Pimpmaster Jazz – Member
Has no-one on this thread ventured outside Morzine?

It is very good but I’ve ridden in places I’d consider better, even just because they’re less crowded.
I’m wondering how much has changed since I was last there, it was good to a point but too many people, to much track damage (I think some of the braking bumps could swallow children) and probably just getting bored of it all. Much preferred the stuff around Les Arcs (The entire valley and over to La Thuile) for variety, trails, enjoyment, quiet etc.

jaffejoffer – Member
cheers jambo. figured we must’ve missed a turn. so are the gates along the green path from Zore or actually on the main road opposite that restaurant? ill be looking out for em now anyway…

Basically follow the ridge line along from top of Zore until you reach the road that goes up to Avoriaz. Cross the road and drop into a bit of singletrack (on the left as you look up to the restaurant / Avoriaz). Look for the PPDS signs I think. Usually a heap of bikers milling about waiting to drop in. It’s not a great trail, but gets you to Lindarets pretty quickly.

The lads I met in Chatel a couple of years back are out there now – looks like they’re having an ace time despite the weather. Looks like they were partying with some of the Pr DH ladies last night. I am really quite jealous.

@jaejoffer – @dashed has it, I quite like the red trails, definitely more interesting than gravel fire road, As @dashed says you drop into Linderets pretty quickly and once you see the big tree trunks and sign over the top you will wonder how you missed them before !

By this do you mean other parts of the Alps or just other areas within the Portes Du Soleil?

Either / both. I’ve ridden all over the Alps in Italy, Austria and France, and obvious / tourist riding in the area around Morzine only scratches the surface. I also found that a lot of the trails suffered (unsurprisingly) from overuse.

It does depend what you want from mountain biking. If you want to cable car to the top and follow a wide and rutted marked trail to the bottom on a big DH bike, then the riding round Morzine is fine. Personally I prefer to get off the beaten track a little and discover singletrack gems, of which there’s no shortage of in the Alps. I also prefer to stay in towns where beer is less than €5 a pint…

I’m wondering how much has changed since I was last there, it was good to a point but too many people, to much track damage (I think some of the braking bumps could swallow children) and probably just getting bored of it all. Much preferred the stuff around Les Arcs (The entire valley and over to La Thuile) for variety, trails, enjoyment, quiet etc.

This. 🙂

“Morzine” itself is a generic label covering the PdS as it’s used as a base, but it’s a huge area really covered by one lift pass and to be honest for a lot of us it’s probably the first alpine riding experience, well organised and easy for Brits to cope with (given a lot of it’s run by Brits). It’s a good place to start.

It’s more than just up to the bike parks or the Passportes routes though. Loved doing Col de Cou this year (if a killer climb and a bit freaky trying to get down the ridge descent in the wet). There appears to be a huge amount of other unmarked and more natural singletrack all over.

It’s funny that in the winter ski seasons Morzine is a cheap little place down in the valley that people prefer not to stay in unless they’re on a budget as it’s a long lift or drive/bus to nearest proper resorts (Avoriaz / Les Gets etc). Also funny that Avoriaz is a right dump and shut down in the summer but quite pretty in the winter and very busy.

But beyond “Morzine” aka PdS, yes I’m sure many do go beyond. I’m hoping to go elsewhere in the future, just I’ve only done a couple of Alps trips riding and I really do love the place (and not just the bike parks).

Quite interested in Italy, around Lake Garda and Dolomites etc. Just because went there recently skiing and noticed a fair bit of bike stuff advertised. Not sure what kind of riding it is though.

Chamonix would be on my list too.

Quite interested in Italy, around Lake Garda and Dolomites etc. Just because went there recently skiing and noticed a fair bit of bike stuff advertised. Not sure what kind of riding it is though.

The stuff I rode on the French/Italian border covered everything from exposed rocky-tech to parched coastal singletrack, via twisting loamy forest trails. Some truly epic riding. I believe there’s cheap places to stay away from Lake Garda too, assuming you don’t mind mingling with locals as opposed to the beautiful people. 😉

Chamonix would be on my list too.

IMHumbleO some of the best ‘natural’ singletrack in the world. Some incredibly steep, techy riding in an amazing location. It’s just a shame that the town hasn’t seen fit to embrace mountain biking, so makes a lot of trails hiking only during the summer months. Like Morzine, not cheap though.

Is it still raining out there? Due out in 2 weeks and so far the forecast is wet followed by more wet. Drier weather is the only reason I’m going out later this year as at the start of last season many trails in the Alps were shut due to snow.

I’ve had snow in August. 😯

Still raining and wetter than an otters pocket at present. Cold too – 13 degrees! Things can change quickly and forecast to improve (slightly!) at the weekend…

@zero 2012 and 2013 had exceptional amounts of snow, around PdS snow doesn’t usually impact the riding by the time the lifts open. Alps can be very wet but it dries quickly. I wouldn’t stress about the weather too much.

Out there on Saturday when the weather imporves 🙂 Ridden in other places such as Les Arcs, Alpe D’huez and La Thuile. First two good riding but limited social in the evening, last is good for a day or two but not enough for a week.

