[Closed] Morzine/Passportes write-up/report.

Weeksy, great to read the write up, always good to hear people's experiences. The PPdS is a grand day out and a chance to explore and IMO makes a nice feature as part of a longer riding holiday and a go intro to Alps riding for us mere mortals. I love that drive by the way, there is so much to look forward to.

The brake overheating is totally due to comfort braking, ie dragging it. I know, I do it. The Alps does bring your riding on as you get challenged plus you get the time on the trails to improve. I'm guessing you didn't ride te Mon Chery side of Les Gets and do the ride to (scenic fireroad)/from (Red or Black trail) my restaraunt recommendation at Mont Caly. I'm going to have to tell you, you would have loved it 8)

Some riding in the UK in a rocky area will help (Peaks/Lakes), uplift day at a trail centre to session some trails plus of course a day with the Jedi (done bfore the above so you can practice the skills he'll give you) ...

Now you just have to plan your next trip out, so many choices of venue, I'd definitely recommend a guided holiday if you can spare the time.

Weeksy - glad it all worked! I have to agree, that green down the Pleney is atrocious. My group stayed well clear of the moraine runs, even though we were based there. That red from the top of the Chavannes lift is really nice and flowy - great fun, even though it was the run I broke my collar bone/wrist on!!

None of my group are DH riders - we did ride the Pleney black one evening at 6PM when all the Stormtroopers had gone to the pub, and quite enjoyed it. The other runs which were nice were the red/blue berm routes in the Les Gets jump park.

Next time, I would rather get out and about a bit more, and probably get a guide, going when more lifts are open.

BTW seeing those photos aren't the Alps a total sensory overload, how blue is the sky, how green is the grass, how clean is the air and just how good is a cold beer (or a glass of rose, white or red ...)

Here is a photo from a couple of weeks ago above Montreux looking over the lake towards the Portes du Soleil where you were riding. You can take the train up here (Col du Jaman) and ride down to the lake, we were walking but saw a few riders out inc one on a yellow Transition DH bike.

[img][url= http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8001/7485890552_9ca48d8b0a_c.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8001/7485890552_9ca48d8b0a_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url] [url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/78861811@N06/7485890552/ ]Bol d'Or weekend 2012[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/78861811@N06/ ]JambalayaPhoto[/url], on Flickr[/img]

Glad you liked it Weeksy, and we were lucky with the weather on Fr/Sat; I'd not have wanted to do it yesterday.

There's really all sorts out there in the Portes du Soleil area - there's completely mad stuff in Chatel, which I can't do, there are very long very rocky descents (Morzine switchbacks as a prime example - a real bike-breaker), but my absolute favourite is the 20-minute high-speed blast along the GR5 from the lake down to Les Lindarets, culminating with the full DH descent. If you're not buzzing with adrenaline after that, you need to take up juggling with loaded shotguns or the like.

I was very proud of the fact that my 14 year old daughter took part on Saturday along with Mrs NickF and I, and other than being shattered at the end of the day (one of the lifts broke so we had a 3k uphill slog) acquitted herself brilliantly. I know that technically you're meant to be 15 to take part, but it's the sort of riding that we do as a family anyway, so none of it was totally new to her, and she's a lot quicker and more technically proficient than a good number of the riders I saw on Saturday.

Wow... Nice one Nick. 🙂 Impressed.

We couldn't have asked for better weather for the Thurs/Fri/Sat riding.. it was just exceptional.

I think in some way a guide would have helped lots, just helped us find the right sort of riding for what we really enjoy as a group.

There seems to be loads and loads we didn't explore... but it's tricky to just randomly pick up routes as you can't always find out where they begin/end.

We did a really really gnarly (never used that word before) red section on the way back from Les Gets to Morzine, just off the road and into a rocky river type thing going on LOL. Almost crashed there i can tell you.

Although happily, most of my 'moments' were really low speed...

I was also exceptionally pleased that i did a LONG rock section (where camera guy was) without getting off it once.... In fact, i only bottled it once in 3 days and got off and walked a few paces.

