Mountain biking in the Portes du Soleil is a unique experience simply due to the shear size of the area and the variety of riding available. There is everything from cross country single track to full on down hills and bike parks. Whatever your bag there is something here for everyone!

To give you a helping hand there are a number of chairlifts open from the end of June until the beginning of September, don’t think that by using the chairlifts that you are cheating, what they offer is the opportunity to gain height before you start your ride allowing you to cover vast distances in a day, rides of greater than 80km are not uncommon.

Super Châtel offers two purpose built down hill courses, one for the novice and one for the more experienced rider. It also offers access to cross country routes that link into Morgin and the Portes du Soleil or to Torgon and beyond.

Châtels other area of Pre-La-Joux, a short mountain bike friendly bus ride away or a 6km ride, offers a multitude of options there are purpose made down hill courses which are graded from green for the beginner through blue and red to black descents for the experienced rider. There are also a number of ‘North shore’ areas.

Pre-la-Joux offers easy access into the Portes du Soleil. For an awesome descent take the chairlift up to the summit of the ‘Point de Mossette’, the highest point of the circuit, then take the track down to Morzine via Linderet and the Lac de Montriond, it’s about 15Km with the added bonus that you hardly have to pedal.

One event that is a must is known as the ‘PassPortes’. The PassPortes is a mass participation mountain biking event that runs each year in the Portes du Soleil in late June or early July. Unlike most of the events in the UK which tend to focus on cross country where there often appears to be more climbing than descending with riders usually completing a large loop or a series of loops, the PassPortes cleverly uses a series of 11 lifts to ease your trip around the circuit covering approximately 64km.

To say the event is purely downhill is misleading, it’s only a downhill event in the sense that most of the riding is downhill as opposed to having to climb. It’s actually aimed at the average trail rider who wants to try something a bit different.

Bring your own bike or hire locally, local bike shops rent a full range of bikes from hard tails through to full down hill rigs. Bikes are securely stored at the chalet and can be maintained on the private terrace.

Although the local bike shops stock a full range of spares it’s advisable to consider the following:-

• Big tyres 2.2” to 2.5”, the bigger the better
• Spare tubes, Thick DH tubes save lots of time on the hill
• Disc brakes, The larger the rotor the better and bring plenty of spare pads
• Drink, 3L bladder (although there are lots of mountain café’s)
• Protection, Knee, shin and elbow pads recommended
• Serviced bike, The Alps is hard on bikes so give it a fighting chance.

Within the chalet there are a full range of maps for the local area with a variety of route cards. For further information on routes, lift pass prices, etc look at www.chatel.com. For other activities refer to additional activities.