I've been there several times over the past ten years or so. In that time, I've seen it change a lot an it's gone in a direction that doesn't suit me. When I started going, we used t for what I'd describe as lift assisted trail riding. I've stayed in Morzine, Les Gets and Chatel and I think I've noticed the change most in Chatel. It seems to have become very downhill focused and the downhill courses seem to be bermy earth chutes loaded with braking bumps. I can ride these but I don't find them that interesting, I'd rather find some natural rocky technical single track to pick my way down.

Anyone else found this? I'm not saying it's pants, just not what it once was and it's now not something that suits me.

Also, anyone got any suggestions as to where we should be looking next year?

White room knows good techy natural stuff.

It is just a big trail centre, yes. Little in the way of 'natural' trails. I've been twice and enjoyed it, but I don't think I'll go again.

what he said ^ (onzadog)

if it was a trail centre – that would be fine, cos they're usually built to imba spec – which means you can ride them mostly off the brakes, which means you can ride all day, everyday without your hands falling off.

these alpine bermy Dh tracks are just too steep to survive the traffic they receive.

there's a new trail being built down into lindarets – it's probably finished now, but it's so steep that the the erosion was so bad that the maintenance guys were already having to patch it up before it was even properly finished.

(yes it was open)

i don't mind steep – but it's not a good way to build a long-lasting trail. and it's a rubbish way to use all that height. The chairlift to the top of the Chatel bike park ascends about 600m and takes about 15 mins – without really trying you're back at the bottom in much less than that.

With 600m to play with i want a descent that lasts half an hour, not 5 mins.

yes, there are mountain-path singletrack trails, but increasingly they have 'VTT interdit' signs around them – i don't feel welcome, so i won't be going back.

Did mostly rocky/woodsy/steep ace single track this year. Got a guide book and did some research on the internet before hand. Paid off handsomely. Probably go to the Lakes next year though as I don't mind the push/like the climb up, amazing landscape, take family and can do uplift assisted riding elsewhere if I want to.

I wouldn't say its a trail centre but i totally agree with what the OP said, It was border line that we go back this year but i gave in to peer pressure and we went to Morzine again (3rd time to region in total). I have to say that i was borderline bored at times, Plus i think for some of our group the pressure of riding on trails that were occupied by downhillers going at warp speed fully 'body armoured up' was too much. Nothing against the downhiller's ( i was one of them once) but its always going to be difficult having a broad spectrum of riders occupying the same trail. This seems to be compounding the braking bump issue as even the blue routes are getting more frequently used by downhillers due the braking bumps getting that bad at times.

This all sounds negative but i've had some really good times in Morzine and Les Gets, its just time for a change.

Next year its either joyriders or the White Rooms for sure. I want quiet natural singletrack. Thats for me 😆

I think you have to do a lot of research though as who would tell others where the ace bits of single track were only for them to get ruined in a few weeks. That does mean I had some mates that were very pissed sometimes when I took them up a goat path saying I am sure this was a good track on the map. Other times it was sheer bliss. We went down the steepest switchback trail ever but it was covered in leaves and not a braking bump to be seen so no DH needed.

Hmmmm – also interested in thia as I'm looking to the PuS event next year and then maybe stay on in the region for another few days riding.

There are loads of trails around, this year we found loads on the avoriaz lift side and i mean loads. I think its just that i've been there quite a few times.

I did bump into some guys who were touring the Alps. They were in PdS at the end of their trip and were clear that it was their least favourite area. They were DHers but made the same comments, it's all just mud chutes covered in braking bumps. Fine if you just want to go fast but not really enough to hold your interest.

I took us on a number of trails I've known from years gone by but most of them now seem to be intersected or incorporated by DH runs. I think Lets Gets looked better last year he Chatel did this year but it's all changing. It seems that each village is constantly trying to win the title of most extreme and forgetting the visitors who don't appear on the Red Bull Rampage.

Nearly got lynched for the push up to this. Only a few contours on the maps (of 100m each)

Top of one of the best trails that we did.

You've been going for 10 years and still haven't found good natural tech descents?

FFS! lose the trail map and open your eyes, it's NOT a trail centrethe area is littered with natural and semi-man made singletrack/tech tracks muppets like you will clearly never see.

