The Pass’Portes du Soleil is an awesome mountain bike festival involving 4000 bikers riding through 9 resorts in both France and Switzerland, and heralds the official summer opening of the lifts in the Portes du Soleil.

The dates
The dates for your diary this summer are the 29th and 30th June and 1st July. Your participation in the event is for 1 day, so you can choose to enter on the Friday, Saturday or Sunday, and can choose which resort you’d like to start from. You will be able to register for your place at the event from 15th Feb 2012.

What happens
The 80km circuit has Downhill, X-Country and children’s variants, so everyone can join in on the occasion. The route takes you through beautiful mountain scenery on great trails, and your ticket includes food at the numerous food festivals en-route which boast local specialities. There will be a mountain bike festival in one of the participating resorts, though it has not yet been announced where. We’re running opening our doors for a long weekend over the PassPortes du Soleil, so you can make the most of the event without taking too much time off work! The price is £250pp for 4 nights from 28th June 2012. Please see our prices and booking for more info.

Here are the vital stats for the event:

• Takes place June 29th, 30th and 1st August
• 80 km circuit (50 miles)
• 14 lifts
• Range in altitude: 1000-2250m
• 7000m of downhill
• 1000m of uphill
• Optional Cross-Country and Downhill variants
• 8 refreshment points where you can eat your fill of local foods
• Ride through 9 different resorts in France and Switzerland
• Special kid’s trek for 9-14 year olds lead by qualified instructors

How to book
If you’re interested, you’ll need to book your place fast. Registration opened on February 15th 2012. Register here (the official Pass’Portes website).

The subscription fee (€45 in 2011) is for a day’s participation, though you can choose to ride on the Friday, Saturday or Sunday. It’s an absolute bargain, as it includes your lift-pass, number plate, all refreshments, a ‘Portes du Soleil present’ and a token for a free PDS lift-pass in summer 2011 or winter 2011/12. Try and beat that for value! There are also optional extras available, like a guided night ride using Spanninga torches (€5pp; very limited places; torches supplied), and various other promos.

Further information:
Download the 2012 Circuit (PDF) – to follow
Morznet.com has a great overview of the event