Morzine & the Portes du Soleil Mountain Biking Trails

There are a number of relatively easy and picturesque trails which criss-cross Morzine and its very near neighbour, Les Gets. These areas provide some excellent riding for the less experienced, less fit or those not inclined to defy gravity. The Dranse River, which runs through both resorts, has a beautiful trail alongside its banks that takes the rider to the picturesque St-Jean-D'Aulps from Morzine and in the opposite direction to Lac Mines d’Or, an excellent place to stop and soak up the sun whilst having lunch.

For those of a more adventurous disposition the best riding can be accessed via the Portes du Soleil lift system which has 25 lifts open to bikers in the summer. Beginning in Morzine with the Super Morzine and Pleney télécabines, from there the trails are endless and provide access to the wider Portes du Soleil riding area based on the villages of Les Gets, Linderets, Plaine Dranse, Chatel, Morgins, Champoussin, Les Crosets, Champery and Avoriaz. It is even possible to ride outside of the lift access areas and reach villages such as Samoens and return via the leg busting three hour ride up the Col du Golese.

The variety of trials is immense ranging from four track to purpose built, fear inducing downhill trails, meaning riders of intermediate to expert standard could spend a lifetime exploring the possibilities. Here are a few of our favourites.

The most well known trail is the Pleney downhill course sporting a vertical drop of 560m over a distance of 3.25 kms. This is a purpose built downhill course and is rated black. This and some other runs have choices between “facile” (easy) and “difficile” (difficult!) routes; take the latter only if you’re confident and have been riding within your ability level so far. But don’t make this your first run of the holiday, opt for one of the gentler runs down from the Pleney télécabine criss-crossing the hill to flatten the gradient.

Look out for a refreshment stop at d’Atray followed by the advanced super technical trail down the Atray gulley or the slightly less hair raising roller coaster ride. A more pedal oriented run will take you to the Grand Pre after negotiating “Heart Attack Hill” and onwards back to Morzine via the Lievre and Retour des Nants pistes. From the Super Morzine side of the valley try the Morzine switchbacks, generally super fast with a few technical sections in there for variety!

The Chavannes side of Les Gets sports the Downhill des Chavannes which now runs from the top of the Chavannes Express chair lift and turns into a 4 cross course at the bottom. This is known as colloquially as the family down hill (but definitely do not take your young family down it) and is rated blue. It’s a great course with some great kickers (jumps), table tops, whoops and berms to negotiate without the super steep and rutted sections of the Pleney downhill.

Mont Chery sports, in our opinion the best, downhill course in the area dropping 620m in 3.8 kms from the top of the télésiège Grand Ourse right to the bottom of the TC du Mont Chery. This is a black run so get warmed up on the family downhill first.

Alternatives, which include some pedalling, are descending the ridge line from the Mont Chery summit down to Mont Caly. This trail has a combination of rock gardens, tree route sections and fast ruts near the top. From Mont Caly traverse the trail to Encrenaz and onwards to the ‘Dangerous trail’ to bring your full circle back to the Les Gets side of Mont Chery.

If you fancy yourself as a dirt jump king then try the Les Gets Jump Park. Moved in 2008 from Mont Chery over to the Nauchets bowl, you can access it via the Chavannes and Nauchets Express chairlifts. Lots of jumps, berms, whoops and the super scary hut rough drop off to try your hand at. Be warned though the air ambulance is a frequent visitor, much safer to watch the lunatics from the side of the park if you ask us.

Avoriaz
Avoriaz has the new(ish) downhill black rated track into Les Linderets, a bike park and a four cross course going for it. When you have had enough of that you can head for the winter home run, Les Crot, which is more commonly known as the Gravelanche in the summer. This is super fast and gravely, hence the name, and brings you out at the head of the Prodains valley where you can indulge in a freewheel race all the way back to Morzine.

The downhill course into Linderets from the top of Avoriaz is a relatively new addition to the area and hosted a French cup downhill race as its inaugural event. So if you fancy testing yourself on the same course negotiated by the likes of French star Fabien Barrel, give this a go. It is super technical and a little bit demanding for all but full on downhill rigs. Again there are plenty of trails traversing the mountain in a less vertiginous fashion, pick them out if you’re more of an all mountain rider. From Linderets there is a great trail down to Montriond via the Parchets piste and onwards back to Morzine via the river trail – a most pleasant way to return to base. To access Les Crosets try the Mossettes lift up to the high point of the Portes du Soleil. From here you can either drop down the fire roads to Les Crosets with a couple of obvious more technical trails dropping through Planachaux. Or try the Swiss cup downhill course from the ridge line - Grand Conche. This super steep black drops 470m in just 3 kms.