Weeksy, I know the red rocky bit you are talking about - the rocky step down bits were, um, interesting!!!!! They prompted a stop at the mountainside bar on the was down!!

On the subject of brakes, my new Deores with 203/180 rotors were amazing - no issues at all!!

Love reading these types of thread.

Nickf - can't wait to do the GR5 in a few weeks, and am I right it would be ok for my Wife, who is pretty inexperienced ie you can pootle along. Also the DH into Les Linerates - can she bypass this via a fire road?

Well done fella. Its bloody great isn't it?!!! Glad you enjoyed it

The learning curve in the Alps is a steep on. We were pretty cocky and headed straight up onto the black runs, and scared the shit out of ourselves. You soon get used to just how crazy steep and fast everything was. And after the full day of PDS my (XT) brakes were coming back to the bars. Completely fried!!! You don't half sleep well at night once you'vebeen riding that stuff all day too

I told you that a hardtail was a complete non-starter, didn't I? 😉

AND HOW GOOD WAS THE WEATHER?!?!?!

There was a thermometer on one of the lifts that was showing 35!

Glad you enjoyed it.... I had a bloody good time too. The chaps at Torico fixed mine too.

I'm so glad you didn't try it on the hardtail 😀 leave that to the riding gods

Over in a couple of weeks on my semi-beefed up Soul. Will I die? 😀

Although keeping more to VTT rather than the big downhills.

Nice write-up, but one thing that struck me was that you would have been well to hire a guide for a day. There are absolutely loads of xc trails linked up by lifts, just around Morzine/Avoriaz/les Gets, but go further afield and it's unbelievable. Ive been going out there now for about 10 years and I find the Dh tracks just boring. Big days out trail riding is what excites me out there.

mildred - Member
Nice write-up, but one thing that struck me was that you would have been well to hire a guide for a day. There are absolutely loads of xc trails linked up by lifts

A guide is £200 a day.... or £70 each.... Whilst i'd have paid it.... some others are not quite as lucky as me when it comes to affording it.

Overall, the trip with tyres, armour, brakes, fuel, food, beers, accomodation, tunnel, tolls... was VERY expensive ....

Nickf - can't wait to do the GR5 in a few weeks, and am I right it would be ok for my Wife, who is pretty inexperienced ie you can pootle along. Also the DH into Les Linerates - can she bypass this via a fire road?

You can certainly pootle much of it, but there are a couple of sections where a reasonable level of skill comes in handy - you have to know when to get right off the brakes and let momentum take you through a rock garden, or how to deal with lots of loose stones, stuff like that. Then again, there aren't that many sections like that, so your wife could always walk those bits.

Everyone ends up progressing very fast in the Alsps - my kids have ridden there for the last four summers and are now better riders on rocky/rooty/steep terrain than any others I've seen, other obviously the locals, who are all mad - and you'll probably find that your wife gets exponentially better in the course of just a day or so.

Take plenty of brake pads, ensure that you have body armour - it won't prevent broken bones, but it'll reduce cuts/bruises massively - and if your wife is prepared to give it a go, she'll be fine.

As for the descent to Les Lindarets, yes, there's a long (and very boring) fire-road, but be warned that it's a pretty bumpy descent and hard on the brakes because there are no turns, so unless you're prepared to let off the brakes and fly down at 40+mph (I'm guessing your wife [i]won't[/i] do this), it's not a lot of fun.

Down from Les Lindarets towards Morzine there's a [i]very[/i] rocky rock garden which I'd not recommend to an inexperienced rider, but drop down a bit on the road and there's a nice run to Morzine through the valley floor and past Lac Montriond. At the end of the lake there's then another nice off-road descent to Morzine itself, bringing you in past the swimming pool. I'd imagine your wife would be fine with all of that; though there are still some steep and rocky sections, they're all very doable.

My first Alps trip:
Thursday - landed Geneva at noon and was out riding above St Gervais by 3. Took the Bettex bubble and then climbed to the top of Mont Joux. Singletrack forest descent was stunning but over in a flash and we then spent the next two hours climbing all the way back up. We saw two farmers during the whole afternoon, such a wonderful antidote to normal city life.

