st came to Morzine in 1975 and this will be 19th time the town has been apart of the Tour De France.

Tour De France Route 2016 – 21 Stages

We Now have limited availability for the week the Tour visits Morzine so  Get In Touch Now…… info@ridersrefuge.co.uk.

You can see all our chalets here.

A very HAPPY NEW YEAR from Morzine, we would like to thank everyone that has stayed with us across 2014, and also to the guys who have worked for us in our catered chalets over the past 12 months, you have all made 2014 a great one.

We have had nearly 1500 people stay with us in 2014 across our 5 chalets (which will shortly become 6 catered chalets) over the last 3 seasons which were 2014 and with the snow arriving just in time we are looking forward to 2015. We have a new chalet this winter Chalet L’Hérens which will be ready for the end of January and we look forward to welcoming back returning guests and meeting all our new guests that are staying with us for the first time in 2015.

Happy New Year From Morzine

New years eve will be celebrated in Morzine in style, the party starts early with free vin chaud and the tourchlit descent down the Pleney at 18:00 followed by the town’s ever impressive firework display. There are alot of parties to choose from tonight, you can see the new year in in the Place de tourism where the party starts from 21:00 till late with DJ Gatuso. Most bars and restaurants in Morzine will be having live music and DJ’s too to see in the New year, some places will operate a ticket system but some bars and restaurants have a free door policy.

We are now taking bookings so you can welcome the New Year in in Morzine next year although a couple of chalets are already taken and we have a small bit of availability still for the next few weeks so get in touch if you would like to get away to the mountains for a catered chalet holiday. –  info@ridersrefuge.co.uk or 0033 682 635 591

So Here’s wishing you a very Happy New Year from Morzine. from all the team at Riders Refuge

All the best for 2015………

Group ski holidays with Riders Refuge

If you are tasked with organising a snowboard or ski holiday for a group, it can often feel like an insurmountable task. A lot of juggling can be necessary to keep everyone happy and accommodate each group member’s needs. There are a variety of factors to consider such as the ski area, the location of the chalet or hotel, catering and facilities, lessons and on top of this it has to come in on budget. We decided to speak to our guests and staff to find out the most important factors to consider when arranging a group ski or snowboard holiday and how to keep the whole experience fun and stress-free.

Tip 1 –Book ahead to get the most choice and best deals.
If you are looking to organise a group ski holiday, you will want to start looking as early as possible, particularly if your group is large. Starting early will give your group the best chance of finding your perfect ski accommodation. Chalet holidays are ideal for groups with a great, social environment and communal relaxation and dining areas to enjoy after a hard day on the mountain. In addition, there are early bird discounts in many chalets for those who book ahead.

Tip 2 – The Ski Area
The Ski area itself must be given serious consideration when booking a group ski or snowboard trip. In most cases, group members will be of different ability levels and so terrain needs to be found to suit everyone. For accomplished skiers and riders, days tackling the steeps or doing park laps may be tempting but don’t forget about any less experienced members of the group who will reap the benefits of good nursery slopes and greens and blues for progression. Ski areas such as the Portes du Soleil are ideal with hundreds of kilometres of pistes for all levels and a good choice of well-placed mountain restaurants where different group members can reunite for a drink.

Tip 3 – Location, Location, Location
Location is extremely important when organising a group ski or snowboard holiday. Firstly, the location of your chosen resort comes in to play. If you choose a resort with a short transfer from the airport, you can take a morning flight and be on the slopes by the afternoon. Many Riders Refuge guests chose Morzine for its short transfer time at just 75 minutes from Geneva.
The location of your chalet within your chosen resort is also extremely important. If some of the group are non-skiers or are keen to take days off, a chalet that is a long way from shops and activities may feel quite isolated. Resort maps can be hard to interpret if it’s your first visit, so ask the chalet company how far the property is from facilities before you book. All Riders Refuge chalets are either in the town centre or a short walk away whilst Chalet les Pistes, our most central Morzine chalet is just 100 metres from the Pleney lift.

