Lifts have improved so much from early days and it is a fabulous area to ski. No steps anywhere as completely equipped for the disabled skiers. Pistes very well looked after and there is something for everyone. .The Grand Massif has black off-piste bowls and runs, to lovely long green ones. There are also open slopes and tree runs so when the weather is bad you can usually ski.
February does get busy but so does everywhere.
The review by V was accurate until two years ago when the Lanche Lift was replaced by a high speed 6-man chair-lift on a new run to Samoëns called Chars + a new 6-man lift at Moliettes to Tete de Saix. Thus speeding up the process of skiing over to Flaine and other parts of the Grand Massif
Overall, the Grand Massif has high speed links, great pistes and a warm welcome
Morillon is a small resort but with very good connections to 3 other major resorts: Samoen, Carroz and Flaine. Access to the other resorts is via new express ski lift or other older ski lifts.
From the main village you can use gondola to reach the ski area and when snow conditions are good you can ski all the way down to the center of the village. Overall, it is a good resort and not too crowded. It offers a peaceful place to relax in the evenings and no crazy drunk tourists everywhere.
We won't be back. The queues for the lift were just ridiculous. Most notably the Lanches chairlift, where we queued for the best part of an hour and then had to ski straight back down to get the kids from ski school rather than the routes we had planned. Having a rickety slow 3 man chairlift as the main link to the rest of the Grand Massif area is awful and it really needs to be replaced with a decent high capacity lift.
Staying at Morillon and the conditions are great. Great snow at the top, odd crusty patches lower down but still great skiing.
Gondola queue (half-term) was just 10 minutes but the fast chair lift at 1100 has been very busy all day.
Other lifts were fine and the slopes weren't too busy.
Stayed in Morillon 1100 at the Le Buet apartments - January 19th 2013. It's a small resort, but not that small and has everything you need for a short break or for a full week of skiing. The skiing is excellent, and Morillon 1100 is well placed in the Grand Massif system, allowing you to visit Flaine, Les Carroz and Samoens with ease. The local slopes are good fun, and we repeatedly skied the blue and red runs from the top of Sairon. The mountain restaurant as the top of Sairon lift is well worth visiting - friendly efficient service, good food and well-priced. The lift system is generally modern with fast, high capacity lifts. There are a few exceptions (notably the Lanches chairlift that you have to take to get to Flaine) that could do with replacing, but this doesn't detract from your enjoyment of the ski area as a whole. We found the Le Buet apartments to be clean, reasonably spacious and in good order. They are basic but, at the same time, have nearly everything you need. If driving, take a kettle, some mugs and your own duvets - and you'll be just fine. We visited the Madison Pub on most evenings, which is a French run bar/restaurant rather than a full-on expat drinker. It's a nice, comfortable bar with a relaxed atmosphere and seems to be the place where everyone congregates in the evenings. The restaurant serves good salads, steaks and the usual Savoyarde offerings. The staff are nice, friendly and it's well worth a visit or two. We hired our skis from Intersport Cashta. We pre-booked for a good discount, our skis were ready on arrival, and the service was excellent. We visited the local supermarket which was reasonably well stocked, but (for convenience and price) it's problably best to stop in a hypermarket in the valley on your way up to resort. All in all, a great little resort with good access to the extensive Grand Massif ski area, and all less than 1 hour from Geneva airport!
Very lucky to have spent a lovely Christmas and New Year in Morillion 1100 with good snow and intersting weather- some snow, some very hot days and some crisp ones too.
Wonderful family resort, kids enjoyed ski school with ESF and progressed well. They made the most of toboganing, snow play and the chance to take part in the torch lit descent.
Great access and easy to get to. Not too over developed. Friendly people and we loved that we could ski in and ski out of Le Buet. Apartment was clean, good value, equipped with what we needed, good ski locker, but it luxury, just what we were looking for!
The runs were great for giving beginners / intermediates confidence, nice and wide, beautiful scenery and the Marvel run was a real hit. We really enjoyed Les Carroz too and also 2 trips to Flaine for some more challenging reds.
Negatives - some investment is needed in the major links where queues on busy days were not good. Plus the links at Tete des Saix were very busy and in some places narrow which meant in the afternoon there were busy, full of moguls and not much fun.
We quite liked the charm of some of the older lifts, dotted around the resorts, but the key link points need a bit more capacity.
However, over the 2 weeks, these are minor points for a good value, friendly and accessible resort for families, I would definitely consider going again.
Staying at a fantastic appt at refuge Alpage Morillon 1100, amazing scenery and snow conditions, esf ski school excellent.
Last day of skiing and boarding for us and looking forward to coming back later in season, excellent resort and place.
Just returned from a week in Morillon.
The weather was unseasonably warm, t-shirt weather at 1100m with maybe a light jacket for skiing at 1700m+. Not a cloud in sight all week. Freeze/thaw. Snow was slush at lower altitudes and hard pack over ice up higher except where ploughed by traffic. Piste suffered from carving and ploughing and snow was very heavy in most places. Moguls formed on popular runs (see webcams). Icy patches on some runs resulted in a few spills and work for the mountain rescue team.
At lower altitudes snow had given way to bare earth as the thaw continued although snow expected for the coming week. Best to avoid the runs which decend into the village directly.
All in all, not a bad resort. A little disorganised at 1100m, too many flat spots for a snowboarder and less than ideal for a skier, unless you're a fan of organised chaos. The queues for the Sairon lift were ridiculous.
Definitely one to avoid if it's a French school holiday as it's simply too busy to be much fun especially if you're trying to learn on the débutante slope as some in our party were. Admittedly bad planning on our part but worth mentioning.
Can recommend bakery in the village for lunch items. These can be taken up the mountain as there are some decent picnic spots on Marvel (green).
I would certainly avoid the cafe, "L'Igloo" at the summit (top of Sairon lift). It was busy but that wasn't the problem, the food quality was absolutely appalling. When it finally arrived, after a 40 minute wait, nobody in our group was even remotely happy with their order. Almost all went in the trash and we're not picky eaters...serious error not going to the bakery in town and hauling a few pizza slices up top. A complete waste of money.
The saving grace of the trip was the accommodation and whilst I can't mention the name here, it's amazing how mediocre skiing/boarding can be compensated for by quality accommodation.
Overall, a decent holiday. Just avoid the peak periods and make sure you get weather reports. I would not say this resort is particularly challenging for anyone with skill. The lack of short green runs also hurts it for beginners. I'd suggest it would be most suited for an intermediate skier.
September 13, 2011
ian Wickham
from
United Kingdom
This was our second visit to Morillon. We stayed up at 1100 in the very pleasant Chalet Morillon, a good location and only 100 metres to the gondola. The only problem we had was the poor snow conditions and a few of the pistes were closed through lack of snow.
Still a very nice area with very good ESF ski tuition with which my daughter passed her third star.