Friday we rode the PPDS. Started late due to a mechanical that required a shop visit but were soon touring the Alpine tracks in wonderful sunshine. I only started MTB about a year ago so this kind of riding required some quick learning. I had a fairly major off on my first descent. I grabbed too much front brake and washed the front at about 15mph. The bike went flying off the edge of the trail and got lodged in a tree about 20 feet down. Apart from gashes from the chainring, a sore hand and a bruised shoulder I was thankfully OK and miraculously the bike was fine (Boardman FS Team 2010)!
Riding with my great friend Ben, a very experienced biker with incredibly natural skill was so muh of a help. My confidence came back and I managed to use the first stack as a learning experience rather than an off-putting feak out!
I looked ahead a lot more and listened to Ben's advice.
The rest of the day was a feast of varied trails, breathtaking landscape, welcome food stops and a real sense of adventure. Although fit (I ride road a lot) I found my brain was fried by mid afternoon; processing all the new skills on the often challenging terrain was a massive overload. It was a huge amount to take in for someone with so little off road miles under their wheels.
I thoroughly enjoyed 85% of the riding, endured 10% and was positively freaked out by 5% (the very steep, loose rocky bits). I expected these ratios to be a lot less favourable but following someone who seemed to read the tracks with such confidence and grace put me at ease and I felt fine once I'd learned to look well ahead.
The event itself was first class; incredible infrastructure, an amazing route, enough of a challenge to feel like a big day and loaded with more variety of terrain that I could imagine. Brilliant!

Saturday we climbed from Le Cuchet in Combloux all the way to the Croz Bollet. Huge effort of steep climbing and hike a bike (no lifts at all). Very different from previous day but a really great adventure of different sorts. I have ski-toured the route, so knew the way up. Ben couched me down the VERY steep top section and I was surprised how much fun the ultra-slow, bum off the back wheel, balance and line-choice style of descent could be. On the way up I kept thinking "I'm never going to cope with riding down this"! Again, hats off to Ben and his confidence inspiring, no-nonsense approach of taking it steady, looking ahead. Another brilliant day.

Sunday it rained but having dropped Ben at the airport I headed to Les Gets and retraced some of the PPDS routes. The conditions changed the riding massively and forced even more learning about planning, commitment and smooth flow. I did the 15k black XC route, then headed to Avoriaz and made sure that I took the descent into Morzine very steady so as not to repeat my Friday crash. The roots were a major challenge in the wet - the off camber ones requiring a massive amount of weighting the outer foot and leaning the bike in (the French locals made this look really easy). By the end of the last Red back down to Les Gets I was caked in mud but felt so much more connected to my bike than a few days before. If only I had another week or two out here I think I'd really start to get it.

I've spent a good amount of time in these mountians, ski touring, climbing and road riding and I am so excited to discover a new way of enjoying what this place has to offer. It really is an extraordinary part of the world. Majestic, powerful and awe inspiring. For me, pedalling up gives greater reward to the downs but using some lifts to link together a big adventure on bikes is definitely something I want to more of. So much fun to be had.

Thanks to STW for telling me about PPDS - I booked it on a whim following a report on here. Having thought that I may have made a big mistake an bitten off more than I could chew, I'm pleased to be returning home with a desire for more rather than a vow of 'never again'!

Thanks also to Ben, who lurks on here, for making it all seem easier than it was.

You clearly didn't do the Sunday PPDS which is best summarised as "wet, misty, wherethe****arewe, muddy".

A few highlights in the attached video.

Thanks for that nick. Yes, we took that nice route down past Montriond last time we were there after taking the vtt down to Linderates from the Avoriaz ridge. i think the missus walked some of the rocky bits, but she'd be fine now.

Over in a couple of weeks on my semi-beefed up Soul. Will I die?

Although keeping more to VTT rather than the big downhills.

Ditto, but next week. Other guy is on a 456.

Also more VTT.

PS Nice write-up - can't wait to get there. Only ever skied there before.

AND HOW GOOD WAS THE WEATHER?!?!?!

sunday before it got really crap!