Plaine Dranse
There has been extensive trail building activity in recent years in this area, accessed via the new Chaux Fleurie chairlift and in 2008, the Chatel Bike Park moved to this area. The runs are graded as per a ski area, blue, red and black in order of ascending difficulty so green for beginner and black for experts. Don’t let that put you off trying the easier blues and greens though as there are some superb runs here, but do be aware that you’ll come across less experienced riders, so don’t go overtaking at full gas spitting rocks up all over them! There are numerous north shore dotted around the red and black runs (and even an air bag to practice those back flips!) with easier runs leading all the way to Pre-la-Joux. In terms of difficulty, the reds would suit an accomplished rider, the blacks are super difficult so be sure of your ability before tackling them. The area is serviced by the Pierre Longue express chair lift so you are soon back up to the top for another go.

Chatel
Chatel is accessed from the Plaine Dranse area via the terrace trail. This starts off fairly technical but is not steep so it is possible for the less experienced to walk the more difficult sections. As the trail progresses it gets easier and becomes a four track/fire road with little difficulty. For something a little more demanding try the downhill courses La Premium (blue) and La Dange H (black).

Morgins
Morgins is reached from the Mossettes lift out of Linderets via a super long 4 track. This is most definitely not as simple as it sounds with lots of opportunities for the more experienced rider to follow the various cut-throughs to the next hairpin of the 4 track. Some of the latter is super fast with natural drop offs, berms and kickers should you wish to utilise them. Morgins sports the Freeride Xtreme downhill/northshore combo. This is most definitely for experts only. Check it out from the lift accessing Champoussin - absolutely terrifying!

Champoussin
Champoussin links Morgins and Les Crosets on the Passport du Soleil route. The traverse over to the top of Les Crosets is very spectacular with the Dents Du Midi to your left. This is a technical single track trail slightly climbing for a while followed by a big and very entertaining drop into Les Crosets itself. Access is via the Aiguille des Champeys télésiège and a short but steep climb up to the trail start.

Les Crosets
Les Crosets offers two downhill courses, the Grande Conche and Crosets, the latter is a blue and perfectly suited to a Freeride/All Mountain style bike whereas the former is black and more suited to a downhill rig. Take the Crosets II chairlift to access this excellent run or alternatively drop down to Champery via the old Freeraid route. This is an excellent single track trail through the meadows, negotiating roller coaster styles and intransigent cows (and their deposits) along the way. To negotiate your way back to Morzine try the Mossettes lift followed by ‘Puncture Alley’ all the way into Linderets itself. This is a steep rocky and very fast four track road with many a rain bar to impede the progress of the unwary by way of its moniker. Alternatively head to Les La Pissas and onwards to the infamous Col du Cou. This is a real test of a rider's uphill ability. Very few can ride it all the way without a rest stop. But at worst it will take 30 minutes to walk and push your bike. The reward is the super long decent into Morzine centre ville. This has everything from fast rutted sections, big drop offs, rocky rooty sections and finally super fast gravely four track. In addition Les Crosets has the best four cross course in the area with some pretty scary near vertical drops and the usual assortment of kicker, table tops and berms.

Champery
Champery is accessed via a number of routes from Les Crosets, all equally entertaining, no need for a downhill rig here all though plenty of riders use one. The trails are more technical single track of varying difficulty but without the super steep gradient of the specific downhill courses. There are ‘secret’ trails out there for the hard core freeride enthusiast but these are definitely more hospital inducing unless your top rider. There is a great bike park area in Champery below the téléphérique for testing out and developing those essential skills. The trip up the cable car is a spectacular part of the day and brings you out above Les Crosets, perhaps another run down the red downhill course?

It is important to remember that the trails around Morzine and the wider Portes du Soleil area are used by others and are not just for mountain biking. Many walkers use the same trails during the summer months.

Currently the walker/rider relationship is generally amenable. To keep it this way slow down for walkers and pass in single file to one side. A ring of a bike bell is more conducive to alerting walkers to your approach and getting them to step to one side of the trail whilst you pass on the other than an intrusive shout! A friendly “bon journée” as you pass usually goes down well too.

Some trails are marked ‘piétons’ meaning walkers only; please comply, you wouldn’t be too happy to meet a walker half way down the Pleney downhill course! It would be a shame if the restrictions applicable in Chamonix (July and August are walker orientated with many trails closed to bikers) were to be introduced in Morzine.

The following 6 mountain biking rules were introduced by the International Mountain Biking Association, and should be understood and followed by every mountain biker before venturing out.