24 April 2013

Winter is over Summer is coming....

...yes, it's spring time again. The snow is melting, the mountains are changing. Summer talk has started already and one of the main topics is the Pleney.

As many of you may or may not know, the Morzine tourist office has an announced that work will start on the new Pleney telecabine this summer. As a result, the Pleney will be shut for riding. The tourist office have put together a plan to keep the link to Les Gets open. Here is the latest press release -

In addition to the summer bus service, which will transport Mountain Bikers to Les Gets, the “Crousaz” and “Mouilles” chairlifts will be open to Mountain Bikers each morning from 8.30am to 10.30am; this will be dependent on the two chairlifts being certified for this use.

The “Crousaz” chairlift is unable to be used simultaneously by Mountain Bikers and Luge users.  Therefore different time slots have been attributed for each group.  Mountain Bikers will be able to use the chairlift from 8.30am to 10.30am and the rest of the day will be reserved for the luge.

As concerns the buses – these will run from 8.30-9.00am until 5.45pm (last departure from Morzine for Les Gets).  The bus stop will be the usual bus stop at the Pleney.
The buses will be equipped with trailers for transporting mountain bikes, with each being able to hold up to 30 bikes per trip.
Two vehicles with trailers will be able to step in during peak periods in order to increase capacity.

These buses will be available to Portes du Soleil pass-holders and Mountain Bike traffic will be prioritised.  Foot passengers, however, will also be able to use this bus service if all of the seats are not in use.

Although this will cause a bit of disruption to the businesses in Morzine and Les Gets, the replacement of the lift has been well overdue. It will result in a much improved lift system to carry skiers, snowboarders and mountain bikers up to the top. From browsing mtb forums, it seems that it hasn't put too many people off. Many people would have booked in advance before the news was announced. It'll be a shame that the Pleney will be out of action this summer, but there is plenty of riding on the Super Morzine, Lindarets, Chatel and over on the Swiss side. And not to forget Les Gets, it'll still be possible to get there by lift if you get up early enough, or just jump on the bus.

The Super Morzine lift is being opened earlier than usual this year, to help reduce the impact of the Pleney being closed. Here are the lift opening dates for this summer:

Les Gets: Every weekend from the 25th of May and every day from the 15th of June to the
8th of September 2013.
Morzine: Every day from the 15th of June to the 1st of September.
Portes du Soleil:  The lift links will open for the Pass’Portes du Soleil VTT, on the 28th of June, and will run until the 1st of September 2013; allowing access to the 23 lifts open this summer and linking the 12 resorts of the Franco-Swiss area.

So we will be starting up in Lindarets for the passport weekend, on the 28th of June. It looks like it'll be another busy one, hopefully we will see some of you there!


For more information on the Pleney closure, check these sites:

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