Here’s the first of my (roughly weekly) blog instalments from Morzine, in the French Alps.

I’ve been living in Morzine for almost 5 years, running flowmtb, and our dirtgirls weeks. We’ve got a couple of Chalets in town, putting up mountain bikers and supplying them with lots of homemade cake! This year, we’re also opening a new shop, Torico Morzine.

Morzine’s well known for it’s skiing and snowboarding, but among mountain bikers it’s also known as THE European resort to ride in. The lifts reopen, specially adapted to carry bikes, and the trails re-appear, freed from snow. Like the ski runs, trails are graded from green to black so you can pick something at the right level for you.

I’ll be bringing you news of daily life and riding from the MTB centre of Europe, the local races, plus a few interviews with pro-riders riding and racing here.

At the moment we’re busy getting everything ready for the season start. Chasing up the bikes that should have arrived a week ago; making sure we’ve ordered all the right stock for the shop; getting chalet menus sorted; sending info to guests; ordering flowmtb tees….and much much more.

Next week will be busy, setting up the shop in time for the Pleney lift opening on the 5^th June. Then it’s setting up the Chalets, whilst running the shop. Oh and maybe a bit of bike riding in there too.

However, Les Gets decided to open their lifts a weekend early giving me the chance to get out riding the old favourites. A sunny Saturday, was the perfect way to start off the mountain bike season, with a good mix of DHs and XC riding.

The trails were in excellent condition considering the rain we’ve had over the past few days, and it was clear the Bike Park team had been working hard. The new bike carrying system on the Chavannes lift doubles it’s capacity, hence halving queues, and there’s a great new bike wash at the bottom.

Best of all, was seeing Les Gets as a MTB town once again: café’s with bikers sat outside, groups hanging out at the bottom of the lift, and, of course, riders on the trails.

Appetite whetted, I can’t wait for more!

Sara Burdon

www.flowmtb.com

www.toricomorzine.com