Les Gets, A Leading Mountain Biking Destination: Bike Park, Portes du Soleil and Major Events

Les Gets has been a mountain biking destination since the early 1990s, well before most Alpine resorts took summer riding seriously. Today, the village in northern Haute-Savoie hosts one of Europe's largest bike parks. It sits at the heart of the cross-border Portes du Soleil domain and welcomes the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup on a near-yearly basis.

The summer bike season runs for nearly four months, picking up right after the ski winter. For buyers and seasonal owners, this dual rhythm doubles the resort's economic activity and reshapes the local property market.

Bike Park Les Gets, A European Mountain Biking Pioneer

In Les Gets, riding is its own season, not a side activity tacked onto summer. The resort backed mountain biking from 1992 onwards, among the first in Europe to convert its winter pistes into a dedicated bike park. Three decades later, the park covers 128 km of marked trails, graded with the same colour code as the ski runs. Green is for first descents, blue and red help progress, while black and the black-and-white chequered grade are reserved for experts who chase the most technical sections.

Downhill riders run thirteen marked DH tracks, several of them on the Mont Chéry face and recognised on the international circuit. Cross-country uses the rolling Chavannes routes, a favourite for Olympic-level riders. Enduro bridges both worlds with an 80 km marked loop scaled to the Portes du Soleil. Freeride, freestyle and e-MTB each have their own dedicated lines, including five electric routes with charging stations in the village.

A handful of marquee tracks come up again and again among regulars.

• Tomawak and L'Arpette (DH, intermediate level) for building downhill confidence on the Mont Chéry side.
• Coaching Track (DH, normal level) to progress between two runs with an instructor.
• Airlines and Ellipse Line (DH, elite level) for confirmed riders chasing race-grade tracks.
• FreeRide du Canyon (DH, very difficult), the freeride emblem of the domain for experts.
• Tour du Mont-Chéry (XC, difficult level) for an endurance loop with full panorama.

The official bike park map and the summer lift pass pricing are updated each season on the resort's website.

From the village, the Chavannes Express and Nauchets Express chairlifts, fitted with a triple bike rack that loads three bikes per chair, open the main lines. The Mont Chéry gondola serves the technical descents on the opposite face. The single Portes du Soleil pass then unlocks the 22 lifts of the wider area.

The bike park includes a 3-hectare Jump Park and a smaller mini Jump Park for those building confidence. Two pump tracks, a Kid Zone open from age five, a 4-Cross course and a Dual Slalom round out the playground. This concentration of features explains why Les Gets is regularly cited among Europe's largest bike parks. The safety setup, with eight patrols and free wash zones, backs that reputation up day after day on the trails.

The Portes du Soleil, A Cross-Border Mountain Biking Domain

From the park, riders move naturally into the wider area. The Portes du Soleil link 12 villages across France and Switzerland, from Châtel to Champéry, from Morzine to Morgins, with Avoriaz and Saint-Jean-d'Aulps along the way. With a single lift pass, riders unlock 650 km of marked MTB trails that make the area one of the largest riding zones in the world.

The pine forests above Avoriaz give way to the Crosets meadows, the panoramic ridges above Super-Châtel and the technical singletrack above Les Lindarets. Shared signage, joint maintenance between communes and cross-border bike links make it easy to ride across two countries in a single day.

The Portes du Soleil Mountain Bike Tour shows the network in action. The 80 km enduro loop starts from any of the villages and circles the entire massif. A long day for confirmed riders, a multi-day trip for everyone else. With Mont Blanc on the horizon, Lake Geneva to the north and the Dents du Midi to the east, the views matter as much as the technical line. The sheer scale of the area sets the Portes du Soleil apart from smaller bike parks where every outing is just another lap.

The Mountain Biking Season in Les Gets

The bike season runs from late May to mid-September, with peak activity through the summer. Two concrete markers help frame the trip, namely the lift opening calendar and the options to reach the village.

