Morzine Holiday

The accommodation was booked, the travel sorted and the bikes were in the best condition they have ever been in, since brand new. So it was a bit of a blow when the Morzine and Les Gets council were talking of putting the opening of the season back by a couple of weeks, due to the excess amount of snow still lingering. Adding to this the news of Le Pleney lift been closed for an overhaul, it might have been a mistake booking so early on.

With the departure date getting closer, we all had an eye on the weather, snow reports and also the various websites for the area.
It was a relief to read all was going ahead and the chair lift that runs parallel to Les Pleney had been adapted for bikes, as well as numerous shuttle buses between Morzine and Les Gets.

The last worry on my mind was fitting seven bikes, plus riding gear in my (what seemed to be getting smaller by the day) VW Caddy Maxi.
To keep costs low I had volunteered to drive the bikes down while the rest of the group flew from Leeds to Geneva. While everyone dreamt of riding the perfect trail, I headed out in the night for my Channel Tunnel crossing.
Everything went to plan and I found myself in our pre-booked apartment in a little over 14 hours.

The digs were way too luxurious for the rabble that were going to call this place home for the week and with the fridge stocked with beer, it was only polite to have a couple before settling down for an early night.
An early start had to be made to get the bikes and gear out of the van and into the garage, setting the rear seats up for my meeting with the lads at Geneva. After picking everyone up, plus the hire car we were all soon settled in with beers in hand admiring the views from the balcony.

The next morning saw us rushing down to the ticket office for the nine passes we needed. Seven bikers plus a couple of mates had joined us for the crack and a bit of walking/para gliding.
Seen as though Le Pleney was on our doorstep we decided to sample this chair lift first and even with the Pass`portes du Soleil in full swing, the lift didn't seem that busy. Turns out the reason for this could have been the time it takes to get to the top, with it been and old lift it was a little on the slow side. But we didn`t mind, we didn`t care, we were on our first chair lift in the Alps.
After regrouping at the top, you could feel the anticipation in the air. Even though we all agreed on a nice little descent back down to Morzine, to accommodate every ability in the group, there was still a little bit of anxiety towards the unknown.
The sun had been shining all morning but it was still a very muddy descent after the torrential rain the resort had before we arrived.

It wasn`t the best route to whet our appetites and a few of the riders chose to experience french culture or should I say drinking holes in Morzine once at the bottom. The remaining riders jumped on the dawdling lift and headed over to Les Gets to see if the other side of the hill was any better.
We were glad we did, the conditions were much drier. There seemed to be endless amounts of trails leading from the top of the chair lifts and apart from the odd wet patch in the trees, appeared to be dry. For those who have been to the Portes du Soleil, you`ll know the quality of riding to be had here. The trails are really well built and the red and blue graded ones are more than adequate for the average British trail centre rider.

This was a relief, after seeing the endless French and German riders, all doing their best robo cop impression at the top of the lifts, then mounting their DH monsters. We were a bit intimidated on what to expect.
All our fears went out the window when we found ourselves overtaking the mass of American football players on bikes and concentrated on the flowing trails in front of us. At the bottom it was just a question of how many rides on the lifts we could squeeze in till the end of the day.

Over a few beers and a hearty dinner we discussed the day and the days ahead. With more sun forecast it was decided that we head over to Les Gets once again, to get to know the area and the trails even better. The next morning we packed our full face lids and this time headed to the bus stop. Ten minutes later we were in the lift queues in Les Gets.

The morning was spent finishing up where we left the previous day, just going up and down familiarizing our bodies and bikes to the steeper terrain. After a late lunch, Stuart and myself headed over to the Mont Chery lift for a circumnavigation of the mountain. After exiting the cable car we left the DH boys behind us and carried on up, only this time we were pedalling. The views started to open up with Mont Blanc dominating the skyline and showing us why its called the white mountain,. This was what I had come to the Alps for.

A steady ascent above the treeline lead to a long, sweeping, singletrack descent back into the pine forest. This pattern of steady climb with a long descent repeated all the way back to Les Gets, where we washed our bikes, but couldn't wash the smiles from our faces. On the road ride back we planned on getting out the maps and seeing where else our bikes could take us.
The next day, with a route planned into Switzerland and a number of the group volunteering to join us, (after our tales of off piste adventure) we headed to the Super Morzine lift on the other side of the village. All seven bikers from our group congregated at the top. We said our goodbyes and five of us left the remaining two to sample the tracks and trails on this side of the valley.
What greeted us was needle carpeted trails opening up to high alpine vistas leading to a rocky descent down to Les Brochaux. We hooked our bikes on yet another lift and headed out on what seemed to be the longest chair lift in the Alps. Upon reaching our highest point on the route, without any effort at all (thanks to the bump) we cruised down into Switzerland at blistering speed on high refuge service roads before taking a rocky trail towards our climb over the pass and back to Morzine. Even though the descent was thrilling, in the back of our minds was the fact that the more we dropped the more we had to climb back over the Col du Coux.

We headed for the small holding at Lapisa just in time for the goats to be milked. The herders wife was more than happy serving us coca-cola, coffees and Swiss cheese on toast.
With our bellies filled we headed out for the climb. Aston, the youngest and fittest member made it the top of the col fifteen minutes before the rest of us and what we found on the other side was swooping singletrack, leading towards Morzine heading down into the trees.In the trees things began to get steep and gnarly, with switchbacks and roots adding interest.
In no time at all the trail spat us out on the valley floor, where we followed the river back to town, wishing we could re-ride the last five miles again and again. Rain the next day gave us an excuse to rest our bodies and get the bikes back up to scratch.
With our feet itching to get back on the pedals a couple of us braved the muddy conditions and headed over to Les Gets once again the next morning. The goggles became redundant after the first run, collecting most of the mud on the slopes, but this didn't stop us. So with goggles in the pack we carried on regardless, grinding our eye ball's down with the grit accumulated in them. In the conditions there was a couple of falls on the slippy roots, but no major brakes to bikes or bodies.

With only one more day of riding left, we planned on another all mountain epic.
Heading up Le Pleney once again, this time grabbing a couple of croissants and a 600 page novel to keep us company on the slow lift. The nice relaxing ride eased our way up the mountain in the pleasant morning sun. After Le Pleney we climbed on towards the top of the lifts at Les Gets. When we got there it was too tempting to ride on past the runs, so we took in a couple while we passed on through.

We eventually regrouped and headed out for Le Ranfolly. Again Mont Blanc was with us as we climbed and descended on more technical terrain than our previous excursion.
We all had more of an urgency to us, wanting to get back and try out the trails at the top of the Super Morzine lift before heading home. So on we went, dropping into town on steep, rooty tracks all the way through the forest.

After a quick burger for lunch, we changed helmets took the lift up and crammed in as many runs as we could, in fact we were on the last lift up for the day, so made sure we made it a good one. Still had the prospect of dismantling the bikes and packing up the van for the return journey, which all of us were reluctant to do, so met up with the rest of the group in what had come to be our local away from our local for a few well deserved beers.
We still had the prospect of dismantling the bikes and packing up the van for the return journey, which all of us were reluctant to do, so met up with the rest of the group in what had come to be our local away from our local for a few well deserved beers.