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Local Downhill MTB shredder, Shane Martin lived out his life long dream of riding in the Alps when he recently visited Portes du Soleil – a major skisports/ bikepark destination in the Alps, encompassing thirteen resorts between Mont Blanc in France and Lake Geneva in Switzerland. 13 days, descending more than 500km with over 75 hours spent in the mountains on his Santa Cruz Bronson.
This is his story.
“For years it has been my dream to head to Europe and ride in the Alps using chair lifts and gondola lifts. Finally everything planned out in 2017. It was a rushed first half of the year fitting in work, riding and planning for my trip. Before I knew it I was collecting my prepped bike from Greg Minnaar Cycles and heading to the airport.
Before the riding part of my trip I travelled around Europe by train with my girlfriend for two weeks. This created a problem – I needed to store my bike in Geneva where we started and ended our trip, so that I didn’t have to drag a bike bag around with me. In a last minute panic before I left South Africa, I emailed a random bike store “Dirtking Geneva” asking if they could help me out. It’s a worry leaving your bike that is worth more than your car with people you don’t know, but the guys were super helpful and rad. Unfortunately I didn’t manage to fit a ride in with them at their local trails.
After two weeks of indulging in beer and croissants it was time to head to Morzine and ride! On the shuttle bus to Morzine I met a bunch of Irish dudes who became my riding crew for the first few days. It’s crazy how people from two different parts of the world can get along right away just because they both ride bikes. Morzine is a ski resort in the French Alps and is part of the Port du Soleil ski region that extends into Switzerland. There are about 7 other resorts, and all of these turn into bike parks in the summer, and are connected by 20 lifts. Its mountain bike heaven. Although I was by myself, I was staying in a Chalet called Riders Refuge with 15 other like-minded riders which was really cool!
It wasn’t 30 seconds into the first trail that I already shouting “yeahhhh boyyyy”. One run down and I was already blown away. This was only the beginning of my 13 day dream. The first few days I explored Morzine, Les Gets, Lindarets and Chatel with the Irish dudes and a Scottish lad from the Chalet I was staying in. The trails had absolutely everything from rocks to berms, jumps, drops and bridges. There were tons of completely different styles of trails too. Before my trip I thought that riding a 150mm Santa Cruz Bronson was going to hold me back as I wasn’t on a DH bike. But I soon found out that the bike was more than capable, and I was sending everything I came across. The adrenaline was pumping and I just couldn’t get enough. It’s unreal, just riding the most amazing trails and then jumping straight onto a lift that takes you back to the top of the mountain.
Bike Check
-Frame: 2016 Santa Cruz Bronson cc
-Fork: RockShox Pike RCT3 150MM
-Rear Shock: Rockshox Monarch Plus Rc3
-Wheel set: Enve M90 rims with Chris King Hubs
-Drive chain: Shimano XT 1×11, WITH SLX cranks
-Brakes: Shimano XT with 180mm discs & 13 sintered pads
-Pedals: Shimano XT
-Tyres: Maxxis Minion 2.5 double down on the front and Minion DHR 2.3 double down on the rear
The Champery 2010 World Champs track was something I had to check out, so I made the trip across to Switzerland with a crew of guys from the UK. The views on the lift across were amazing. En route is the Swiss National Downhill track. We literally dropped out the clouds as we descended the track that is situated on a mountain covered by rocks and grass. We made it to the top of Champery without any mechanicals, and glanced over the edge of the mountain down to the town hundreds of meters below us where the track ends. It was a wild ride down, steeper than I could have imagined. It required a pause before dropping into each corner just to control the speed. Once dropping in I could not stop for several sections, full commitment. It was so rad I returned a few days later with some Cape Town pinners, Theo Erlangsen and Roman Kumpers.
Holding on down the steep descends and over the braking pumps absolutely destroys the upper body. The training that I do with Greg Minnaar in the gym proved to work, so much so that I was able to hold on for longer than my joints could handle. After 10 days my body started to struggle, and that evening my fingers and knuckles started to swell, nothing some ice and anti-inflammatories couldn’t sort out. With only 3 days left I couldn’t afford to take a rest day.
On one of the days I decided to have proper a session on the Vink Line. It’s an unbelievable trail in Chatel with massive jumps, berms and whoops. The berms are so vertical and huge you can’t see out the end of them. After smashing about 8 runs I managed to get most of the jumps dialled and was having the best time, until I tried boost a big hip that I was battling to get speed for and came up short, which destroyed the rebound in my fork. Thank goodness I didn’t crash and was able to get my fork sorted out that evening.
I was planning on having a relaxed last day of riding, until some guys told me about the huge drop on the Air Voltage trail in Chatel. This was one of the few main trails I had not ridden. So I decided to join them on their ride. On the way there my rear disc was already damaged, and then a stone lodged inside the brake calliper, which completely destroyed the disc. We weren’t too far from the drop so I pushed my bike there. When we arrived I had second thoughts because the drop was enormous, but since it was my last day I had to send it just to tick it off the list. It went smooth and my rear brake managed to stop me. And that was the end of my 13 days in Portes du Soleil.
Until next time, I’ll be dreaming about last time!
Cheers, Shane”.
