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Ok it's a bit of a bog currently, but the trails aren't great? Sign posting is bloody awful, difficult to know where you are, where the trails go, struggling to find the signposted PDs route.
I'm not enjoying anywhere near as much as I was hoping. What am I doing wrong??
Get off-piste. Ride in Les Gets. Yes the PdS signs are tiny
[url= http://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/help-please-morzine-for-the-non-downhiller ]Thread linky[/url]
What am I doing wrong??
Riding the PDS route!
Are you out there on you own or in a group?
Weather makes a difference IMO
Have you been over to Lindarets and beyond? I preferred that to the Pleney or the berm/tabletop fests under Zore lift, though the red and blacks were quite fun and tech in places. None of that is XC though, so depends what you want.
Not very helpful, but Les Arcs FTW.
loads of stuff around,the morzine trails are fun in a bike park way, good weather always helps
loved chatel and the swiss dh track
A few of us, 1st time. Most I have spoken to agree the trail signage is poor. Ie take the blue on the right from pleny lift, it comes out on a road with no indication of where to go. The maps shows a blue all the way down to the bottom.
The trails being such a slop fest was why we tried to do the PDs route, but signs just end with no clear way to go. Disappointing, the rain and mud isn't helping matters for sure.
Edit dh and enduro bike. Will try Les gets tomorrow.
Edit. Was maybe expecting bpw, loads of excellent trails to bomb down, get on the lift and repeat. I feel I haven't found them yet.
Can you get a gpx of the route from Strava or similar?
You wont if you've only done the Pleny lift! Pretty much every other lift has more signed trails off it than that one.I haven't found them yet.
Slop fest? I was there until Saturday and was bone dry. Has there been a lot of rain since? Agree that linderats bowl and chatel side wee my favorites
Linderets bowl is great,
The Swiss side is good and normally better condition
Follow VTT signs
Get out of morzine and park up at the bottom of the lindarets lift. You can then take the lift on the avoriaz direction or chatel direction. Much more interesting routes in chatel and lindarets. Pleny and super morzine are very formulaic in their berm/tabletop placement.
The area becomes much better when you get over the mentality of being in one bike park all day. It's so easy to get a region pass then ride between valleys using the lifts (I.e. You can easily do a tour of plenty, Les gets, super morzine, lindarets and chatel in a day with only one 2k section of pedalling between the top of super morzine and avoriaz). By covering the ground you'll soon work out the area and where the stuff is you like, and the genius of the lift placements.
Most I have spoken to agree the trail signage is poor. Ie take the blue on the right from pleny lift, it comes out on a road with no indication of where to go. The maps shows a blue all the way down to the bottom.
Hmm. unless the sign is gone or you've taken a wrong turn, the blue your talking about spits you onto a fireroad where you can only go left or right.
Left has a sign for the red "Roots" trail. The blue is signposted as the right hand option. Go down the fireroad, turn left onto the tarmac, after 40 seconds head left past the cafe, over the cattle grid then a straight fireroad blast to the bottom of the pleney.
The Roots option is much better.
However, stuff the blues. get onto the main pleney black line. It's just brilliant and more than doable. Avoid the red. The blues in the slop tend to be the worst as they're not steep so the rain and mud just sit there.
Plus get over to Chatel. Much better in the wet and way more trails with huge signs.
Went last year and loved it.
There's a red (or even a green!) that comes off the Mont Chery lift in Les Gets - bottom half is mostly road but the top is lovely.
Did the ridge ride between Col de Cou and Champery in Switzerland - great day out. Get the Point de Mossettes lift from the Lindarets bowl over to Switzerland (highest lift in area unless I'm mistaken). You could even do the top half of The Grande Conche (old Swiss DH) and still pick up the road that takes you past a few refuges towards the Col du Cou. There's a big push to reach it but well worth it IMO. Ask in Torico bike shop - they should know it - worth having a map.
Chatel (Panoramique?) green is good fun and red from Avoriaz very good.
