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Phil Smith : Ride Morzine

How to prepare for riding in the Alps, travelling tips & the Pass'Portes du Soleil

featured in Meet the locals Author Ellie Mahoney, Morzine Editor Updated

Inter season is upon us once again and we're waiting like eager beavers for the lifts to open, killing time between now and then getting our bikes prepped and getting our biking legs back after a powder-filled winter on the slopes.

With Les Gets & Morzine being 2 of the first bike parks in the Alps to open in the summer season, we caught up with local guy Phil Smith who's been in Morzine for 10+ years, runs Ride Morzine biking holidays and is partial to a bit of road biking as well as hitting the trails on his MTB.

So Phil, you've been riding in and around Morzine for a long time now but where are your favourite places to ride, or your favourite trails?

Yes I've spent a long time riding the Morzine trails and it never gets stale for me, which is a testimony to the size of the area, the number and variety of trails on offer. I favour the natural trails, which are too numerous to mention really. Having said that the Panoramic green run in the Chatel bike park is one of my top favourites, it always makes me smile. It’s just loads of fun for anyone from beginner to expert. Perfectly graded it gets little use so stays super smooth with very few breaking bumps.

In all the years you've been working with MTB holiday companies, what's the one thing that people tend to forget when packing for their holiday?

Their biking shoes! And it’s always worth packing something for when it isn’t sunny and hot. A storm in the mountains makes for some cold riding so bringing (and carrying) a good rain jacket, spare mid and base layer, a spare pair of gloves and a woolly hat is essential.

And do you have any tips for people packing their bike to fly?

Remove your disc rotors and rear mech (gear). Loosen and turn the stem and bars to sit parallel to top tube of the bike – leave loose in transit. Drop it all into a cardboard bike box from a shop, for me it works as well as a specific and expensive bike bag/box. Pipe lagging on tubes is the best, but bubble wrap works too. Top tip - bring a spare rear gear hanger for your bike. If you rip that off whilst riding a new gear will be available to buy in town but a gear hanger for your brand/model of bike probably won’t be.

We're coming over to Morzine for the Passportes du Soleil weekender, what would you say is the highlight of the circuit? And where would you say is the best place to stop for lunch or a beer?

The food stops are the highlight!! Some better than others (located in the PDS villages) and it seems to change every year. I’ve had beers at some and ice creams one year at Champery which supplemented the standard fair at all the feeding stops; cheese, bread, ham, nuts, oranges, dried fruit, chocolate, bananas…There's no need to stop for lunch anywhere specific, eat on route and it’ll turn into multiple lunch stops. Beer afterwards for me. would be in Bar Robinson (if there is room, probable standing only) and Chez Rogers is great too.

As for the riding it’s just great to share the trails with so many like minded people – brilliant! Lunch stops I'd recommend at other times of the year would be the Marmotte in Linderets (end of the gravel road near tarmac) which has mega omelettes that could keep anyone going all day long!

How do you recommend people prepare physically for riding in the Portes du Soleil or for the Pass'Portes? What sort of training will you be doing (if any!)

Only one thing makes you better at riding a bike and that’s riding a bike, and that applies to skills and fitness. Frequency is good (better than last minute all day epics) although I understand people have time restrictions so it can be weekends only riding for them. Anything in advance of your trip is better than nothing.

I do think most people underestimate how tiring the riding can be over here though. Perhaps the perception is that the lifts take all the strain but going downhill on long rocky descents really takes it out of you. Not just physically either, it’s mentally tiring when you're concentrating hard for long periods. It's no coincidence most accidents happen at the end of the day on that “last run" and even more so on the last day of the holidays.

And what bike would you say is best / which set up is best for the type of riding over there?

Horses for courses I think. A downhill bike is great here as there are so many courses and lifts accessing them that zero pedalling is required (unless you want to go down hill even faster than gravity!). But that’ll restrict the rider a little and take away the option to do a little bit of pedalling to access some of the more out of the way natural trails. I personally ride a 6” travel bike which can be enjoyed on any downhill run but is also capable of pedalling along and up hill accessing all that off the beaten track stuff. I did do a season on a hardtail (front suspension only) it worked fine although you’d definitely want to stay clear of some of the wilder terrain.

So the Pleney lift will be closed this summer, but other lifts and buses will be laid on, and there's an earlier start date for theSuper Morzine lift of the 15th June too to make up for it. What would you say to people who may have concerns about coming to Morzine this summer?

Don’t be concerned! There is still “pedal free” access to Les Gets via the bike carrying buses and the “Crusaz” and “Mouilles” chairlifts, and for anyone not on a downhill bike you could always pedal up the road (or the off road route) in 20 easy minutes.
If you are looking at the percentage split in riding (trails/area) between Pleney/Les Gets and Super Morzine/PDS then I’d say it’s 30/70. So the larger proportion of the riding is unaffected (well it’s actually more accessible given that the lifts are open earlier in the season and for more hours each day). My favourite riding destinations are all accessed via Super Morzine – no problem.

What's the thing/s you enjoy most about living in Morzine year round?

I really enjoy the distinct seasonal weather and the sports that go with it. I’m from a lovely part of the world, the Lake District but here we get a proper winter, spring, summer and a stunning autumn. To go with the changing seasons we get to enjoy the changing scene in town. Morzine is a thriving ski town in the winter, full of seasonnaires and the tourists we all ultimately look after in one way or another. It becomes a quiet sleepy village in the interseasons with just locals and year rounders such as myself appearing at the weekends, and the best season of all is the chilled bike riding town vibe in the summer, which is much quieter and more relaxed than winter, with just enough of a buzz without being hectic.

What's on your bucket list of places in the world to ride & why?

That could be a long list. I've never ridden or even been to the US so there's plenty of classic MTB destinations there I'd like to try. More realistically I’ll try to head down to Italy or the south of France after our summer season and enjoy that extra month of summer the Ligurian coast and Maritime Alps tend to get – Finale Ligure in Italy or Sospel in France.

What are your plans for the rest of the summer? Do you have any 'me' time left and are you planning on going on any bike trips anywhere further afield?

I try to do as much riding as possible in whatever time I get - Chalet world does leave the middle chunk of the day relatively free so I head out then, either mountain biking or road biking depending upon my mood, the weather and what my riding friends are up to. A good 2-3 hour hit with no stops and no messing is a lot of riding. I tend to leave the trips away to interseason as with so much brilliant riding on the doorstep I’d prefer to do that whilst the lifts are running.

Thanks Phil for answering all our questions! If you want to keep an eye on what Phil's up to, keep an eye on his blog, or if you're looking for places to stay, or hiring a bike when you're in Morzine just follow these links.

Mountain Bike Guide

Mountain Bike Trails