[url= http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8023/7486286412_c42882910f.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8023/7486286412_c42882910f.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/37621241@N05/7486286412/ ]017[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/37621241@N05/ ]ianvincent[/url], on Flickr

I have to say I thought the passporte was a bit of a let down, not many decent bits and too much fireroad. The Freeraide classic at deux alpes is way better.

Oh i'm glad we missed that !!!

You don't need a guide, the lift stations have good trail maps with XC routes marked on them, and there are good markers all the way around, like you can do the PDS route all year round as it is so well marked, it's just a lot of the fun of it is riding it in the masses, with the free cheese, ham, chooclate and wine and ODing on the stuff!

I love the place as it certainly does push you on as a rider, but as already talked about a lot of it is a way higer level that pushes people too far out of their comfort zones and into stupid hospital inducing accidents (not all the time though).

Glad you enjoyed it, it's a fab place but Chatel and further out have some phenomenal stuff too that's all rideable it's just about taking your time.

@DrRS**** - great short vid. The "Dump and Run" is great!

You're right about Sunday - very different kettle of mess.

The Red and Black runs at Morzine are more fun the faster you go. Last time I was there was four years ago, TBH we didn't even know there were any blue or green runs. We always just start our holiday with a pootle down the classic pleney run to check if anything has been changed and then charge down it at full tilt! That's our go to "chillax" track when we can't be arsed doing much that day.

Good times had by all, I came off my bike 7 times in 10 days out there once. One at about 40 mph, which I swear to god, was a motorbike style high side followed by cartwheeling down the track about 30 yards!

but as already talked about a lot of it is a way higer level that pushes people too far out of their comfort zones and into stupid hospital inducing accidents (not all the time though).

Then stay away until you become a more competent rider instead of whinging and having tracks altered like we're increasingly seeing?

You're right about Sunday - very different kettle of mess.

Started out so fine, ended up for me a wet, cold, greasy mess on the Pleny.

Nearly 9 hours to get round the bloody thing. And the weather looks like it's settled in for the week.

Then stay away until you become a more competent rider instead of whinging and having tracks altered like we're increasingly seeing?

Not an entirely constructive comment - the terrain in the Alps is very different to the UK, and the only way I've got better at riding in that area is to ride that area more. I'm still far from great - massive jumps and drops aren't my sort of thing at all - but if I'd left all of the harder riding until I was better I'd still not be attempting them.

I'd say the average black mountain bike trail is easier than it's equivalent ski run (that's in the Alps, Uk trails are often graded black due to the distance and not the technical challenge). You wouldn't expect to ski every black run without a decent amount of experience and a lot of the riding most of us do in the UK doesn't really prepare you for the Alps.

Great thread guy's thanks for sharing the experiences.

There again, the black xc route at Morzine seems to be graded on its length.

What the cost of the lift passes this year?

18euro.

Is that just a day pass on one lift?
what's a weekly lift pass for the PdS region?

That's a day pass all lifts in PDS.

Searching on the web, looks like its 100 euros for a week pass for the pds, its gone up a bit since I was last there a couple of years ago. I am going for a couple of weeks, and I seem to remember that its 7 days use, not 7 consecutive days, certainly hope so wanted to mix in some other activities as well.

http://en.portesdusoleil.com/mountain-holidays-offers.html

Shows consecutive and non consecutive options this Yr for 6 day's

We just bought a 2 dayer as got a free day inc the PPDS

Carl

Least it's significantly less than the Winter ski pass prices. I was paying €178 for PdS a few years back, must be over €200 by now?
Dolomiti Superski set us back over €240 this year!

Can't wait. T-3 days and counting. Someone better take that rain back with them!

2nd year this year, absolutely loved it (esp as now knew what to expect, having done a few bike parks in the interim, and doing it on a NP Mega with 180mm forks... nice!)

When we got to the bottom of that rooty bit (we decided that doing it at speed was the best option!), the general feeling was one of "how the hell are the bikes still in one piece", what a rattle that was. And I agree with the OP about the 1'-2' drops leading into more roots. Mental!

