I’m hoping to get some tickets for the Passportes Du Soleil this year. Looks like a fun event although I’ve heard some slightly worrying tales of big queues and crowded trails.

Please tell me about your experiences on the PDS – is it better to start from one of the smaller resorts, can you access the lifts on the days you’re not in the event, and is there room to move on the trails?

Any thing else I need to think about?

Thanks

What more do you need to know about? You do know about the

goat?

I can’t believe you made me click on that in the office. You must be scarred for life.

I had a great time, a few large queues but nothing compared to ski season and only 5 minutes max. I guess it depends how many people are at the same rate as you. If the queues are bad just grab some food/drink and wait for them to go down a bit. Would definitely recommend it.

Did it last year and doing it again this year, great day out.

There are some queues, so get to your start point early, i don’t think we queued for more than 20 mins at any of the lifts on the way round, plus the whole line is riders, so it is very social as well.

As above really, loved it last year and plan to go again this year. TBH there were only 2 or 3 noteworthy queues in the whole day (saturday).
I didn’t feel like the trails were crowded – most sections are wide enough to pass on, no worries.

Its absolutely brilliant! Go out a couple of days before and scare yourself silly on the downhill stuff. Its really good fun!

Its very civilised too! Its nice to get to a food stop and be presented with a selection of meats and cheeses and handed a glass of red wine 😀

I’m going to be near lake Geneva with the family that weekend so thought i’d give this a go.

Any advice for doing it on your own? Anyone open to me joining their group so i’m not billy-no-mates all day, fending off French stormtroopers on my own 😀

In my honest opinion the PPDS is an enormous waste of time, its mostly on fire roads, misses most of the best tracks and pee’d me off slightly. You are better off spending they day doing yer normal riding in morzine. Although some of my party loved it and are doing it again this year. Not me though no way hose. The only good thing is that we saw some tracks in morgin as we passed over them in the lift, decided to ride them and bollocks to the PPDS , which if we had not have been doing the PPDs we would never have known about.. Very very good trails in Morgin.

The crowds were no bother, good atmosphere, whilst I did not encounter major queues, there was typical euro pushing in behaviour, but you’ll get this in morzine on any day. Not much food left at feeding stations after 1.30. Do it for the t shirt (extra) and then just go to the alps and ride when and where you want next year.

I disagree about the “mostly fireroad” comment. There are plenty of gnarr options around, and you’re given a map so that with a bit of intelligence you could skip out loops, or repeat stuff if you felt like it.

Queues are no bother. I spent more time waiting for mates to buy new brake pads than I did queueioeioeing for lifts.

The bigger resorts sell out quicker. Saturday sells out faster than Friday and Sunday.

Queues are not a problem, the odd choke point. Wherever you start you’ll have to wait a few ins but riders soon spread out. There is not much else you have to worry about at the moment apart from picking a start point and the day you want to ride.

Just avoid Torgon – it will sell out last as its not a great point to start from. I would say the trail down to Torgon was actually one of the best we did in 2008 but there was plenty of riding over grass to/from Chatel. We only started there as we booked weeks late and it wasn’t sold out.

It’s a fun social day out, kind of Alps with training wheels.

Did it a few years back it but would not rush back to do it again, it was ok no more no less. There’s so much good riding around there it seems daft to pay good money to wait in line to ride average trials.

Have signed up for this year’s one. Tried to get on last year’s but missed the cut but we rode 99% of the trails anyway. Keen to do as a “tick” but the idea of queuing to ride trails you can ride when empty the following day is a bit odd.

Hi Stickman, here is a link for you
http://www.summitdown.com/