I’ve got a bit of an embarrassing admission to make. I first raced MTB’s 20 years ago, I’ve ridden them on 3 continents, hit some of the finest areas and trails on earth. I’ve never been to Les Gets. Or Morzine. Or any of the other Portes du Soleil resorts.
And it’s not that I’ve had any eliteist hangups about going there, I’ve ridden at Glentress out of choice before and everything.
Anyway, a roadtrip out of town was needed and as the braking bumps were only going to get worse, we thought we’d eschew the draw of Italian coffee in Pila and loaded up the car to hit Les Gets. A quick google for biking at Les Gets gets you pleney of forum posts about “off piste” “locals” and “hidden” trails. But being based out of Chamonix we’re pretty sorted for all that, so just wanted to ride super easy access bermed, jumpy tracks with no stress and hopefully no walkers. I guess even when you get to eat at the best restaurants, you sometimes just want a big mac.
So we unloaded at Les Gets, marvelled at the number of riders, paid our 23euros for a day pass and joined the queue. The actual queue! We don’t have that here (well, not for bikes anyway) We hooked our bikes over the back of the Chavannes Express (brilliant carrying system, don’t have that in Chamonix either) and once at the top dropped into the main line straight back down. Here we discovered something else that we don’t have in Chamonix. Braking bumps.
Only Angus had been over before out of our group, and he was the one most disappointed when I informed everyone that due to some car issues, only light bikes with small downtubes could make the trip, meaning his 224 DH rig would have to stay behind. After the 1st couple of berms we could understand why! It’s a shame, but by taking super high lines through the corners, or entering and exiting early you can avoid the worst of them. Or just man up, speed up and get loose….
Having neglected to pick up any form of trail map we spent the rest of the day following our noses around Les Gets and Morzine. I’ve no idea if we hit the best trails, but we had fun. Nina consistently out-aired everyone, especially on the jump park under the Nauchets express chair. We all thought the trails under the chairlift after the Super Morzine gondola out of Morzine was the best trail of the day, and that the run under the Super Morzine was the worst (locals were downloading on the gondola, I can see why) and nobody and no bikes got hurt.
Fast, easy, enjoyable. But we went home feeling a little empty, though wanting more….