The rocky singletrack from above Champery into Les Lindarets (my favourite bit of the whole trail, love that singletrack!), I was second down behind my mate, 2 distinct sounds:
1) As if he'd ridden into a crockery shop and smashed all the plates
2) him shouting "this is not a good line!"

Brilliant fun, also glad did not do on Sunday!

Kev

Any one else do the decent in Torgon, the technique rather than facile was excellent, didn't complete the PDS managed 40.5 miles but we had a laugh and one terminal mechanical for one of group we did Sunday !!

Swiss national dh today and some other parts over the way 🙂

The descent into torgon was the best bit of the passporte. I think I was the last person to do it on Sunday as they closed the lift due to the crap weather. They were turning people back when I got to the intersection torgon/chatal.

Forge197 - top effort that man to do on Sunday! We were in morzine with the kids on Sunday and saw muddy, bloodied riders with broken bikes and ripped clothing limping through the town. Grim! Hard to believe the day before I had sweat pouring off my nose in Mozine as I tried to change brake pads!

Did not manage Torgon loop, you reckon it's worth it then?

Next year might do that and miss out the massively cack fireroad/road Chamepry sections (but sadly miss the dificile options, whicha re fab!).

Kev

Torgon was worth while doing in my opinion, we missed other bits out but still cracked out a stirling days riding was a bit wet at times, weather was awful.

Ianv that must have been the guy on the bike at the intersection asking which way to go.

Been two very muddy days bought wet screams today they've been ace much fun

What's the local forecast for next week Paul?

I will find out tomorrow when we head to town the online ones are not very accurate today was supposed rain but it has been dry all over, not complaining trails are still a bit of a mess from the rain. Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny and online says rain showers on/off until Sunday when it's forecast dry.

Went to mamos les linderrets for lunch today best burger ever 🙂

Bought a cover all suit today so not bothered about conditions now 🙂

Rest day tomorrow

Did the Passporte Thursday in temperatures of 37, great day out. Never been to the Alps, and was riding my 120mm Ghost AMR which made for a challenge. I thought the rooty descent into Morzine described above was amazing. Hurt so much I wanted it to end, but loved riding it so much I wanted to keep going. 🙂

Saturday we got a guide, and mixed things up a lot. Bit of singletrack, downhill, techy rooty stuff (new experience for me, loved it).

We spent Sunday morning in the mist of Les Gets bike park until the rain came.

Incredible few days, completely different to what I normally do and certainly brought me on as a rider. You've no choice really, its so fast and steep.

I'm not about to sell my bike and get an alpine big hitter or downhill rig, but what a great place to go, do something different, and blow yourself up for a few days.

Poor little bike is in need of some TLC now though.

Absolutley loved the last run down into Morzine, my favourite of the lot on the PPDS, but can't find any vids of it to show a mate how brutal it is. They all seem to switch between different sections.

Anyone have a link or can help?

The VTT run into Morzine is really rooty this year, and the off camber section that traverses the hill has taken a beating compared to last year, but it's just more technical so it's good, love it then some fast loose rock type stuff and the bit around the house.

Also there other bits to play on during the route down but they were hard yesterday and we had some offs and over the bars moments.

Carlos, this is probably what you're looking for

that stuff looks miles easier in vids than in real life lol

You're so right weeksy, though it depends on the bike. Once I got myself a well-used (i.e. don't care what happens to it) DH bike, it suddenly became a lot faster and a lot easier - momentum is your friend on this one, though I now have some significant dents in the downtube from flying rocks.

The Morzine switchbacks are "easy" they are just fast due to it being easy. The best bits of the trails in Morzine are not on the trail map but there is lots of stuff that was great in the vtopo book [url= http://librairie.vtopo.fr/vtt-portes-du-soleil-english.html ]http://librairie.vtopo.fr/vtt-portes-du-soleil-english.html[/url]

The problem is that you can't have lush singletrack with 1000+ riders going down it everyday come rain or shine.

The VTOPO book is excellent - cost something like €15, and it's paid for itself many times over in terms of fun new descents.