Tip 4 – Enquire about room sizes and living space
If you are travelling with a large group, you will want a chalet that feels spacious, where rooms are a decent size and with a good number of bathrooms. With increasing pressure for space in many ski resorts, some chalets may have smaller bedrooms than you’d expect. Conversely, other chalets may have small living areas which aren’t always sufficient for the number of guests. Riders Refuge properties have been carefully selected to provide comfortable living space for your ski or snowboard holiday. Our guest Amy, who visited Riders Refuge in February 2014 wrote “The chalet itself was bigger than places I have stayed before and felt really homely”. Our living areas are also equipped with Wii consoles and media centres containing a good selection of films to ensure groups are kept entertained.

Tip 5 – Catered versus Self Catered
Whether you opt for a catered chalet or a self-catered property will largely depend on your group’s needs; however it seems that these days the costs are now comparable. Guests who have opted for self-catered in the past say that costs quickly mount, particularly taking into account staples and food for breakfast as well as the cost of an evening meal. In addition, there is the food preparation time to consider when you’re tired after a day on the mountain. Riders Refuge offer a catered service in our chalets on 6 days including a cooked or continental style breakfast, afternoon tea and a three course meal with plenty of wine. One night a week, the chalet staff have a day off which gives guests the opportunity to sample local Morzine restaurants.

Tip 6 -.Chose a company that can offer a personal service
One of most common pieces of feedback that we receive at Riders Refuge is that our guests really enjoy the personalised service. As our guest Amy explains, “Everything was great – booking with a small company you really get much better service from the moment you book to when you leave”. Sam who stayed with Riders Refuge in January 2014 agrees “Jill and Jono who run Riders Refuge were so helpful beforehand. Replying to every message swiftly and giving me great advice”. All Riders Refuge packages include airport transfers which will be arranged around your flight times plus the team can also help with any extras such as lessons, ski hire and activities – all you have to do is turn up!

Riders Refuge have years of experience in organising group ski holidays. So whatever the size of group, we should be able help arrange a superb holiday for you in our chalets in Morzine. For more information, contact us to speak to one of our friendly team.

L’Hérens – New catered chalet

Our New Catered Chalet – Chalet L’Herens will be available for this coming winter. We are very excited to have this beautiful brand new property in our portfolio. Riders Refuge is now entering our 8th winter season with all our catered chalets based in Central Morzine to date. This fabulous brand new chalet we feel will fit in perfectly for our guests due to the high standard of the chalet, its location and the fantastic views not to mention our food and service.

New catered chalet – Chalet L’Herens

Chalet L’Hérens is situated on the outskirts of Morzine in Montriond. It is with in walking distance of Morzine town centre it takes 15 minutes to get to Morzine tourist office and less to walk to the nearest lift station the Super Morzine. The Super Morzine lift takes you to Avoriaz there is also the Pleney chairlift another 5 minutes walk away which takes you to the Morzine ski area and across to Les Gets and it is an easy walk on the flat. This chalet will sleep up to 10 people in 5 spacious bedrooms 3 of the bedrooms have their own en suites bathrooms with either a bath or a walk-in shower with the other 2 bedrooms sharing a jack and jill style en suite. This catered chalet will have a large living area downstairs with a log fire, open plan dining room and kitchen. Chalet L’Hérens also boast an equipment store with boot warmers and drying room.

Our service in this catered chalet

Our price includes free return transfers from Geneva airport to your chalet. Chalet L’Hérens is catered on arrival you will be greeted by your chalet hosts and onced you have been showed your bedroom you will be offered a welcome drink. We provide breakfast every morning there is a hot option available which is different everyday from bacon sandwiches to pancakes, the hot option is not available on the staff day off but there is cereal, fresh fruit and fresh bread available.  Afternoon tea is freshly baked everyday and will be waiting for you when you return from your day up the mountain.  Dinner is preceeded by canapés then a three course dinner followed by coffee.

We offer to take you to the slopes after breakfast and there is the offer of a lift back from 16:30 till dinner time. The chalet is very conveniently situated next to a bus stop, the buses in Morzine are free of charge and run throughout the day till early evening.