My 13th year in Morzine area and just liek it as with GF we can do “lift assisted XC” and to the PPDS route out to Morgins, Champery etc, and when she is bored can hit Chatel for some DH or the runs around londaret/morzine and chavanne

I might be crazy but I do love the green panoramic run towards chatel almost as much as some of the steeper trails

Passportes weekend, with the sun out on Fri & Sat, was hot and I’m still peeling skin from a sun burn. However on the Monday it was chilly and up top from Lindaret there was snow up there. By later in the day is was a lot warmer and snow gone. Oh and Sunday everyone got extremely muddy, except our group who went shopping instead 😀 . Dried out fairly quick though.

Weather very changeable in the mountains basically. One minute it’s burning hot, next you’re in a cloud and sticking on layers.

I might be crazy but I do love the green panoramic run towards chatel almost as much as some of the steeper trails

Me too, if it was natural singletrack people would be talking it up. Great view, nice and fast, a few little jumps and some nice fast, easy berms. What’s not to like.

If you ride to the chatel bike park you can be spoilt for choice, ride humble serpentine, people, and some hairy black runs we ride next weds for 4 days staying at morzine ,you need to speak with the locals ,we found some empty downhill runs with no other riders ,simply amazing .

I changed my flight out from last Sat to next Tues as the weather looked rubbish, looks like it’s getting better at the weekend but too early to know for sure.

How easy is it to find your way round, I’ve got a VTOPO book of routes but just wondering if it’s worth getting some routes on my Garmin 800 before I go?

We gave up on the PDS years back having realised that the riding is at best mediocre, the weather is far too unpredictable and once your over 25 the whole scene is a bit meh!

We actually went back to pick someone up mid road trip a few years back and after riding so many other smaller venues it was a shock to the system being so busy, and the trails were awful, washed out motorways with endless braking bumps! Once you realise the further south you go the better the riding and weather becomes you won’t head back!

If it was me and I was there this week and had a car I’d spend the 4 hrs or so driving south to some sun to actually have a fun holiday, that place in the wet with cloud in the valleys is grim!

Blue Gibber – Member
Out there on Saturday when the weather imporves Ridden in other places such as Les Arcs, Alpe D’huez and La Thuile. First two good riding but limited social in the evening, last is good for a day or two but not enough for a week.

I think there the main difference in convenience, in Morzine/PDS it’s one lift ticket and off you go, elsewhere gets better with guide/shuttle driver/group We did 10 days in the valleys around Les Arcs and only did 3-4 days in the resort the rest was on epic singletrack that went on for ever. We hardly repeated any trails and still left plenty to go back to. Even when it did rain it don’t really change much as the trails could handle the rain being mostly rock based and not the mud chutes of the PDS.

We do keep considering other options and I’ve ridden loads of places around the world. Still yet to find anything that even comes close for lift assisted riding.

How easy is it to find your way round

@duff – you don’t really need the guide book although it can be useful for some longer routes generally with a little pedalling away from the marked bike trails. Each resort has a trail map. There are some really good “off-piste” routes using the footpath network (as marked on French IGN maps) too. These you can search out on here or ask in the resort.

Where are you staying ?

Cheers Jambalaya – staying at Grand Tetras in Morzine, stayed there a few years back when I did PPDS.

Definitely looking for some good singletrack stuff away from the busier trails, will be heading over to the Swiss side more I think. Someone posted a youtube vid on another thread of a trail Torgon-Vouvry which looks awesome.

I’ve stayed there too. Will drop you an email. Plenty round your side !

What can Morzine offer in terms of good single track and cross country. I appreciate it’s mountain region but I’m too old and incompetent and lack the dangly bits for down hill.
I just want a bit of good weather and to see dust on the bike instead of mud. Also be nice not to hear my chainset being ground down on every turn of the crank. Must be good place for family and I fancy driving there.
All input gratefully received. Ta

I just want a bit of good weather and to see dust on the bike instead of mud.

By the sounds of it Morzine et al is pretty muddy at the moment, we’re driving down tonight and I think I’ll be needing the mud tyres 😥

@bikebob – Morzine is popular with families, French families with kids far outweigh Brit MTB-ers. Plenty on here post that they enjoy family holidays there.

As for biking there are Green and Blue trails, fireroads and natural singletrack. The latter isn’t marked for biking but get a map out and you can easily see the paths most of which are accessible with a mix of chairlift and pedalling. The PdS route itself is pretty much an xc ride. As you get a bit more confident you can take on the reds most of which are reasonably straightforward.

JEngledow and jambalaya Thanks for the input. TBH I never considered rain in the south of France in July. It’s made me think. Good to hear plenty of good cross country riding JE enjoy your trip.

We did the col du cou ride a week and a bit ago starting from Morzine. Pretty fun other than the shitty push up to the ridge. Beautiful ride, some challenging singletrack and some nice flowing stuff. There are more rides like that around there and I reckon later this summer I may go back and do more.

For the last 6 years we’ve been going out around the last week of June for a month, usually popping to Les 2 Alpes or similar for a few days and then over to Morzine. Glad we decided to go later this year. Forecast is looking good for Tuesday onwards. But we all know the mountains can be fickle when it comes to weather