Explore europe in a campervan

Well, the lift that used to carry people up the side of the valley from the car park below the gondola was unreliable last year…and this year they seem to have given up on it. To make matters worse the steps up the slope have been inexplicably removed so without snow it is like walking up and down a mud slide; when it freezes in the town it will be even more treacherous!

There are a couple of new bars and a deli in the town, as well as a new snowboard shop which may be British-run (closed when we passed which is just as well!). The Champion supermarket is now Carrefour Market but little other than the name has changed.

There are lots more motorhomes and vans about than usual, of all shapes and sizes. The motorhome area at Les Gets, which we passed on our way, was packed. I imagine it will be much quieter next week when most people have gone back to work and school.

The biggest difference from our arrival in Morzine last February is the warmer temperature and the lack of snow in the town. That makes driving and living in the van a bit easier, but is a bit concerning for the rest of the season. Last year the snow started well and lasted well, so we have to hope it will get colder! For anyone skiing in Morzine itself there appears to be very little snow on the lower slopes, but higher up in Avoriaz has pretty good coverage.

We ventured out late last night to see in the New Year. The bars were crowded and mostly ticket-only. I had forgotten just how many Brits stay or holiday in Morzine, but the French were out in force too - throwing fireworks and setting them off while holding in their hands!  You’d never get that in Nanny-state Britain!

The other news for today is…we both remember how to snowboard. The very first run felt terrible - especially for Simon with new board, new boots and bindings (ah, poor him), but after one we were feeling quite comfortable. The increasingly heavy snowfall brought us off the mountain after a gentle and short first day, but it’s just raining in the town. No internet in the car park unfortunately so we’ll be using the internet cafe and any other connection we might stumble across…

Last update for today - snowing in town now!  and Happy New Year!

This entry was posted on Friday, January 1st, 2010 at 6:51 pm and is filed under Snowboarding, Campsites & wild camping, Travel, Campervan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.