- Situated 35km due south of Thonon and Lake Geneva, and at an altitude of 1000m, the village of Morzine was one of only two crossings over the river Dranse.
- Monks arrived and took control of St Jean d’Aulp in 1090.
- Granted independence from the monks in 1531.
- Slate mines, some of which go as deep as 350m into the cliff face began its commercial journey in 1800, where slates were split into sheets and formed into regular sized tiles. By the end of the 19th Century some 2 millions slates had been transported by cart to markets in Thonon, Thônes and Taninges.
- 1862 saw the first road open between Morzine and Thonon allowing access to the mountains and slate mines.
- The Ski Club of Morzine was formed in 1910.
- The first tourist hotel ‘The Grand Hotel’ opened in 1925. Owned by François Baud, he went on to build a ski jump behind his hotel to employ Austrian ski instructors and bring in the earliest tracked Renault vehicles to entice winter visitors.
- The first ski lift in France was installed on the Pleney slopes in 1934.
- A native of Morzine Jean Vuarnet won the Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley in 1960. After becoming the director in charge of transforming Avoriaz into a ski resort, he made turned his dream into reality and with the collaboration of Champery and Les Crosets in Switzerland, the Portes du Soleil was formed and gave Morzine its double identity: Morzine Avoriaz.
- 1973 saw the first ‘Fantastic Film Festival’ at Avoriaz.
- The skiing world cup was held in Morzine & Avoriaz in 1974
- Super Morzine telecabine opened in 1992.
Morzine today has 650km of ski-slopes to enjoy in winter and an abundance of outdoor activities during the summer months. However if you prefer to take things at a more leisurely pace, there are miles of open spaces offering stunning Alpine scenery for total relaxation.
