Portes du Soleil mob holiday

camber26

Hi,
Will be out riding in Portes du Soleil for the first time this summer.

Anyone got any tips or recommendations out there? Im mostly into XC riding but can get myself down a steep descent no probs.

Will I need flat or clipless pedals? Anyone got any ideas on type of tyres or equipment I will need and whats the general weather conditions gonna be like at end of July.

Any input would be highly appreciated, there doesn't seem to be a whole lot on google on this subject.

Thanks in advance

YIMan

Hi, I've done a short holiday in the Portes du Soleil area a couple of times, once in Morzine and once in Les Gets.

There is plenty of all kinds of riding -
Cross country routes and loops if you want to ride some monster climbs under your own steam.
Ski-lift assistance to a wide range of marked and unmarked downhill tracks. These range between wide forest tracks, semi-technical singletrack to full-on official Downhill tracks that really need a large-travel bike to make the best of them.

Flats or clip-in pedals is entirely up to you and what you feel comfortable riding.

Some of the routes can be rocky and bumpy so if you are going to be doing a lot of fast downhill riding it may be worth looking at a stronger, grippier pair of tyres.

Bikewise if it was me I'd take at least a 140mm full-sus. unless you really are going to be XC-ing it and taking it very easy on the milder downhills only. If you're going to be taking full advantage of the downhills, which it would be a big waste not to....definitely look at knee / elbow armour and possibly a full face helmet.

The weather will probably be baking hot interspersed if you are unlucky with torrential downpours.

What I would recommend is getting a guide at least for one day as it makes a world of difference in understanding the area and how to get around plus you will be shown routes that otherwise you'd never find.

Hope that helps a bit!

tourdriving

Find more for that big area here http://en.portesdusoleil.com/summer.html or http://www.bikepark.ch/