Trekster weather is improving had a couple of dry days outlook is sunny and showers more towards sun.

Had a brief shower over in champery when we were having lunch made it fun the other side

And right now it's raining heavy in Morzine

Much like hear atm ❗
Flying out tomorrow am 😆

Cool thunder and lighting last night and rain this am which just stopped, time for a pain au chocolat and maybe put the wet screams back on!!

Safe flight

Its got 2 weeks to clear up before i'm out there! 🙂

NIce today [img] [/img]

Just back from an epic 9 day adventure in the Alps - my first ever taste of riding in the Alps

Drove down on Wednesday evening with 5 bikes and 14 wheels in the back of a clapped out 16 year old Audi A4 - very cosy! More worrying was the fact that we traveled over 100 miles with the boot wide open!

Met up with 18 other members of the group and went for a play on the Morzine jump park and some other red and black runs on the Friday. This helped us get our mind tuned into Alps riding

Completed a 30 mile XC route with the group on the Saturday in glorious weather

Tackled the PPDS on the Sunday - it started nice, but we ended up riding in the misty rain clouds - which was an awesome experience. Then the heavens opened up

The riding was unbelievable - we found some crazy red DH which was muddier than anything i've ever seen! The following picture will give you an idea of the mud!

[img] http://www.flickr.com/photos/67749037@N02/7528460570/ [/img]

Of our group of 20 riders, 4 of us split of in front to avoid suffering from everyone's faffing - great plan!

I wasn't particularly well prepared for bad weather - with just a neoprene fork mud guard - how I lusted for a Crud Catcher!

We added a few extra loops to the PPDS course, but the scariest DH was the Super Morzie switchback which was the craziest I've ever done - coming across people walking downhill when your hitting 30mph in next to zero visibility is emotional to say the least.

A very tough 70 miles of riding - the post ride beer was superb!

We explored various spots on the Monday/Tuesday, including several runs down the Morzine Mainline - which is an awesome track. We also played on a red DH track behind Avoriaz on the Tuesday, discovering mud so thick that it would stop your wheels turning when you are downhilling. The techniques learnt were very helpful - pedal harder

[img] http://www.flickr.com/photos/67749037@N02/7528523238/ [/img]

7 of us hired a great guide for the Wednesday which allowed us to really get away from the masses. €220 well spent. We could have hired his lodge above Morzine for an overnight stay, but we had to leave early the next day

[img] http://www.flickr.com/photos/67749037@N02/7528554648/ [/img]

A few of us travelled over to Zermatt for a couple of extra nights. No one else could face any more cycling, so I went for a solo ride in the shadow of Matterhorn and it was one of the most spectacular rides of my life. 20 miles across some ridges looking down onto a spectacular glacier - mind blowing

[img] http://www.flickr.com/photos/67749037@N02/7528568998/ [/img]

[img] http://www.flickr.com/photos/67749037@N02/7528596124/ [/img]

My finishing stretch on my first Alps trip was the Zermatt World Championship DH course - which was insane!

Completed the course, crossed the road, went down some steps and went over the bars - my worst crash of the week

What an adventure!

I'll be back with a vengeance

Just got back from 10 days out there.

We did the passportes on Sunday, we found it really tame, I expected a lot more hard stuff but most of it was on fire roads etc, it even seemed to want to take you down fire roads when there were decent other route, like in les gets. Some bits were very much like rising the peaks, just longer, lots of very slow people... The weather Sunday was horrific though, temperatures ranged on my garmin from 36c down to 6c at the end.

We did the Torgon loop on the Saturday, that was interesting, nothing quite like having to hold your bike onto the longest highest lift on the PPdS route.

Morgins downhill runs were very very good, steep, rooty and rocky. Chatel bike park was very good, avoriaz was quite good, the decent down from the chatel side was very good.

I don't think I'd do the PPdS again, quite boring.

One thing is for sure, the grades are totally different to here, the greens have bigger drops than most blacks here.

Updated - with photos

Just back from an epic 9 day adventure in the Alps - my first ever taste of riding in the Alps

Drove down on Wednesday evening with 5 bikes and 14 wheels in the back of a clapped out 16 year old Audi A4 - very cosy! More worrying was the fact that we traveled over 100 miles with the boot wide open!