There's loads more than Morzine itself. You must have been to Bar Robinson by now? 😉
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Worked for us and we had an ace time. That was the '90s though.
Pleney Black run is rideable even by complete mincers. It's like an old sock, great track to ride on the first day repeatedly and get into alpine style riding - if you get the right chalet you can jump off and not see a single uphill after your ride - hit the showers then head down into morzine for a few relaxing beers. What could be better?
It is way more fun in the dry though.
Oh, if you're one of those weirdos who hate braking bumps - then I guess you will hate it.
Was there 2 weeks ago and there was a braking bump on the pleny black so big it swallowed your whole bike. Not so fun to ride, great fun to stand next to (nursing your near broken wrists) and watch other people also get bucked off their bikes.Oh, if you're one of those weirdos who hate braking bumps - then I guess you will hate it.
Pffff, when I was a 9 stone 182cm tall skinny 16 year old teenager with pencil arms - I rode it on an oversprung Santa Cruz Chameleon.
When it rains in the area I've always found it best to avoid the trees- the ground takes too long to dry under them.
Suggestion- Super Morzine lift up to Zore, then Zore lift up to Super Morzine ridge (aka Crete Super Morzine). Ride along the trail to Col de la Joux Verte on the Avoriaz road. Drop down towards Linderets on the MTB trail, follow to Mossettes lift. Up Mossettes lift and at the top decide.
Option 1- Col de Cou. Descend clockwise below the summit on the big track. At the junction either turn right to get to the Grande Conche DH (Old Swiss National)to descend to the tarmac road at Chaux Palin (Good cafe!). Alternatively, from the junction mentioned above continue leftwards, clockwise under the cliffs to Croix de L'Hiver. Turn right here, and within a few hundred meters turn right again to get you to the tarmac at Chaux Palin. Follow lane to Le Lapisa and another farm cafe. Follow signs to Col de Cou. Gird your loins and up to the col and down the other side back to Morzine.
Option 2. From the top of the Mossettes lift descend down in a clockwise direction to Croix de L'Hiver. Turn left down to Lac Vert and Refuse de Cheserey, the best Cafe in the World! Continue down the GR5 back into France and then you will end up at a complex junction that allows you a variety of ways down to Les Linderets, complete with more cafes 🙂 .
Les Linderets offers more choices, but the simplest return to Morzine is via Ardent and the riverside trails to Montriond and the back up alongside the Dranse via the swimming pool.
All in all, a load of good fun that is none too weather dependent although it can get horrid on Pointe de Mossettes at times. Have Fun.
I have a load of GPX files if you'd like them.
Just back from Les Arcs, having done Morzine/Les Gets twice before. Shan't be going back to Morzine.
The bike park trails in LA are far superior imho, more hard trail than man made tabletops. Add in the amazing off-piste and it's a no- brainer.
OP look at that thread I linked too. As above buy the map, download an app like viewranger as it works without data and is useful for checking where you are when off-piste
I have been 4 or 5 times and we hardly ride anything in Morzine itself, its a place we stay or just pass through.
@dan guided holiday next, thats another level on the fun/adventure scale
OP how long are you there for? I arrive on Saturday. Happy to show you and your friends around
Download trailforks - not much more than the trail mpas but it will lock on to where you are
http://www.trailforks.com/trails/map/?lat=46.18045737538309&lon=366.78358510644534&z=12&m=trailforks
Also get off the Plenny, fun as it can be it's a bit shit in the wet and if your not into it then it won't magically get better.
Next stop - it's a holiday why not book a guide for a day to show you around http://www.ride-ability.com/our-classes/
Hell of a lot easier than following maps and think of it as a turbo charged intro session. Listen to what they say, ask questions and tell then what you like (first link that came up on google BTW)
http://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/guide-recommendatons-in-morzine-please-mtb-lift-assisted-frivolity-july-2012
I'd much rather stump us some cash on day 1 than waste 2-3 days trying to find/follow/explore and having a crap time.
