Fireworks

On Saturday 7th August 2010 everyone will be heading up to Lake Montriond to see the amazing Fireworks display organised by the local Pompiers (Fire Service).
This is an annual event and is hugely popular with both locals and tourists. Most people leave their chalets late afternoon and take a picnic or barbecue up to the lake, spread out their blankets and enjoy the entertainment and the views. One of the most spectacular displays is the one organised by the local Morzine paragliding schools. Running from the cliff tips, these adventurous men and women come paragliding down, demonstrating their skills. Some even collapse their shoots and then re-open them in mid air! They then descend towards the lake and 'hopefully' land at the waters edge - although some do miss their landing stations and get very wet!
As dusk descends, little lights appear on the water and the fireworks display begins. The dramatic setting of the cliffs, lakes, music and fireworks whilst enjoying the company of friends and a few glasses of wine, makes for a most memorable evening.

The Great Escape Charity Week

In April 2010 The Great Escape were pleased to welcome the charity Link Leisure to our Farmhouse la Desmeuniere in Morzine, France.
Link Leisure is a charity which actively supports people with learning disabilities. It had always been one of our aims to be able to invite a group of people, who would not normally have the opportunity to go on a ski holiday , to come and stay with us and experience an adventure in the French Alps. We then met Lesley Burn - the Managing Director - and put forward our proposal to her. So to cut a long story short on the 17th April 2010, 10 Link Leisure members and 4 of their helpers arrived at our catered ski chalet. And we had an amazing last week of the season. Our Link Leisure guests learnt to ski for 4 days, enjoyed a days snow shoe walking in the mountains, went sledging and ventured into the bars of Morzine for a game of pool and a bit of apres ski. It was simply a pleasure to have them stay with us. The week ended with a great barbecue at the chalet where our Link Leisure guests were awarded certificates for their achievements throughout the week.
We are most grateful to our friends and colleagues out here in Morzine who gave us tuition, equipment and their time for free.
With many thanks to:
Our staff - Kim, Sophie and Jo - for working a full week free of charge at the end of a long season!
All Mountain Rental - provided free ski hire for the week
Luke Wouters associated with Freedom2Ski - provided free ski tuition
Andy Cavert - provided free ski tuition
Endless Trails - run by Gareth Jeffries - provided free snow shoe guiding
Jacquie Cutler - professional photographer
And to our many friends who helped us and the Link Leisure gang on the mountain and off.