GEDA I loved your holiday pics- really inspired and made me jealous in equal measure 🙂

GW, I'm not saying I haven't found any, I just don't think it's as good as it used to be and I think it might be worth looking somewhere else. We navigated this year ( as I have for the last 3 years or so) by the French version of an OS map to link together bits I know from previous years.

Someone made a valid point above as well about having fully armoured DHers running around at warp speed. The wife wasn't overly keen on that. As I said in the OP, it's changed and I don't think it suits me any more. I'm not trying to spoil anyone else's favourite playground.

Has to be said the last time I was in the PDS was '07 or so, so I might be behind the times a bit, but I've never used the area for anything other than lift assisted XC, I just grabbed an ING a few years back and went exploring, and TBH we would spend all day out in the hills and never meet another soul. We'd make the last run in of the day on one of the well known tracks, but there's loads (well, used to be) of off the beaten track stuff out there.

Agreed about the red/blue/black downhill runs at Chatel bike park. They have massive gravity points with the lift assist altitude but are actually a bit boring IMO. V steep and very braking bumpy. And I'm not adept enough to ride the more technical bits anyway. We only did one cross country route this year which left me wanting a bit more.

Will still go back for the PDS, but whether stay longer than the weekend depends if I can get any descent Xcountry routes sorted. Anyone got any GPX files for around Chatel?

And that new run down to Les Linderets from the Chatel side is just a waste of altitude IMO.

lots of signs that look like this now:

ahwiles seriously?

er, yeah. – sorry.

(well, that's a crappy french clip-art thing, i couldn't find an image of the actual sign that's being used. but every time i go back i see more of 'em)

i'm not sure it means that cycling on the indicated path is illegal – it was explained to me as a way of reminding bikers that the trail indicated is not a Dh track.

but still, being told to sod off kinda spoils the fun.

We were still loving it back in 2007 and to be honest, one of our best trips was only last year. However, both of those were based on the Lets Gets side of things. I think I really noticed the change this year as we've not been based on the Chatel side of things for a long while.

I've also noticed a lot of tracks that I've ridden in the past now have "no cycling" signs popping up on them. I think the number of conflicts has increased a lot. There are bits where no one else goes. I don't remember when I last saw another rider on the Col De Cou. However, the direction it's going is not for me and I/we fancy a change. I'd like to find somewhere that feels more focused towards the sort of stuff I like to ride and the way I like to ride it.

Wow. Its taken you 10 years to want to go somewhere else?

The PdS is what it is. Its GREAT and keeping people away from the good stuff 😉

The Alps have a lifetime of riding. Go explore. To start:

Les Arcs, Chamonix, Verbier as resorts:
Places. Valais, Switzerland, Tyrol, Austria, Alpes Maritimes, France

Just the tip of the iceberg…

talking to a french aquaintance – he says it's only a matter of time before mountain bikes will be banned from the mountain paths.

i'm not sure i believe him (i don't want to), but he lives in france, and has a very level head, he's not one for making stuff up, or just saying stuff to hear his own voice.

Onzadog – seems to me you're whining like a little girl because it's not all given to you on a plate.
I've been going over for exclusively DH riding on and off for 15+ years (no idea when I'll next go) but every single trip there I am shown great new natural and semi manmade singletrack that you'd be unlikely to ever find without a clued up local (not a payed guide). my favourite trails out there are the most tech descents, none have braking bumps, any berms are naturally formed and you won't find clueless DHers just blindly ripping down them.
IMO the resort changed (with regard to the type of visitor/user) between the mid/late 90s and 2000ish, but ignoring the overly used tracks the best riding hasn't actually changed too much since.

This year was my first time in Morzine. Spent a couple of days riding the marked trails around Morzine and Les Gets then headed off into the wilds with a map, a compass and an inflated sense of my own riding ability. Found some really nice trails but, as ahwiles said, the VTT Interdit signs did seem to be quite widespread.