The bike park opening calendar

The bike park opens in two phases. A few pre-opening weekends on the Chavannes Express and Nauchets Express chairlifts start in late May and run through mid-June. Continuous opening then begins in mid-June and holds seven days a week until mid-September. The Mont Chéry gondola follows a similar schedule, generally from mid-June to late August. Conditions are at their best from late June to late August, the window that also covers the major events and the peak of the season.

How to reach Les Gets

The village is reached by car via the Geneva-Chamonix motorway, exit Cluses, around an hour from Geneva off-peak and longer on summer Saturdays. By train, the nearest station is Cluses, linked to Les Gets by shuttle or taxi in roughly twenty minutes. Geneva International Airport sits about ninety minutes by road, with private and shared transfers available year-round.

The Major Mountain Biking Events

Two recurring highlights anchor the summer calendar. The first is the Pass'Portes du Soleil, a mountain biking, e-MTB and gravel rally that opens the summer in late June. The rally has been running for over twenty years, has crossed twenty editions, and unfolds over three days across the twelve villages of the domain. Local food stops, French and Swiss landscapes and the expo-village atmosphere in Avoriaz turn it into a fixture for the wider European MTB community.

The second highlight takes place on the international stage. Les Gets regularly hosts the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, including the Finals on several occasions between 2019 and 2024 and the 2022 World Championships. The featured disciplines (Olympic XCO, downhill DHI, short track XCC) draw the world elite. Riders who shaped the history of the sport, from Julien Absalon to Nino Schurter and Anne-Caroline Chausson, have raced these lines. The crowd splits between Mont Chéry for the downhill, Chavannes for the XCO and the village square for the partner zone.

For those wanting to follow the next edition, the full programme is covered in our dedicated article on the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in Les Gets. Beyond the competition itself, these flagship dates draw international press coverage and a wave of summer visitors that goes well beyond sport. The visibility and seasonal traffic both boost the property market in the village.

The Rider's Ecosystem in Les Gets

On the coaching front, Les Gets Bike School gathers around ten MCF instructors (Moniteurs Cyclistes Français) who coach beginners and confirmed riders alike, from first descents to advanced enduro sessions. The safety setup rests on eight bike patrols who maintain the trails and step in when accidents or mechanical failures happen on the slopes.

On the gear front, six specialised shops handle rentals, repairs and sales. All-rounders like Berthet Sports carry full-suspension downhill bikes, cross-country hardtails and the full protective kit (full-face helmets, back protectors, long-finger gloves). E-MTB specialists like LoisiBike focus on electric mountain bikes. For a clean-up after a long ride, two free wash zones sit alongside repair points at the foot of the lifts. A first-time rider can hire a bike, take a lesson, ride a green line and clean the gear without ever leaving the area.

Families find the Kid Zone and the mini Jump Park for a first taste, open from age five. Intermediate riders chain blue and red runs on Chavannes or the Mont Chéry face. Racers train on the DH tracks with quick lift turnarounds thanks to the triple bike racks. This breadth of levels, more than the cumulative trail length, explains the loyalty of the summer crowd.

Investing in Les Gets for the Year-Round Ski-and-Bike Season

The combination of winter skiing and summer mountain biking draws two buyer profiles to a tight market in Les Gets. Families and confirmed riders go for wood-built chalets close to the bike park. Couples and rental investors prefer village-centre apartments near the chairlifts and gondolas, which combine personal use with rental yield across both seasons.

At BARNES Portes du Soleil, we support buyers drawn to this dual ski-bike seasonality. We also work with owners who want to monetise their property during peak weeks. If the idea of a base in Les Gets appeals, browse our properties for sale in the resort. For existing owners, a valuation gives a precise read on a market where listings move fast.

To explore beyond mountain biking, our article on summer in Les Gets covers the wider range of summer activities. Enjoyed this read? Our newsletter brings the art of living in the Portes du Soleil to your inbox each month, season after season.