Healthy Chalet Menu is also available for groups taking exclusive use of this chalet for winter 2015/16. YOu can see more details here

Price

This chalet is sold at a introductory price for this winter starting at as little as £379 per person for the easter holidays, the chalet is still available for February half term so get in quick if you are still looking for this week.

The Pleney has already had snow. October 2014

Early snow for Morzine this autumn. As the temperatures dropped last week to just above freezing level and we saw the first snow of the season fall on higher ground. We are now looking forward to winter which is just over 6 weeks away. Early snow for Morzine and the Portes Du soleil area is not unusual. In the time we have been here (8 years) we have always been delighted to see early snow with the lift companies often opening the lifts on weekends late November for the locals to enjoy the snow before the resort officially opens and gets back to business. Avoriaz opens on the 13th December with Rock on Ultimate a snowboard and music event over the first week.

Snow Conditions in morzine.

Morzine town is at 1000m and it is because of this many people think we would struggle for snow. This is not true we have a fantastic snow record, the highest point in the Portes Du Soleil area reaches 2500m. We are in close proximity to Mont Blanc and because of this we benefit from their weather system, this brings Morzine and the Portes Du Soleil similar snow conditions to that of higher resorts. We are also very close to Lac Leman (Geneva) and as the cold winds arrive from the north east they pick up moisture from the lake and deposit it on the first mountains they meet which is the Portes Du Soleil area.

The average snowfall for Avoriaz over the last ten years shows that it has an outstanding record better that that of Val Thorens. Even when the snowfall across the French alps has been poor the Portes Du Soleil has still been open for the whole season mid December to mid April.

Snow arrives in Avoriaz park

Our Ski area also boasts a fantastic snow making system with over 694 snow cannons to date. These snow cannons can make natural snow when the temperature drops to below 3° c, and the lift companies strive to keep the Pistes in perfect conditions from early December till late April.

So why not come and join us for some early season skiing or snowboarding we have short breaks available pre Christmas.

Contact us now – 0033 682 635 591 or info@ridersrefuge.co.uk

Work progress summer 2014, New lifts in the Portes Du Soleil

We are excited to report that work on 2 new Avoriaz lifts has been progressing well this summer. Here at Riders Refuge, we have been monitoring the progress of work on the Procolou and Serrausaix lifts with interest.

The Morzine and Avoriaz ski areas have benefited enormously from lift improvements in the last few years including the new Prodains express and Pleney lift. However the Avoriaz Lift company Serma have continued to invest heavily in their chairlift system and the Portes Du Soleil area. Residents and visitors alike welcoming plans to improve the Procolou and Serrausaix lifts, linking Morzine to Avoriaz via the super-Morzine.

The two chairlifts, (previously 2 four-man chairs) have long been the source of bottle-necks, particularly in peak-season. Congestion at the Procolou lift was exacerbated by the popularity of its run of the same name, a wide, very gentle blue, ideal for those progressing from the nursery slopes. Due to this popularity and the high volume of skiers and snowboarders coming over to Avoriaz from Morzine, queues at the lift could often be lengthy until mid-afternoon. Once people started to head back towards Morzine, the queues then tended to mount at the Serrausaix lift.

The good news is that both lifts are currently being upgraded and should be ready for the start of 14/15 winter season. The Proclou is to become a new high-speed 6-man chair, whilst the Serrausaix will be upgraded to run at higher speed, transporting a greater number of passengers per hour.

On our first visit in early August, bulldozers were preparing the ground for the 2 base stations and foundations to the new pylons were complete. Now, a month on, many of the pylons are actually in place and trees have been felled to make way for the new Serrausaix top station. The Serrausaix lift will now end slightly higher up, further in the direction of the super-Morzine.

Work has been hampered by the wet conditions this summer but the dryer weather we are currently seeing in Morzine-Avoriaz should assist workers in getting the project complete in time for the winter opening. We are looking forward to smaller queues and a faster trip for those who wish to ski over to Avoriaz!