Met up with 18 other members of the group and went for a play on the Morzine jump park and some other red and black runs on the Friday. This helped us get our mind tuned into Alps riding

Completed a 30 mile XC route with the group on the Saturday in glorious weather

Tackled the PPDS on the Sunday - it started nice, but we ended up riding in the misty rain clouds - which was an awesome experience. Then the heavens opened up

The riding was unbelievable - we found some crazy red DH which was muddier than anything i've ever seen! The following picture will give you an idea of the mud!

[img][url= http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8168/7528460570_444435ef1e.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8168/7528460570_444435ef1e.jp g"/> [/img][/url] [url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/67749037@N02/7528460570/ ]Muddy Liteville[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/67749037@N02/ ]boltonjon[/url], on Flickr[/img]

Of our group of 20 riders, 4 of us split of in front to avoid suffering from everyone's faffing - great plan!

I wasn't particularly well prepared for bad weather - with just a neoprene fork mud guard - how I lusted for a Crud Catcher!

We added a few extra loops to the PPDS course, but the scariest DH was the Super Morzie switchback which was the craziest I've ever done - coming across people walking downhill when your hitting 30mph in next to zero visibility is emotional to say the least.

A very tough 70 miles of riding - the post ride beer was superb!

We explored various spots on the Monday/Tuesday, including several runs down the Morzine Mainline - which is an awesome track. We also played on a red DH track behind Avoriaz on the Tuesday, discovering mud so thick that it would stop your wheels turning when you are downhilling. The techniques learnt were very helpful - pedal harder

[img][url= http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8147/7528523238_df868c0f49.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8147/7528523238_df868c0f49.jp g"/> [/img][/url] [url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/67749037@N02/7528523238/ ]Jon Muddy[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/67749037@N02/ ]boltonjon[/url], on Flickr[/img]

7 of us hired a great guide for the Wednesday which allowed us to really get away from the masses. €220 well spent. We could have hired his lodge above Morzine for an overnight stay, but we had to leave early the next day

[img][url= http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7106/7528554648_468a4a3d6f.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7106/7528554648_468a4a3d6f.jp g"/> [/img][/url] [url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/67749037@N02/7528554648/ ]Ben Lodge[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/67749037@N02/ ]boltonjon[/url], on Flickr[/img]

A few of us travelled over to Zermatt for a couple of extra nights. No one else could face any more cycling, so I went for a solo ride in the shadow of Matterhorn and it was one of the most spectacular rides of my life. Starting at 3,100m, I travelled 20 miles across some ridges looking down onto a spectacular glacier - mind blowing

[img][url= http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8012/7528568998_3d296c4a17.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8012/7528568998_3d296c4a17.jp g"/> [/img][/url] [url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/67749037@N02/7528568998/ ]Glcier Panaramic[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/67749037@N02/ ]boltonjon[/url], on Flickr[/img]

[img][url= http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7276/7528596124_88240f6780.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7276/7528596124_88240f6780.jp g"/> [/img][/url] [url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/67749037@N02/7528596124/ ]Liteville[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/67749037@N02/ ]boltonjon[/url], on Flickr[/img]

My finishing stretch on my first Alps trip was the Zermatt World Championship DH course - which was insane!

Completed the course, crossed the road, went down some steps and went over the bars - my worst crash of the week

What an adventure!

I'll be back with a vengeance

Awsome posts lads.. nice nice work.

I'm not jealous, Really I'm not.

@gps - the PPdS is a grand day out, it's not a technical challenge. Certainly a ride for a sunny day, it's a good focal point for a weeks trip.

@bolton - that's some serious mud ! Zermatt is indeed fabulous. Have you seen the Anthill Strength in Numbers Trailer on Vimeo (Verbier and Zermatt). I think your sort of tour is the way to go, really good to see new places.

Our group finishing the PPdS in Chatel... thankfully they still had free beer and sausage left at the revitalisation point.

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and to offer a complete contrast... two days later.

