Hi I’m in the middle of setting up a new MTB holiday company in spain and while researching the subject I came across a post on here regarding another holiday company that received some negative comments. Some of the comments were regarding the type and length of the trails and it made me think hard about the trails that I ride and love. Here’s the thing, am I the only biker that loves to climb hills as well as descend them. Surely part of the adrenaline rush that we get from riding is the feeling of elation when we’ve conquered a really tough climb up a mountain or is it just me, am I barking up the wrong tree. I can understand the need for “uplifts” for DH but surely we haven’t become that lazy that we need them to access XC trails as well. Thoughts and comments please it would be much appreciated.

Just market it as enduro, they have to climb hills

You’re not alone! Not something I’d complain about – I guess make sure people know what to expect. Good luck with it!

I’ve just come back from a great holiday in Spain and, yes, I *do* enjoy the climbs!

But I can imagine that slogging up a big mountain on some massive 40lb full suss bike under a hot Spanish sun could get old quite quickly.

I was on a short travel HT.

I love a good climb but if I’m on holiday (…and it is a holiday after all) I prefer being a bit lazier when it comes to the climbs and having more energy for the descents…particularly if its 5+ days of riding.

Depends on the type of riding though…if its more a back country A to B style ride then I’d expect some climbing

I’ve no objection to climbing. I enjoy the challenge. However, if I’m so.revere with proper big mountains, it becomes a time thing. Take Snowdon as an example. It’s around 3 hours to climb and 15 minutes to get back down. I don’t want a 12:1 ratio on holiday!

I’ve been to Spain a few times with an established holiday company that marketed themselves very much as “all-round” ie they made no secret of the fact that some of the riding would involve a fair chunk of climbing.

That said, they did have a van and they’d use it to do semi-uplift – take you out to the start maybe 2/3rds of the way up a massive mountain and then a pick-up at the end of the day to save you riding 15 miles of road to get back to base. Best of all worlds really, just using the van to ensure a good range of riding. Some of the riding was right from the door, some was best accessed by using the van to get to the start and then ride home.

I ride a HT on XC rides. I enjoy technical climbs and absolutely understand that a loop will have as much climbing as descending. Having said that, if I’m on an mtb holiday and I’m offered an A to B which is downhill overall, then I’m all for it. Somehow a train back or a minibus shuttle feels more acceptable on holiday whereas I wouldn’t make the effort in the UK

I’m sure there are plenty of people that enjoy climbing but on a holiday I want a bit of fun. Having as much up as down actually means several hours of climbing for less than an hours descent. I’m happy to do a bit of up but if there is option to do a good chunk of the climb in a van then I’m in.

One company I went with the guide would drive us to near the top, we had a good ride, some up, mostly down. At the bottom we stopped in a cafe for a beer/snack and the guide rode back up to the van. On one occasion a keeny rode back up with him.

Wha area of Spain is it, out of curiosity?

Just offer different types. I like a climb as long as the reward is a damn good trail down but some do just want dropping at the top of a big hill.

I’ll do a climb if I have to on holiday, but when I go away I want as much going down the way as possible so book with companies that uplift the climbs as much as possible. Not lazy, just enjoy pointing down the way more than climbing and when on holiday I want lots of larfs over lots of sweating on a huge climb.

There’s definitely a market for a more XC or Enduro style riding holiday. I was in Spain in April and did a couple of decent days and thoroughly enjoyed it. Given that, why compete with existing providers when there is an alternative.

If you’re talking about multi-day riding then an uplift would seem to be essential. Prob the biggest difference between genuinely fit people and the rest of us is the ability to recover and do big rides back to back. So I’ll get stuck into a Spanish epic on day one, nae bother. Day 2 I’ll maybe do a big day if I take it easy on the ale. Day 3 you can kindly G tae F if there’s any climbing involved whatsoever. You need the uplift to break things up.

Thanks to everyone on here who replied. Got some good feedback. Can fully understand now why you guys want uplifts while on holiday, it is after all a holiday. That said I’m pleased to see that there are still plenty of you that enjoy XC as well. We’re based in the mountains about half hour drive from Marbella/Fuengirola for those that are interested. Should be up and running next year, unfortunately work commitments prevent me from starting any earlier.