Passporte Du Soleil 2014

Hi,

Anyone have any experience of this event?

Thinking of doing it next year and targeting the Sunday to participate and then follow up with a few more days exploring around Chatel…..

Of course the event is busy but…….is Sunday the quietest day?? Are the hub venues, Chatel specifically, busy for the proceeding days after the Sunday??

I figure its 80k it would be tough for it to feel over-busy??

(I ask ‘cos I hate massive crowds / pressure etc)

Cheers

We did it on Friday this year, which turned out to be the best day weather wise. Saturday was miserable, Sunday was dry but the trails were sodden.

All in all I really enjoyed it. Very tiring though as we’d not been to the Alps before. Really well organized, lots of control points/feed stations. The lift staff were great as we’re fellow riders.

If you ride it on the first day you can do it again as you get a free lift pass for the day after.

Hopefully doing it again next year.

My board number was 4264- so yes, it can sometimes get crowded. Having said that though there are several starting points and no massed starts. The biggest crowd was a 10 minute wait at the Super Morzine lift and another at the bar in Morgins. It reached 34 degrees the day I rode it, and there was snow at Lac Vert too.

The best event I’ve ever ridden.

We did it on the Saturday.

[/url]
Boat 2657… come in your time is up[/url] by Alex Leigh[/url], on Flickr

Didn’t finish it tho. Never been quite so wet or cold on a bike before! But it’s a superbly organised event. Food stations have great food and decent coffee. It wasn’t that busy on the Saturday but that’s because many people dropped out. Starting from Les Gets next year I think and we’ll be there again.

We didn’t spend much time in the bike parks, bought a book and went exploring and it was absolutely fantastic, We’ll be doing some more of that next year.

There are worse places to spend a week 🙂

[/url]
Ready to climb the Col de Cou[/url] by Alex Leigh[/url], on Flickr

I wrote up our experience of the PPDS here: http://pickled-hedgehog.com/?p=2892

Done it twice now – 2011 and 2012. First year, started from Torgon, which was a bit of a dull place, 2012 stayed in “Manzine” which was loads better but a lot more expensive to eat & drink.

Event itself is superbly run, not really technical but you can get some serious warp speed action on if you want – just be aware there is a real mix of rider abilities so you can end up coming unstuck if you catch some odd lycra/hard armour Frenchies!

All in all though, a great event and well worth doing

🙂

Sunday was dry but the trails were sodden.

Yep. It made some of the trails a much more interesting technical challenge than in previous years for me though.

Shame about the ridiculously sticky mudbath between Avoriaz and Linderets though. Had to carry my clogged up bike to get past it.

Anyway, to the OP – don’t worry too much about the numbers, it’s alright once you’re riding. And Chatel’s a good place to stay yeah.

Oh that sticky bit was epic. I’d forgotten all about that. They’d taped it off to stop riders just ploughing through, but most I saw didn’t have a lot of choice!

I did it some time ago . Because of the multiple start points, length and no mandatory start time it is never that crowded . It was my first time in the alps and I have a fear of hights and drops which kicked in a couple of times. It is a long day but very doable. The only ” pressure ” is self imposed or from the mates you chose to ride with. I did get a we bit tense in one que with a French kids idea of how to wait his turn but due to many a summer exchange with a French military family I can genuinely swear like a trooper in French which made him back off.

They’d taped it off to stop riders just ploughing through

We must’ve got there before it was taped, we started at Morzine.

Only time I have been envious of my friends’ for riding Oranges – which clogged way less.

Great responses – thanks…..

The free lift pass for the following day only apple during the event though, right? So if you ride Sunday – there is not freebie??

Cheers

The free lift pass for the following day only apple during the event though, right? So if you ride Sunday – there is not freebie??

Free pass is for any time during the summer unless they changed it.

It is a great event. I’ve done 2005, 6, 8, 9, 10 and 13. All on an XC bike, a 1999 Marin. Conditions have varied from 35C madness to getting snowed on this year.

You must do it.

Oh that sticky bit was epic. I’d forgotten all about that. They’d taped it off to stop riders just ploughing through, but most I saw didn’t have a lot of choice!

I think that was because of the helicoptor rescue on friday ? Got there whilst the guy was on the ground…I was a couple of minutes ahead of my mate, who got quite a fright as the guy looked just like me (and, admittedly, many other bald IT workers).

Hope he was OK, he was certainly getting well looked after.

Does this follow the route of the ‘Tour de Portes du Soleil’ that is sign posted and can be done at any time? Or is it something different?

Pretty much so, although there are small variations year to year. They often start a lift that isn’t used for the rest of the season.

However, it’s the food stations that make it so good.

(I ask ‘cos I hate massive crowds / pressure etc)

If flap jack is right you can do the route whenever you like so why not go for a week and do it on the best day / when you feel ready?

However, it’s the food stations that make it so good.

Amen to that. Careful not to linger too long though.

Does this follow the route of the ‘Tour de Portes du Soleil’ that is sign posted

It’s mostly the same but I think the permanent signposts miss some of the best riding and send you down fireroads instead.

That was my experience when following a section anyway, might be wrong however.

It’s mostly the same but I think the permanent signposts miss some of the best riding and send you down fireroads instead.

Indeed so. The descent into Champery particularly, which was utterly epic this year.

Cheers Chapa – I guess the point in going is to try to take in the best stuff…..so if the event signage ensures that you miss nothing and you get feed stations…….and it does not ‘feel’ that busy…..then it sounds like a go-er…..

Do it ! The organisiation is superb, signage brilliant, and it feels way less busy than a UK trail centre. Especially if you choose to pedal up some stuff rather than take the lifts.

My best MTB memories are based around this event.

Do it….. it’s awesome.

I’ve done it on a Friday and a Sat – the Friday was noticeably quieter.