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and a fail during mountain style practice demonstrating why you need decent insurance out there.

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gsp1984 - love the photos - especially the gap jump and helicopter shots!

What was the physical damage and how is he getting on??

100% agree with jambalaya about the passports. Its not overly technical, but if you take a chance on a few of the 'extras' dotted around the course, then you can find yourself in some wonderful places - places which you can then easily hunt out after the event

I'd love to do the PPDS again, just to experience it when its sunny - but also to find more hidden trails and pass lots of Frenchmen in their lycra!!

First day back at work today for 11 days and it hurts like a b*stard!!

No news on the rider that was taken away no 🙁 they were concious, looked like hip/pelvic injuries which can be quite bad.

Gate crashed the Mountain Style party in Chatel on Friday night... that got very messy, between 3 of us we managed to spend £200 each, and each ended up with a bottle of Champagne on our debit cards lol... was amusing rubbing shoulders with Brandon Semenuk, aggy etc another USA Freestyle MTB elite.

They were saying we were the crazy ones by the end of the night.

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I bet that picture looked to be in focus when you took it.... 🙂

Glad the weather improved for you Graeme! Really thought it was in for the week!

Our amazing trip went from this
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To this
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And Finally
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Beautiful weather today. Went over Mont Chery and sessioned the black DH in the morning. Nice burger for lunch then back to Morzine via the red DH as my forks refused to retain their contents internally, the shock needed an air can service and the headset bottom cup split in half.

Conditions perfect for Minion/High Roller.

Was a very mixed bad for the weather, did the PdS on the sunday with visibility down to 15 metres in places, got lost coming off the Swiss National DH track and ended up riding down a ski piste until we linked up with the Champery singletrack, did manage to avoid a great number of the actual yellow PdS markers and ride a lot more of the interesting red marked trails this year though, cuts out a lot of the climbing and fire road in places.

Once it got very muddy last monday/ tuesday, I actually found the green/ blue trails more fun, they often followed the contours a bit more, so you got longer, but less steep runs, especially on the Chatel side and the trails there (Fluid etc) and you could get used to riding in the mud and getting a bit sketchy and opposed to the black runs and just about holding on in places.

My synopsis.
It was wet then it was dry.
Muddy Marys seemed a great tyre for the whole week.
Lots of new/ updated trails compared to the last time I was out there.
Lots of good trails are now forbidden (still ride just as well though).

There were mincers everywhere. There's nothing more annoying than some softy southerner on a £6000+ bike track standing his way down a trail, or just stopping to chat just round a blind corner. Go back to Afan/Essex.

On a more positive note, considerably more ladies out there.

Mafiafish.
I'll try and defend the south, but i did my fair share of formation mincing for the first day!

But with regards to the ladies, did anyone else develop a bit of a "thing" for girls in body armour? Bit like coming back from Glastonbury liking the hot pant/ wellie boots combo?

Next year if the forecast is the same, it will be a Wet Scream up front, Rubber Queens were great in dry, but riding turned into surfing when really muddy.

Did anyone have any encounters with the legendary Goat of Morzine this year?

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There were mincers everywhere. There's nothing more annoying than some softy southerner on a £6000+ bike track standing his way down a trail, or just stopping to chat just round a blind corner. Go back to Afan/Essex.

smiles and waves.

Was also surprised by the number of hard boy Orange 5 and Alpine riders walking up gentle inclines or standing round at crossroads for a rollup and discussion about which way was down. Oh, and they don't seem to have proper mud up north judging by some of the skills and swearing on display. 😆

I was guilt of the odd walk, only because I couldn't be bother raising my seat or tyre pressures lol.

My spectacular over take of about 5 people off a 5ft drop onto rocks on the way down to Les Lindarets makes up for it though... defo not guilty of moaning about mud though, stuck it to the end on minion, also known as slicks.

So on one hand it is ride within your limits....and the other is 'mincers' walking / not going as fast as us...

Perhaps they were on a first run and doing a reccy - - look before you leap surely??

look before you leap surely

did anyone else develop a bit of a "thing" for girls in body armour?