Parkour Generations & Why Morzine is the Ideal Location for this Sport

Hidden amongst Morzine’s cyclists, runners and mountain bikers there’s another breed of sportsman making the resort their home - choosing to come to the beautiful mountain village because of its landscape and amazing natural spaces.

Descending on Morzine every year, fans of the dangerous, exciting and quite frankly exhilarating sport of Parkour use its terrain and facilities as the base for their annual training camp. Parkour is a relatively underground sport but is growing in popularity – but of course it’s of course no surprise to us that the incredible landscape of Morzine tempts the urban gymnastics back year after year.

Parkour or free running as it’s also known, is a discipline that sees participants running over buildings, under bridges, along ledges, through trees and across water. It requires determination, strength, agility, precision, coordination and of course, no fear. The sport which was originally called Art du Deplacement was founded in France in 1980 so it’s no surprise that it still very much has a home in this part of the world. However, there’s more to why Morzine is so popular amongst the people who do it.

Parkour Generations, a company based in the UK, comes to Morzine once a year and is back again this week for its annual training camp. Chris Rowat manages the event in Morzine and says the resort “offers the perfect balance be between natural and man-made terrain for Parkour training. The fresh air, beautiful vistas and the lively, friendly town also keep us coming back again and again”. More and more people are taking part in Parkour and it’s becoming very big in Europe and in the USA. As Chris explains “The training camp in Morzine is a good example of this growth as we've seen it expand from 6 people the first year to over 40 participants in 2015”. 

The camp itself is open to anyone over the age of 16 who has the energy and is brave enough to tackle the challenge. The trip to Morzine is intended used as an intensive introduction to the course allowing beginners to really understand what Parkour is about. However Chris assures us that it’s a great event for more advanced practitioners to take their training to the next level as well. The camp, which runs for a week, teaches those taking part different techniques including how to run, jump and balance. You’ll see people around Morzine hanging off bridges, balancing on flyovers, running along railings and doing a great deal of fitness training. The company uses the Parkour course, which runs along the Dereche River as well so you’re likely to spot the team trying out the facilities there and also cooling down in the water. “The path along the Dereche is fun and a very peaceful place to train. It offers some interesting challenges for athletes of all levels and we use it every year throughout the camp”. 

Parkour pushes people to their absolute physical and mental limits. Asking you to test yourself and your fitness in some pretty dangerous environments, so it’s of course not for everyone and should only really be attempted under the right supervision. “A good Parkour practitioner is patient and hard working, and they will rarely give up even during the hardest physical or technical challenges,” explains Chris. However, Parkour is also a great spectator sport. It’s adrenalin fuelled, fast and dangerous – so well worth checking out if you’re in town over the next week (until 2nd August).

You heard it here first! Another sport choosing to make Morzine its home!