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- The story
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The Area
The Portes du Soleil area of France and lesser known Switzerland is the largest lift accessible mountain bike area in the world. In the 3 and bit months of summer the lifts are used for transporting walkers, hikers and bikers. Not all of the 208 lifts are open in summer, in fact only 24 bike carrying ones are running and not all at the same time.
The places within the PDS have different ideas on when the summer season starts, meaning each lift station has its own start and finish date. July and August are the only full months when you can access the whole area. Limited access is available in June and September with some lifts running into October.
A couple of the 14 PDS resorts lose out in summer, notably Torgon (CH) as it right on the extreme of the area and opens one lift when it sees fit. Torgon has one weekend when they hold a cross country and downhill marathon race (Torgonabike) but even then you have to use a bus to get back to the running lift.
You will have read varying reports of how many miles/km's of trail there are in the PDS. Some optimistically say 500 miles (805km). The truth of the matter is more likely 230 miles (380km) of signposted trails. The more popular the area gets, the less trails become available to bikes and the more segregation takes place.
In 2004 many of the previously marked trails in Les Gets are no longer marked. They created a 'Bike Park' (berms and a hut to jump off) and pushed all the bike traffic towards that. Many of the interesting trails are not officially out of bounds but they no longer tell you where they are.
The PDS area consists of 7 downhill courses (2 at Les Gets, 1 at Morzine, 2 at Chatel, 1 at Morgins and 2 at Les Crosets) and a North Shore trail at Morgins. Chatel also has a Bike Park which is much better than Les Gets. Champery says it has a bike park but in reality its a corner of a car park with some tarmac jumps. In 2007 Champery has a new downhill course used for the World Cup.
The marked PDS route takes you on a tour of the whole area. Sort of. It doesn't take you to all the resorts and isn't a loop more a figure of eight but you can do a pretty long route without going over the same ground. The course is used for the 'Freeraid Classic' event (now called the 'PassPortes du Soleil' as the Freeraid moved to the Oisans region). If you were really dedicated you could make your own PDS tour with a loop of all the resorts, although it would involve road work and nasty up hills. You can do the tour in a day if you time your lifts and stops correctly. We did it over a couple of days as we are lazy. A big suspension bike is ideal for most of it.
The Route
You can start from anywhere on the loop but we started from Les Gets, France.
Leaving before the lifts open in Morzine we take the 'horse trail' down behind the tennis courts. This is a fast trail with a nasty drop off on one side and a cliff face along the other. One year we witnessed a guy flying down here until he hit the cliff face snapped his frame and nearly his neck. Less than 5 min's into the ride as well. Took an hour to rescue him. Remember it's a long day and not a race. As the horse trail ends, a small road and a hard climb take over before going back onto track. Currently. Morzine seems to be building up the track and it may not be there for many more years. Mind the builders.
Cross Morzine by road and head for the Super Morzine lift. Take this lift and the following chairlift, the Telesiege de Zore. This takes some 20 minutes. Go right onto a wide hard tail that heads towards Avoriaz in the far distance, climbing in places until you meet the road. Keep left and spot the sign on top of a trail that drops steeply. This bit seems to attract a crowd. Ignore them and drop down the gnarly trail that takes you at some speed down beneath Avoriaz and its ski area. This trail can be very busy which is a shame as it is varied and interesting.
Eventually you will reach Les Brochaux and the Express du Mossettes chairlift. Ignore this and head off towards Les Lindarets on a wide track that climbs for a bit before a fast descent towards two lifts. Once there take the Chaux Fleurie chairlift that goes to Chatel. A rather barren summit greets you at the top of the lift. The next target of Chatel can be seen in the far distance. The trail down is steep and wide before you arrive at a small hamlet. At this point ignore the Chatel ‘Bike Park’ and follow the PDS signs and climb up a wide track for some time. Above you are people being shot along ropes like missiles down the valley. After the climb summits, you descend briefly before changing to a single track climb/push before it cheers up and you get a long joyous single track run almost down to Chatel. The end of this trail is fire track and real fast. About this time expect a puncture.
Descend into the heart of Chatel and up the Super Chatel lift. The lift doesn't go to the top and so the worst part of our journey begins. A miserable climb up to the lake and then a ridiculous push up into Switzerland. You could ride it, you might want to, but we didn't. The next section is a bit of everything as you head towards Morgins. It is a bit stop start with the odd electric fence to negotiate and lack of signs. The final single track section is difficult and messy. At the end of the singletrack go left. There's no sign. The final descent is on road and round the lake if you like, into Switzerland (officially this time) and Morgins.
Next up is the Foilleuse chairlift. Underneath you as the lift climbs is the 'Majestic' freeride course, a North Shore style steep run with ladders and the like. At the top it's usually a bit miserable and you head off down through a field before a typically smooth swiss track climbs gently for a while before you head down into Champoussin. Nothing but a few goats to greet you at the lift station. Wake up the lift attendant and take the lift up the L'Aiguille de Champeys.
CAUTION! This lift doesn’t always open the same times as the others.
At the top there are some good views, some Paragliders and a ridge ride that takes you towards Les Crosets. Staying high above Crosets, following signs for Col du Cou as the trail varies from smooth to muddy on it's way along the valley and underneath Pointe des Mossettes. Eventually you arrive at the end of the valley and underneath Col du Cou. Start to head down on a smooth track with some very fine views. This is a long fast trail that takes you into Champery.
The Planachaux lift takes 60 people but only runs every 30 minutes but at least this is Switzerland, so it's on time. Descend to Les Crosets. Two more lifts to go. Take the lift up to Pointe des Mossettes an exposed and busy frontier point. Now we are back in France and the trail is fast, steep, loose and rocky. You could shortcut here and take the trail down to the lifts start in France. The trail we take stays above the valley and is fast, wide and rocky. A short pause for a climb as the trail turns to single track and then another short climb into the next valley. The trail is now split into many single tracks that you dance between them while avoiding hikers. Fast, rocky and very long, this is a great trail and goes on and on. The rocks do their best to destroy you. Eventually the trail becomes wider and faster as we head under the Chaux Fleurie lift we took earlier and head down into Lindarets.
Avoiding the goats we head down and struggle to find the steep run down under a lift (not working) or alternatively the road that takes you above Lac Montriond. The trail gets busy as you near the lake and busier still as we fly down on hard, rocky trails past the lake. You can cross the road at the car park and continue the trail down to Morzine. This is a poor bit of trail and only as interesting as the road alternative. It's now time to trudge up into Morzine and over to the the last lift of the day. It better be open. Join the queues of downhillers at Pleney and meet the rude attendant. The previous guy was there for years, always miserable and didn't load bikes, unless you are a girl. It appears his son has taken up the mantel and continues in his fathers footsteps.
At the top of Pleney it is a steep climb and and then a rooty bit before more climbing/pushing with good views of Pointe de Nyon before more ups and downs take you to Les Chavannes. Plenty of options for getting down into Les Gets. The PDS one is the most serene but still fast. It is wide and well used, mostly by people coming up so watch out. You come out by the lake. At this point they have decided they want you to ride above the lake and down the 4 cross course, but forget that. Go straight over the road, between the school and chalets. A really rooty section takes you out onto the Les Gets piste and and allows you to arrive victorious into the village without giving the impression you only road the 4 cross course to look that shattered.