Thanks all for the suggestions, get out of morzine seems to be the theme. It was bone dry Monday afternoon for a handful of runs on arrival but hasn't stopped raining since.
Have a guide booked for saturday, so looking forward to that. If I have another day blundering around today then I will book another guide also.
My biggest worry, apart from crashing and dying, is taking a wrong turn and ending up miles from anywhere with no way back but to push up the hill again.
It's been a while but I never gound it that bad to work out. Do you have a piste map?
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Not sure how current these are but...
is taking a wrong turn and ending up miles from anywhere with no way back but to push up the hill again.
Work out where the lowest lift is and whats downhill from where you are.
So basically you can get down the road from Les Gets to Morzine if you have to, just be aware when you are on the extremes of the resort area and thats about it.
Oh and download trail forks it will give you the dot on the map for confidence
As a slight aside, I never really got Morzine when I went there a few years back. It's hardly the prettiest town in the Alps and the scenery compared to a lot of places in the Alps isn't great either
Oldtalent impossible even with minimal greater area knowledge I used the maps to span across valleys using the lifts. You just need to ask but there always seems to be a lift back up somewhere in a valley bottom there. I did this solo many times
Edit. Was maybe expecting bpw, loads of excellent trails to bomb down, get on the lift and repeat. I feel I haven't found them yet.
What, tame trails packed in closely on a small hill to appease riders who want to do the whole uplifted trail centre thing?
It's nothing like that. The closest you will get is Chatel Bike Park.
I'm not sure anywhere packs such a close density of trails into such a small area, other than maybe Whistler Bike Park.
There are plenty of off piste options - you could ride the Pleney for most of a day & not hit the same trail twice. Multiply that by numerous other lifts. Go explore.
No one seems to have mentioned the best run in Morzine ... head down to Bar Robinson at the end of your ride, have 2 pints of Mutzig then try to ride back to your chalet without crashing into anything!
Ah I don't know - I'm in Les Arcs now, it's also a bog, the sign posting is worse than Morzine and the lifts seem to close at the first sign of drizzle.
The 'off piste' is hellish to me too, 5mph boulder strewn near vetical single track with massive falls of the side of the trails that will kill you. I've got the same sort of stuff at home if I want it. The trails are seemingly machine gunned all over the mountain at random intervals and usually have a few miles of fire road as part of them.
I much prefer the man-made stuff here, it's not overly man made but still wide enough to open her up a bit.
Off the bike it's a ghost town, Vallendry is pretty enough, Bourg is just a normal, slightly Industrial town.
I should say out of the 10 of here 8 are loving it, I wish I was in Morzine, I'll spend the rest of the week riding the single track stuff I either find boring or terrifying, nothing inbetween because I have to stick with the group. I've only been here a couple of days, but I'm pretty much ready to go home.
The 'off piste' is hellish to me too, 5mph boulder strewn near vetical single track with massive falls of the side of the trails that will kill you.
This seems to be the case more and more now, ridden these types of trails on guided trips for a couple of years now, and seems to be what they're pushing...not sure how I feel about them tbh.
I should say out of the 10 of here 8 are loving it, I wish I was in Morzine, I'll spend the rest of the week riding the single track stuff I either find boring or terrifying, nothing inbetween because I have to stick with the group. I've only been here a couple of days, but I'm pretty much ready to go home.
Best bit of Les Arcs is get out of Les Arcs, you need a van, trailer and driver to get the good stuff and a guide really helps.
Head over to La Thuile for Morzine/Chatel style lift and ride sessions, if you can find a map of the St Foye stuff it was good, the runs down the Col D St Bernard were good but we had some magic shuttleing in there, there was some great back country riding off the Rosarie (again lift up) then the stuff up the Valley to Tignes.
It's not as built, there is the resort trails (off piste) but they were a rabbit warren of random. It's certianly much much better with a guide and lift.
under the nauchets in Les gets or the Pierre long in Chatel are probably the best areas for this sort of thing.Was maybe expecting bpw, loads of excellent trails to bomb down, get on the lift and repeat. I feel I haven't found them yet.
