An epic tour of the best mountain biking the Portes Du Soleil have to offer.

Statistics

1

day +

5,724

m

5,732

m

27

max°

Difficulty

FATMAP difficulty grade

Severe

Description

The Portes du Soleil is a major mountain sports destination comprising 12 different resorts stretching from Mont Blanc in France to Lake Geneva in Switzerland.

While best-known for downhill skiing, during the summertime this area is home to a wide array of downhill bike parks and backcountry singletrack, with most of it accessible by using the vast network of lifts. While the Portes du Soleil tour has an innumerable number of variants, according to PortesDuSoleil.com the standard tour "is around 80 kilometers long.” The route utilizes “a dozen chairlifts and gondolas” to offer more descending than climbing.

In fact, the classic route provides "7000 meters of descent and just 1000 meters of ascent.” In addition to endless singletrack alternating between flowy trails and gnarly chunk, riders will pass ancient mountainside chalets and incredible views of the surrounding mountains—including the iconic monolith, Mont Blanc. A lift pass costs €27 or CHF 30 for the day and provides access to all 24 lifts in the Portes Du Soleil—not just the 12 lifts required for the classic route. If you decide to go off-route, you’ll find over 650km of trails in the greater Portes Du Soleil region.

For dedicated downhilling, you’ll find five bike parks: "Les Gets, Morzine, Avoriaz, Châtel and bikepark.ch comprising a total of 50 man made downhill tracks, 22 mountain bike schools and 29 bike shops to rent bikes and buy gear,” according to ActiveAzur.com Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portes_du_Soleil http://en.portesdusoleil.com/summer/portes-du-soleil-mtb-tour.html https://www.activeazur.com/mountain-biking/french-alps/portes-du-soleil https://www.france-bike-trips.com/mountain-bike-mtb-tour/france/northern-alps/CY1E-morzine-les-gets-portes-du-soleil-avoriaz-geneva-pds-chairlift.html