French & Swiss Alps 2012

[Guest Omega Man]

Les Gets jump park looking pretty damn fine this morning. Got to love webcams.

[Guest Omega Man]

Top of Chavannes this morning. The lifts open on the 26th May on weekends and will be open full time from the 16th of June. I can't wait.

[DJR]

I see the Evil Ones have invaded the centre of Morzine already and started fires in celebration....well.....at least the surrounding hills are still in the hands of the Good Ones for now.The next invasion will be soon....by the Forces Of Saffa......who will prevail? (sorry, I saw the Conan the Barbarian thread and had a flashback)

[HaydenWilson]

45 sleeps.

 

I've done the visa appointment and my passport is ready. Bike just needs a service and a few little things and we'll be set.

 

The priority now is to not get hurt in the next 45 days.

 

Ummmm..... surely you dont want to get hurt until the end of your trip?

I broke my arm on my first day of holidays in canada. Sooo much for bike riding. (still did. not as hard as i wanted to tho)

[Guest Omega Man]

Ummmm..... surely you dont want to get hurt until the end of your trip?

I broke my arm on my first day of holidays in canada. Sooo much for bike riding. (still did. not as hard as i wanted to tho)

 

Yeah. But you get the idea.

[Guest Omega Man]

Ok I've come up with a challenge for the dudes going to Morzine.

 

The most runs in a day challenge.

 

 

So it’s simply who racks up the most runs in a single day.

 

The rules are simple.

 

1. A run is from lift to lift. No half runs.

2. Any grade

3. Runs between parks don’t count. E.g. the trail between Chavannes and Nauchettes is not a run.

4. Any park(s)

5. The timeframe is from when the first lift opens till when it closes.

6. Your run down the road from Les Gets to Morzine is also not a run.

 

My mate JP and I did 15 runs at Morzine and Les Gets on his last day last year. I reckon 20 is easily (if a little painfully) achievable. Obviously you need to be honest about the run count and any time during the day spent eating lunch and travelling between bike parks will negatively affect your run count.

 

It also brings up an interesting dilema. Do you stick to the easy tracks and maximize runs or do you hit the hard stuff and maximize fun.

Edited May 21, 2012 by Omega Man

[Hog_]

A little birdie told me about this thread...

 

I need look at travel arrangements, but I should be able to make it down for a week. Either with a buddy or alone, either by train or car. I've heard good things about the area, so I'm very keen to check it out.

 

A question for the people that have been there: Are the trails generally quite rocky, or fairly smooth? What about brake ruts, are they a problem?

[patches]

A little birdie told me about this thread...

 

I need look at travel arrangements, but I should be able to make it down for a week. Either with a buddy or alone, either by train or car. I've heard good things about the area, so I'm very keen to check it out.

 

A question for the people that have been there: Are the trails generally quite rocky, or fairly smooth? What about brake ruts, are they a problem?

 

Oh my! Hog on the hub?! This must be important! hahaha!

 

BTW, if that little birdie was Peach, you better start your fitness training... he wants to get ironman fit for the trip!

[Hog_]

BTW, if that little birdie was Peach, you better start your fitness training... he wants to get ironman fit for the trip!

 

Not the worst idea. A day on the park takes a lot more out of you than you'd think.

[Guest Omega Man]

A little birdie told me about this thread...

 

I need look at travel arrangements, but I should be able to make it down for a week. Either with a buddy or alone, either by train or car. I've heard good things about the area, so I'm very keen to check it out.

 

A question for the people that have been there: Are the trails generally quite rocky, or fairly smooth? What about brake ruts, are they a problem?

 

So if you are going by train or car I assume you are in the UK.

 

Morzine is Brit central. There's loads of them and they're really friendly and cool.

 

As far as the trails go theirs a massive variety. 650km of trails. mostly DH and varying from easy and smooth to FCUKING BONKERS. The only really rocky trails are in a valley called Lindarettes (Between Morzine and Chatel) There's loads of rooty trails tho to keep to on your toes.