Ive been here 11 days with my teen daughter. We are totally loving it. We are riding non-pedal DH bikes. We loved Les Gets and the Swiss National black. Yesterday the lift to Zore was shut early on due to weather, it has rained v hard in past 36 hrs.
we havnt been off piste and we had a grim run on super morzine black two days ago. We think the place is totally brilliant so im not sure what you are not getting, although the first 9 dsys were v different to the last two....
Op get the Supermorzine lift up and ask for directions under the trees back down
love Morzine / Les Gets as long as its sunny and dry. been four times had two complete washouts / two complete scorchers!
Was so impressed with the riding in Alpe d'Huez this year tho. seems another level! the altitude gives you so much more varied terrain to choose from, and obvs the mega course takes them all in in one run! only let down is that friggin bus in Allemond.
was also 7 days of 30 degree sunshine which definitely helps!
That's one way of getting lost and finding lots of mud.Op get the Supermorzine lift up and ask for directions under the trees back down
P-Jay - seems like you've lucked out with the weather! We were there fri-mon with scorching sun!
I'm amazed it's a complete bog though. The bottom of the trails above 1800 have been trashed by building, but other than that they seemed pretty solid.
My favourite runs in resort were Elle
Chablette and La Cachette. Also liked the long red Enduro run from 1800 to Bourg.
Ho hum p1ssimg down again. Off to buy some waterproof trousers and try Les gets this morning on the dh bike, as that seems to have the sort of runs I enjoy. Not into exploring tbh, I liked a defined start and finish!
If it's pissing it down Les Gets will probably be worse...
Go to linderets and chattel in that case! Runs lift-top to lift-bottom. The only 'exploring' is riding the fire-road and track to get there from the top of Zore.Not into exploring tbh, I liked a defined start and finish!
OP, have you thought it might just be you?
Why waste the expense of a trip by not even making an effort to take in the whole range of riding opportunities in the PDS?
Buy the book Stoner refers to in the other thread. You can get it from Super Morzine lift station. I spent 6 days in Morzine the other week and only spent 1 day on Zore and Plenny runs. Everything else was natural XC stuff.
Get over to Les Gets, take the Mont Chery Lift, contour around to Mont Caly, then onto Col de'l Encrenaz, Climb up to Col De Basse and take an Jaw droppingly superb trail all the way into Essert-Romand.
Going all that way and sticking to bike parks and marked trails is crazy.
Why waste the expense of a trip by not even making an effort to take in the whole range of riding opportunities in the PDS?
+1. You get out what you put in. Do a bit more research.
Les gets in the rain is the worst!
GET OVER TO CHATEL!!!
Personally I don't like the berm berm straight jump berm park stuff in pre la joux/linderets but if that floats your boat get over there. It's far better than Les Gets. It's also really not that hard to do either, it's only a short pedal out of morzine. The stuff down to linderets is decent and then over the other side the Komatrautrail is super duper although it may be tending a little more towards the natural stuff for your taste. If you want it a bike park wales equivalent then the panoramic from the top of linderets is probably about spot on 😉
The upper lift on Mnt Chery wasn't taking bikes when we were there a few weeks ago (post Crankworx) which was annoying as the top half of the old WC-DH track was an old favourite.Get over to Les Gets, take the Mont Chery Lift
I think at this point I'm with lowey and stoner, if you want defined start and end (or the illusion of it) get someone to take you round. If not its exploring you can't go that wrong just avoid the silly stuff
OP imho DH bikes are restrictive, fun for a few trails for certain but I much prefer the exploring and getting a bit lost is what makes the day an adventure. Even the PdS tour on a DH bike is a bit of a slog
P-Jay thats why a guided holiday is such great value,maside from food/drink the guiding means you ride the best stuff.
As for terrifying yup I get that as I suffer from vertigo, can be tricky trying to manage it
Not sure when you're around til OP, but the weather's on the mend later in the week:
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Have to echo the others though: the best stuff just doesn't get handed to you. Get the map or a guide and go exploring. Follow your nose.
