3 days in morzine, must do trails, dh.
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If you're in Morzine you'll have access to the entire Portes de Soleil region through your lift pass, so really there's a bit of everything. Each resort has it's own feel, but you'll be able to get whatever type of trail you want at any of them. If you plan on staying in Morzine it might be worth knowing that one of it's two lifts, the Pleney lift, is closed so only the Super Morzine side is open. This side gives you access to Chatel and beyond, but the Pleney side is where you'd get to Les Gets where there are a lot of iconic trails (Chavannes, Mont Chery etc). This map should make it a bit clearer http://mappery.com/maps/Portes-Du-Soleil-Map.jpg .
If it is possible to get to Les Gets (I didn't make it out this year so I'm not sure you can) then I would recommend a day there. There are brilliant trails on both sides of the mountain, especially the Mont Chery black (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkvAxHdgEjA). Lots of people enjoy Chavannes trail (red) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTYyivMAv7A) but it wasn't for me. Check out the jump park as well!
In Morzine you will probably only have access to Super Morzine. I think there are some new trails up there because Pleney is closed, I don't know what they are like but will be definitely worth a try! The only problem with Super Morzine is that there are no marked trails from the top of the lift back into Morzine, There are plenty of unmarked trails you can get down and they are relatively easy to find but be careful, they are hard!
Beyond Morzine on the Super Morzine side Chatel is the best place to ride IMO. There's loads of trails there, a particular favourite is the red singletrack one, but I can't remember the name, sorry! If you really want to push yourself you could also try Champery, but it will take an entire day, so if you only have three you may see this as a waste of time for one trail...
EDIT: Chatel red trail http://vimeo.com/250913360 -
cheers for that!0
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Chatel is definitely a good area - from Super Morzine summit (cable car and chairlift) your best bet is to ride to the Joux Vert and cut down to the left to get into the Linderet bowl, alternatively there is a less marked track just down from the top that takes you to the bottom of the bowl too. From there up the far side takes you to the variety of the Chatel Linga (spelling) trails which vary from green to black - all can get horribly bumpy from excessive use and pretty gloopy if it rains but theres lots of fun to be had - watch the gap jumps which tend not to be too obvious - its worth doing sighting laps on the harder trails to start out.
From the base of Linga you can bus it into Chatel proper and take the Super Chatel up for a couple of alternate trails off the top of that including one designed by Ann-Caro (I am guessing these are still there haven't been that way for a while.
If you were inclined and not on DH bikes the run to Champery and Morgin is worth while for a bit of variety but the pedally sections mean any triple crown dh bike with associated armour would be a tough slog to get there.
If you make it to the head of the Linderet bowl and take the Mosette lift up the two tracks into Les Crosets are good but watch the lift closure times over there as if you are that side of the hill when they shut you are royally f***ed!
Other good runs from that area are the blue, two reds and the black from the Linderets lift itself which takes you up to Avoriaz - the black has been used for the French nationals before and is a rocky root fest of fun.
For the return to Morzine as mentioned above, there are a variety of unofficial tracks under the super morzine all of high difficulty which at the end of the day can be a challenge - the best and easiest takes you along the ridge line above the Zore lift but is best ridden with someone who knows it as a wrong turn leaves you with a horrible hike back out from a close out cliff line. Looking at the map it seems there are two marked runs under the Zore these days and the option back to town is the cable car - not the final run home you might like but not a bad option for tired hands, arms and legs!
The earlier poster mentioned that the Pleney was closed which is true but I believe they have lifts running instead to get you up the Avalanche cup course off the pleney and to give access to Les gets so you should have a load of options.
For me if I had a pure DH bike and 3 days I'd do an early trip to Les G for a few hours then session the Pleney to the end of the day, hit Chatel's offerings the next day and then Linderets DH and the Zore runs for the final day which puts you in sight of Chatel Linga for a few laps too.
Have fun, ride safe and dont go big unless you know what you are getting into!Closet jockey wheel pimp whore.0 -
Thanks for the advice guys, sorry for the late reply..
Had an awesome time! Day 1 we went on the bus to les gets. Bit of waiting around for the bus but not too bad. Les gets was good, nice warm up with the green, then did blues and reds all day.
Day 2 rode over to chatel via linderets, (after having a play on the new red at the top of super morzine which is an absolute berm fest.) It was quite a slog on the dh bike, felt like about 4 miles of xc route. Once at chatel though, that was even better than les gets. Same again, green, blues, reds, really enjoyed it.
Day 3, went up super morzine, nearly fell off on the first corner, then again on the second. Had a rest while feeling sick. Tried again, could not ride at all.. funny really seeing as I was smashed on mojito's just a few hours earlier.. off back to the chalet to pack the bike up and veg out in town.
Trails were good, few braking bumps but daft as it sounds, it was as if they were needed in some places to mix it up a bit as it was so smooth everywhere. For the trails we did, dh bike was overkill, the enduro would of been better suited I think.
Will definitely be back to try the blacks if nothing else.0
