A non mountain biking acquaintance of mine has decided that Megavalanche is for him after seeing a video. I'm trying to convince him its not just a case of rolling down the hill but got me wondering. How technical is the course?
I too have watched loads of Youtube clips and while in the Alps this year I spotted a bit of snow covered track up in Chatel.
Me and my mate both figured we would try to ride across it - just like at the start of the Mega. We promptly fell off within a few yards 🙂
In all seriousness (I hear from those that have done it) its not just the technical bits, its the fighting for a line with elbows you need to master as well.
Balls....
Good bike handling, fitness, calm head.
You can walk sections but that gets harder. There are drops rock slabs, snow boulder fields and steep technical trails.
Medical bills start at around 200 Euros for and X Ray and bandage and go up from there. Experienced guys take a beating as much as the new comers.
Saying that will probably teach him a thing or two.
Would suggest doing a proper Lakes/Peaks ride to knock some sense into him.
It's more loose than technical though there are occasional difficult bits. He could probably trundle down in last place walking the bike through 10-20 difficult bits no problem
fitness is probably the 1st thing its 90mins of full on abuse
next up is confidence and skills, lots of descents in the peaks maybe a trip up to fort bill
How hard can it be?
Frank Schneider won the Megavalanche Master Challenger Class on a singlespeed hardtail* 8)
[img] 
[/img]
*Frank Schneider = awesome skills.
It's not very hard technically, but it gets tougher the quicker you ride it, because the more tired you get you start to make stupid mistakes on easy bits of track.
If you want a couple of full length video's from this year, see below. The first is my qualifier & the second is the main race.
The qualifier , i've been in the top 20 the last few years now so know what to expect, but I find the start of the race tough, being in the pack means one speed & lots of people all around you, riding into you, over you etc. Mix that with a very steep snow covered ski run & it's always a mess unless you get very lucky or at the front.
Qualifier:
Race:
Introduce him to the MacAvalanche (hopefully they will run it next year) - it's like the mega, but in the UK.
Great fun!
Nice one hob nob, cool videos.
Very cool Hob Nob, some super takeovers on the Qualifying.
It's more loose than technical though there are occasional difficult bits.
bang on. loose is the word. faster you go, the closer to death you find yourself.
not hard at a steady 'practice' kinda pace, but can get fairly sketchy at race speed while taking 'novel' lines to dodge folk...
Cheers - considering the state I was in (busted ribs) and being annoyed about it & not being able to breathe properly at the time, looking back i'm happy with the result.
Gives me an excuse to go back next year again & try again!
Quality footage that mate, it looks well good!
great vids hob nob, i was getting frustrated for you when you were stuck behind 1742? on the main race
I did it for the first time this year. I'm by no means a useless rider, and fairly fit although I'm no downhiller. It is pretty intense. As others have said, it's one thing riding it, and another riding it in a race with hundreds of other lunatics jostling for position.
It wasn't "fun" and I'm not sure I'd do it again. That said, I didn't die.
🙂