Sounds like you should head for Les Arcs next year:

Or wait til our mountains grow a bit

Onzadog – seems to me you're whining like a little girl

Bit harsh 🙄

I'm not surprised it's your last trip. I think the PDS has alot to offer but I'd only ever visit it for a few days as part of a tour. There is alot on offer in the alps and the pds is definately not the best, even if you do want to ride DH tracks only. As for singletrack, I can't think of anywhere worse!

just come back from Morzine and rode loads of amazing singletracks in the PDS, spent most of the time away from the DH stuff and had a great time. agreed, bombed-out DH runs with braking bumps are not much fun but there are loads of fantastic trails there – you need local knowledge or where to look though. it's the alps – there will be good riding there and the PDS has a great lift network – personally i'd rather pedal more and see less people on the trails, but even in Morzine / Champery you can still ride for hours and see no-one.

this is the first year I havent been since 2000, a moratorium due to breaking a leg there last year. i think there are issues with the professionalism of the trail design and building, they dont seem to be sustainable and get wrecked quickly (I accept they are heavily used) so they just cut a new line nearby.

we spent 2 weeks this summer in colorado, riding predominantly natural trails. we rode a half day in winter park, and one real difference between there and say morzine is the gradient and therefore length of the trail. I read an interview with the designer out there who works on the basis that bikes and bikers want much shallower gradients than skiiers, giving much longer, flowing trails which are less susceptible to the hideous braking bumps that plague the steeper PdS runs. Even the black runs werent as steep as the average DH run in the PdS, they were black because they had technical sections.

I love the PdS and am usually storm-troopered up there, but I also think they could make far better trails with what they have to work with to complement the gonzo DH tracks.

Was out in the area 2 weeks ago, we tend to stay away from the usual places, ive been going to St Gervais, Contamines, Megeve, Les Houches, Chamonix for 3 years now and love it every time, still finding new stuff every day, didnt ride a man made DH track all week, didnt even see a brake bump. Even though it is summer holidays and you are banned from riding on foot paths we didnt get a bad word from anyone, all smiles and hello. Some were quite amazed to see people actually riding down the stuff they were struggling to walk up. This was obviously super techy slow speed stuff so we were not coming round blind corners at full tilt. Obviously this area is like this because the masses dont go there

Had a great trip to Morzine this year, we did a fair bit of different stuff Col du Cou, Pila and trails away from the main trails, didn't ride anything more than twice from memory.

But next year would fancy a change maybe a few days in Pila and then Verbier just to explore some different areas.

I live in the Alps and went to PdS for the first time the week before last. I rode mainly around Morzine, Les Gets and Chatel and TBH didn't get the attraction for the place. The riding was fun, in a freeride (I wouldn't rate it technical enough for downhill) type of way. Lots of really fast banked turned tracks with only breaking bumps to give them a bit of technicality. I found some flowy singletrails in the woods which were a bit of fun, but the whole place gave me the vibe of it would be good if you didn't know any better.

If you like lift ques, fast gravity assisted BMX tracks with a bit of woodland singletrail thrown in for good measure and bad food then I PdS is ok. If you like rocky, switchbacky technical Alpine singletrack go somewhere else.

From what I hear Les Arcs or Bourg should be really good. I ride mainly along the main Alpine ridge in Switzerland and it is rather good fun.

You'll find a few pics from my favourite playgrounds here.

ir12daveor
thats proper riding right there 😛

Was in Morzine last week and rode a lot of very nice little tracks here and there, the main tracks are pretty nasty with the bumps but you don't need to ride them.
As most people have said if you just go up the lift then ride back down you'll find a lot of heavily used tracks, a bit of the beaten path there are some lovely descents.

go to les arcs or verb if you fancy a change, i dont see why the hords pile back year after year… well i do to some extent but there are a vast majority of sheep.

last year i did a road trip with a few mates to about 10 different locations and it was great

this year was a last minute budget holiday that worked out about £350 including camping, petrol, lift passes, food and beers for 10 days so we hit up pds.

10000s of tracks that noone rides, everyone seems obsessed with the standard tracks but I rode sooo many sneeky tracks the word sneeky annoys me! an awesome 10 days barely rode the same track twice apart from pleny when I did 18 full runs back to back for an Everest challange!

you make of it what you want, if your adventurous youll find stuff, if your wanting to be pointed to the best tracks then its not the place really unless you get a good guide.

Sorry to disagree, but I loved the lift-assist nature of the Ports du Soleil this year.

Sure, you get queues, and certainly there are some trails which are over-used, but even on a DH bike it didn't take me too much pedalling to get to interesting bits. It's just a different kind of riding, and there are large sections of the GRs which are not full of Vader clones.

I'll be taking a more XC bike as well for next year's trip to do some non lift-assist.