Champery
Also known as: Champery / Portes du Soleil
Dents du Midi panorama, alpine pastures and chalets; iconic red-and-white Champery cable car and cross-border Portes du Soleil views.
Who in your group rides what
Whether everyone in your group gets a day at Champery - the grades on offer, the named zones, and how mixed abilities split up.
Green/blue (beginner) through red (majority of DH runs) to black (Champery World Cup track). Morgins side adds easier green/blue runs.
Beginner: Morgins green/blue runs and pump track; intermediate: red flow runs at Les Crosets (Crosets, Grand-Conche); advanced: black Champery World Cup and red Chevreuil. Groups split by lift (Croix de Culet vs Crosets/Mossettes vs Morgins) and regroup at resort bases via the shared pass.
Strong group fit across levels: beginners on green/blue (Morgins Geant, La Quatreans) while advanced ride red/black. Lift access makes mixed-ability groups easy.
The riding
Mix of natural steep DH (roots, rocks) and machine-built flow (profiled berms, jumps, gaps); alpine meadow and forest sections.
Champery WC track is steep, fast and technical with roots, rocks, jumps and drops; Les Crosets 'Sundance' is tight/technical in steep terrain. Red runs feature berms, jumps and gaps.
Numbered, colour-graded bikepark runs with signage; single hands-free Portes du Soleil pass and area bike maps. Trailforks/komoot GPS supplement.
Popular international bikepark; Champery/Les Crosets quieter than French Morzine/Les Gets side but busy in peak summer. (est)
Season & conditions
Lift-served season ~June to late October; some pre-openings mid-May (Croix de Culet). Weekend-only operation early and late season.
Summer to autumn; lifts roughly late June to late October (Champery cable car ~June 20-Oct 25).
Pass'Portes du Soleil MTB event and Dents du Midi scenery; autumn weekend lift operations. (est)
Alpine thunderstorms, rain making natural DH tracks slick/muddy, and cold at altitude; reduced grip on roots/rocks when wet.
Getting there & gear
No lottery; paid Portes du Soleil mountain-bike lift pass (single hands-free pass covers all area lifts/trails). Day and multi-day options.
Permits and operators change - confirm before booking.
Champery reached by road/rail (Aigle-Champery line) into the Val-d'Illiez; Les Crosets and Morgins accessed by mountain road. Parking at lift bases.
4 bike-dedicated lifts (Croix de Culet cable car Champery; Crosets and Mossettes chairlifts Les Crosets; Morgins gondola); ~24 lifts across Portes du Soleil carry bikes on one pass.
Full-face helmet and body armour plus DH/enduro bike advised for red/black runs; carry water, refill at lift-base/mountain restaurants. Mobile coverage generally good near resorts. (est)
6 MTB rental/repair shops, pump track, lift-base restaurants, toilets, resort services; bike wash at bases. (est)
Region Dents du Midi / Portes du Soleil Suisse SA, Champery and Les Crosets bike schools/rental shops; cross-border hubs Morzine, Les Gets, Chatel, Avoriaz.
Hazards & rescue
Steep technical DH (esp. World Cup black), jumps/drops, slick roots when wet, shared trails with hikers. Colour grades are set for experienced riders, not casual trail grades.
Not required; official site strongly recommends local guides/lessons for beginners given the runs' difficulty. 6 rental/repair shops on site.
Swiss REGA air rescue (1414) and local mountain rescue; lift stations serve as bail-out points. European emergency 112.
This profile is desk research, compiled from public sources - not a first-hand mountain-bike network report. Coordinates are approximate.