A ski resort with two distinct sectors, Morgins has some of the best & worst attributes in the Portes Du Soleil, with thankfully the best far outweighing the worst!

On the ‘best’ side, Morgins village is best placed to be a central base for comfortably exploring all the wonderful Swiss sector ski resorts in Portes (tick). It is a well-established, quiet, reasonably pretty, affordable Swiss tourist town with all the requisite services for a long stay (tick). The sheltered mountain valley location may not have the expansive views of other villages, but chairlifts extend directly out of town and valley trails (up to 8km long) come back down into town (tick). The ski terrain isn’t the huge vertical Alps gnarliness that we so love in Europe, but it has more than enough oomph to please everyone, plus it is in a reliably high snowfall zone (double tick).

On the worst side, the ski lifts are amongst the oldest, slowest & least comfortable in the region (cross). Nonsensically, two different ‘local’ lift passes apply to either sector (Corbeau & Foilleuse) from town, which leaves many visitors with only the option to buy the significantly more expensive Portes du Soleil pass to ski the area (cross). It is also the least snowboard friendly ski resort in the region (half a cross - sorry snowboarders!).

Morgins has easy links into the wide-open alpine spaces of the sunny Swiss ski resorts of Champoussin, Les Crosets & Champéry via the vintage Foilleuse chair. The Morgins alpine terrain in the Foilleuse sector is broad & low angle, plus served by the most modern chairlift in the resort. The off-piste provides a good proving ground for those new to freeride powder skiing. Going the other way into the Corbeau sector toward Chatel & Torgon (some wonderful steep off-piste in these resorts!), numerous, tedious surface tows are required to be ridden (plus more on the way back!). Coming back from Châtel, the trail down into Morgins can be a sun-baked piece of nastiness not really fit for its beginner rating. Be wary later in the day, but otherwise it is an interesting, winding journey back into town. The many mountain huts throughout the hills add to the ski experience & the views across to the Dents du Midi & Lake Geneva are stunning once away from the village.

To link the two ski sectors of Corbeau & Foilleuse, try the ‘urban cross-country’ ski challenge through the lanes of the village. It is only a few hundred metres & great fun if the roads are snow-covered. Bit scratchy if not. If you like your ski bases, the walk is short and there is a local ski bus for the truly lazy. Note that one requires a full Portes du Soleil lift pass to use the lifts in both sectors.

Morgins may not be the best place for true powder hound to stay in the Portes du Soleil, but it does have enough positives to make it a worthy prospect. Families & groups up to intermediate level will certainly love it, particularly if wanting a quiet, uncrowded Swiss ski location. Anyone with a rental car will also love the prospect of a quick drive across the pass into France & Châtel too - the only road through these mountains open in winter.

You can see our thoughts on the pros and cons on our Morgins overview page and also see our European ski resort ratings page regarding how we score it compared to other skiing areas.