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Five reasons 2016 could be Morzine’s best summer ever

Sponsored: Made possible by Treeline Chalets

Photos: Damian McArthur

There’s no doubt that Morzine is the most popular summer destination for British mountain bikers. Squeeze yourself onto an Easy Jet flight for an hour and a half and you’ll be on the doorstep of some of the finest riding Europe has to offer – as long as they put your bike on the right plane!

Morzine is home to three main lifts – Le Pleney, Super Morzine and Zore – all of which offer a variety of trails from blues to blacks to sink your tyres into. The Pleney side has long been a crowd pleaser with the trail under the lift being a stone-cold classic, but recent building on the Zore side has made it equally rewarding.

This year Morzine is looking more prime than ever and here are five reasons we think it could have its best summer ever:

Crankworx is coming

The European stop of Crankworx is moving from Les Duex Alpes to Les Gets this year and that means fresh tracks, pro riders and a week of general looseness will descend on the resort.

The festival is only a short hop on the Pleney lift away from Morzine and it will no doubt overspill into the town anyway with riders looking to sample the very best that the Portes Du Soleil has to offer.

Even if you aren’t around during the Crankworx week you can go and ride the new Mont Chery downhill track that has been put in for the event or marvel at the sheer scale of the slopestyle course.

The season is longer

Thanks to Crankworx and pressure from local businesses, the lifts across the Portes du Soleil will be open longer than ever this year. Les Gets has already had its opening weekend and Morzine will be firing on both cylinders by June 18. On top of this the lifts will be open until September 11, giving plenty of opportunity for riders to have a late season getaway.

Last year the Mont Chery lift even opened to bikes in December due to a lack of snow, hopefully there will be opportunity for this to be repeated this year across the whole region.

The lifts have improved

Speaking of lifts, the Zore area is going to be better than ever thanks to the addition of double door chairlifts. This means two bikes on each lift – more banter on the uplift, half the queue and double the shredding. Winner!

The accommodation is unbeatable

Every year the Portes du Soleil becomes more appreciative of mountain bikers and 2016 is no exception. If you want to stay in style then you should look no further than Treeline Chalets. They have won the Best UK Chalet Award at the World Snow Awards for the second year in a row and will welcome mountain bikers with open arms.

In summer they offer eight different, self-catered chalets that sleep anywhere from four up to 14 people. Our pick would be Chalet Cordée that sleeps up to 14 people with five ensuite double rooms, amazing views of the town and a sauna and hot tub to relax in after a day on the hill. If you pack it full then it only works out at £100 per person per week, which is amazing value considering this is a ski resort.

For more information, click here.

The trails are better than ever

It might have been overshadowed by the monumental earth moving required for Crankworx, but there’s been building going on all over the Portes du Soleil region this spring. There have been new features put in on the  Zore tracks, Niko Vink has been behind the digger on Chatel’s lines but the biggest news is that Chatel’s slopetyle is back.

Louis Reboul is planning Rebouljam. We’re not sure if it will be a big mountain competition like the Mountain Style events were, or more straightforward slopestyle, but it’s definitely something to keep an eye on.

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