 

As far as braking ruts go the simple answer is yes. Especially on the main lines at Pleney and Les Gets. There are ways around that tho.

 

1. Go early in the season

2. Look for smooth lines. They are there

3. speed the rebound up on your fork so you don't drop into the holes.

4. Most importantly. Go to Chatel (The trails are well maintained), Morgins and crosets for brakebump free riding.

 

The riding there is on a completely other level to anything you are likely to experience anywhere else. People have been going back for 10 years and still love it. This year will be my 2nd trip and I plan on going back every year till my body gives out.

[Hog_]

I'm in Munich, actually.

 

Thanks for the trail info. It'll be interesting to see if the place lives up to the hype.

[Guest Omega Man]

I'm in Munich, actually.

 

Thanks for the trail info. It'll be interesting to see if the place lives up to the hype.

 

Ah. Ok sorry for the generalization.

 

The place is just absolutely bonkers.

 

There's 20 ski lifts.

600 odd km of trails

12 mountains with trails on them

 

Les Gets. 3 Mountains

Morzine. 2 Mountains

Lindarettes. 2 Mountains

Chatel. MAAAASIVE bowl with trails running down

Crosets. 2 Mountains

Champery. 1 Mountain

Morgins. 1 Mountain.

 

Some of the mountains have only 1 trail but others have many.

 

I spoke to a New Zealand couple last year who had been to whistler and the PDS and they reckoned both were on a par. The difference being that the trails in Whistler are better maintained but there are more trails and more variety and less crowds in the PDS.

 

I was expecting it to be good last year but it exceeded my expectations tenfold.

Edited May 22, 2012 by Omega Man

[Guest Omega Man]

We've come up with another Alps Challenge

 

 

Presenting the 2012 Morzine Alpha Male Challenge.

 

This challenge is simple in its idea but complex in its execution. Basically this challenge is for the most tracks ridden in a day. You simply have to ride as many different tracks as possible in a given day. These are the rules.

1. The day will be nominated. So you will be notified the day before that tomorrow is Alpha day.
   
2. The challenge will take place on or after 29 June so the whole of the PDS is available to you.
   
3. The time for the challenge is from when the first lift opens till the last lift closes.
   
4. The tracks ridden MUST be marked and graded tracks.
   
5. Each track must be ridden top to bottom once. I.e. Multiple hits on the same track do not count.
   
6. Random offshoots don’t count.
   
7. Commuting does not count unless the track ridden conforms to rule 4 above. E.g. That track in Lindarettes coming back from Chatel counts but the road from Les Gets to Morzine doesn’t.
   
8. You MUST make a written list of the names of the tracks ridden during the day. Don’t try and figure them out when you get back.
   
9. A run is lift to lift. There are 2 notable exceptions. A run from the very top of Chatel to the very bottom is 2 runs as there are 2 lifts. The same applies to the Super Morzine side. Refer to rule 4 and 5 for clarification.
   

 

So there you have it. The 2012 Morzine Alpha Challenge.

Edited May 24, 2012 by Omega Man

[Guest Omega Man]

This is about 1/3 of the way down the Les Gets main line this morning. Those are riders on the track. Woop woop.

 

There are 2 new tracks on Pleney this year. a black and a red. So that makes 5 official tracks on Pleney.

 

There's also a new Fabien Barel signature training track on Chavannes in Les Gets.

Edited May 28, 2012 by Omega Man

[Super_mil]

Wooo hoooo! Man this is going to be awesome. My main aim is not to bin it in the first week (as an absolute minimum).

 

Omega Man, what will your tyre of choice be for the trip?

[Guest Omega Man]

Wooo hoooo! Man this is going to be awesome. My main aim is not to bin it in the first week (as an absolute minimum).

 

Omega Man, what will your tyre of choice be for the trip?

Dude I'm so friggin amped. It's gonna be off the rails It looks like the bikeparks have woken up to the fact that there's competition so they need to start adding trails to the network. There's also a all new XC trail for the XC guys.

 

I'm running a Minion hard on the rear and a super tacky on the front. If it rains I'll buy rain tires there.