MTB ‘PASS’PORTES du Soleil’!
7800 mountain bikers! The Portes du Soleil domain is one of the largest in the world, a mega-downhill paradise. Up and down, non-stop. Each slope from France to Switzerland is kitted out for MTB. Incredible. Test4outside.com took to the slopes and here’s what happened…
Text and photos: Franck Oddoux
What’s it all about the French/Swiss Portes du Soleil? Essentially each individual mountain biker invents his/her rules, chooses his/her own routes, timing, company, because the Pass’Portes is not a race! Which does confuse any onlookers: there’s No start line and No stopwatch. WTF! Each mountain biker leaves from different starting points from a village/resort in the Portes du Soleil, at whatever time he/she wishes. It’s like an à la Carte menu: you pick and choose and create your own course route on the map.
The ski lifts are like an open bar, hop on the ski lift of your choice with your bike hitched on the side; one to three days of pure, egotistical downhill pleasure. If you are a downhill pro, experienced amateur, just out with a crowd of mates, on a family outing, father and son, girlfriends, whatever the mix, this voyage is for anyone and everyone, up and down, in 3D.
DESCEND INTO PARADISE
The luring appeal of the Pass’Portes is gravity…the silent master that enables you to go from one valley to another, without effort. The Pass gives you access to all the lifts of one of the largest ski domains in the world. But here they don’t just enjoy its winter possibilities; they have opened it up to a new world of mountain biking! It is everywhere! There are modules, lines, whoops, jumps, pistes and single tracks all intertwined and snaking across this vast landscape of slopes, forests and valleys. Infinite joy. The Pass’Portes is the best way to take advantage of this paradise as a mountain biker. Thousands of meters of descent that even the most experienced would have trouble covering in its entirety in one day…fortunately there are three days!
FROM FRANCE TO SWITZERLAND AND BACK AGAIN…
The organizers have been particularly clever in fine-tuning the Pass’Portes: because there is no mass start, the 7800 riders are spread over the entire domain. So you never have masses of riders in one spot, or clogging up on the trails. The atmosphere changes as you ride across the valleys nipping through the local villages.
This is also the same on the ski lifts; you never have to wait. And if the welcoming staff and the multiple downhill itineraries weren’t enough they even have food stations set up for those hearty appetites. Mountain bikers don’t eat cheapo cereal bars, oh no, here they have a variety of exceptional fulfilling local delights: giant tartiflettes, Abondance cheese, kegs of beer, and suckling pig! Here they know how to look after the MTBers! Here people come from far and wide, you will hear many foreign languages being spoken; French, English, Russian, Italian, Spanish, all reunited in this convivial biking atmosphere.
THE FUTURE OF OUR RESORTS
The Portes du Soleil has without doubt an incredible infrastructure for this type of gathering. But here they have really exploited the idea to the max with close attention to detail. Could this kind of get together be the future for resorts in the summer? Convivial events that are accessible to everyone, with any level, from beginners to experts. The classic backpacking hikers we are used to seeing in the summer needs a boost. The Portes du Soleil has created a real gem.
Transamericana avec Rickey Gates
