Chris Kilmurray: Professional UCI Mountain Bike Coach

Cycling coach Chris Kilmurray shares his thoughts on Morzine

featured in Meet the locals Author Giles Towler, Morzine Reporter Updated 17 August 2016

Local bike rider and racer Chris Kilmurray, with over fifteen years experience racing downhill bikes, moved into coaching in recent years, with a Diploma in Sports and Excercise Studies and a UCI coaching Diploma. When not travelling the world working for the UCI delivering coaching certification courses he still calls Morzine home.

He's lived here for eight years now, following numerous holidays and a full summer season spent living in the infamous “Chamade” apartment that has put a roof over many a world cup racer’s head, both past and present.

When asked what makes Morzine, and the Portes Du Soleil as a whole, so special for riding, and what keeps drawing riders from around the world back time and time again, Chris explains that the main draw is the sheer diversity on offer (as well as the lift system). “Big hills, a mix of short and long descents, Super Morzine hucks, the not so official trails, trail riding around Champery, the ‘backside’ of Les Gets and Mont Chery, Long days of nothing but Pleney or just a single lap of ‘La Lanche aux Peurs”, so clearly a great deal of diversity in the area!

For those unfamiliar with the area who might feel overwhelmed by the sheer amount on offer, Chris has been working informally with Rudelodge, offering “A friendly face for advice and a point of contact”, a great service for guests wishing to get some insider tips about the best places to ride. Chris is also working with Nukeproof Bikes as a ‘Brand Ambassador’, or as he puts it “I try to look snazzy, pull sweet skids and love life on my Nukeproof!”

Chris offers coaching services with his company Point1 Athletic offering 'Full Spectrum Coaching’ services (physical, technical, tactical etc.) to athletes in any sport but specialising in cycling sports, mainly off-road cycling disciplines. Chris has worked extensively with local World Cup racer, and former Junior World Champion Tahnee Seagrave, as well as other world cup racers but also offers training for anyone of any level simply looking to improve their riding and their fitness. Speaking about the services he offers, Chris says “Fitness in the physiological sense is the easiest thing to improve...find your current level of physiological performance, understand the demands of your sport and design a plan to meet/exceed those physiological demands. Fitness is more global than that though - suitability for the task - so we work on all areas of performance or even outsource to others if need be for specialist areas. Working closely with athletes is what I do best, so it’s a true 50/50 partnership!” Chris also provides recipe ideas to help improve overall fitness.

Despite finding what he calls his “ultimate passion” in coaching and “training others to help them achieve their riding and racing goals” Chris does still find time for racing, recently placing 75th at the Enduro World Series in Samoens.

As someone who has raced bikes for many years and lived in Morzine for eight years, Chris has clear ideas about what he would like to see as the future and development of mountain biking in the Portes Du Soleil “Hopefully more investment, more co-operation between all parties, less attitude from tourists, more openness from locals with land and businesses and a mix of sustainable trails and real tech/tough/wild stuff and more easy trails built safely to help beginners dial in the basic techniques and put a smile on their faces!”

Read more about mountain biking in our handy Guide, and find out more about the MTB trails you can ride in Morzine & the Portes du Soleil.