@P-Jay in Les Arcs - there's an amazing amount of choice here. Besides the park you have La Rosière, La Thuile close by, Tignes up the road for more bike park-y antics, and plenty of off-piste in the valley that isn't as death defying. If you're here in a group of 10, you don't have to ride with them, just do your own thing!
As for lively evenings... pretty rare in most alpine resorts in the summer. And a sausage-fest night out in Les Gets with a gaggle of lairy British monoglots isn't exactly the dream is it? 😉
Last time I was there the second month Chery lift was shutcso you had to push up but well worth the ridge line XC stuff along or the man made trail that's now gathering dust that goes the trees all the way down from mont Chery.
As for nightlife in Les Arcs, one night we had a french hen party in our bar & the next was the Fra v Por Euro16 final, so pretty rowdy!!
I was there last week. After arriving in torrential rain on Saturday (travel day only, no riding) it was bone dry all week. I stuck to the DH trails but there's plenty on offer. Chatel and Swiss National DH are great fun and easily accessible and our favourite was the Chesery or Cheesy Cow trail as we referred to it.
IMHO following the PDS route is a fairly miserable experience and misses out the best bits
Here's a typical day's ride
https://www.relive.cc/view/633483912
Oh and Bar Robinson is no longer the place to be seen in the 'Zine, it's now Le Cottage at the foot of the Pleney lifts.
Ditch any notions of being able to ride pristine singletrack from the top of lifts.. if you want that stuff, you have to climb away from the lifts.
Get a guide for a day. You'll ride a load of good stuff, and if you ask nicely, have other stuff pointed out to you as options later.
But if it's pissing it down all week, then there's not much to be done to avoid the slop.
Oooh I like that relive programme 🙂
Did you take the lift down at the end ?
jambalaya - Member
Oooh I like that relive programmeDid you take the lift down at the end ?
Oops! Yes we wimped out of the black run back into Morzine, rode it once, it was sh1t, didn't want to ride it again. The blue route back was 3km of bone shaking boring fireroad, rode it once, didn't want to ride it again.
The Relive Strava utility is indeed ace.
Nah! The Supermorzine Black is great fun... even if its not exactly 100% rideable 😀
@MTB I haven't ridden it in years, I recall there are a few red options (one with a mega carpet of roots which would be a no in the wet) and often we'd do something into Lac Montriond and back along the river or the PdS (non blue) way which does involve a ride up the road for a bit so not ideal at the end of the day.
The Supermorzine Black is great fun
It was an absolute toilet the other week. The rain had decimated it.
The rain during crankworx week destroyed it, BB deep ruts, floating roots, rivers of mud (even after a week of sun). Amazing fun! 😀
Super morzine black is currently a quagmiree
u want that stuff, you have to climb away from the lifts.
IME. This!
The rain during crankworx week destroyed it, BB deep ruts, floating roots, rivers of mud (even after a week of sun). Amazing fun!
+1 😆
Well that's my week done. It was ok I suppose once the weather cleared Thursday. Covered most of the surrounding area. Did all the bike parks, had a guided ride, did some exploring, far too much uphill riding for my liking though.
Didn't blow me away like I was expecting. I would have had an equally enjoyable week dong a uk tour of fod uplift, bpw, revolution, stiniog and 417.
To be honest though, if you are prepared all the way to go to the Alps but just want a pure uplift bike park all in one area, then the Alps isn't where you want to be.
Aside from BPW and DH venues in UK, I believe some of the German bike parks are more that kind of thing. Winterberg for example (I guess. I've never been, but looks like the sort of place).
Personally I'd say if you go to PDS and didn't rate it, then you missed all the good stuff. I only scratched the surface and thoroughly enjoyed it. I do pedal though 😉
hora - Member
Op get the Supermorzine lift up and ask for directions under the trees back down
Passportes did that route one year. Was a blast. Even in the mud 😀
Go ride Morgin, that is all.