Métabief: paradise of mountain biking

Downhill mountain biking is a practice that is often meditated during competitions and can sometimes frighten the less experienced. The Métabief resort will show you the opposite, thanks to its marked, maintained and monitored trails, classified by color and level of difficulty.

The ascent is made through the Morond chairlift, open weekends and holidays from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. From June 29, the chairlift will be open every day from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. until September 1.

Once you have reached the top of the resort, you can enjoy the views of the Alps mountain range and then enjoy the descent.

The metabief resort receives two main types of customers, as explained to us by Sylvain Philippe, director of Métabief:

‘At the beginning of the season, we welcome experienced athletes, who come alone or with their club or their cycling school. We open very early in May (this year, we opened on May 4) and we capture this clientele of enthusiasts who are craving to get on their mountain bike. On May 25 and 26, Métabief organized a Cup of France mountain bike evento,’ he explains.

‘The rest of the season, we welcome a discovery clientele, which comes more with the family, to spend the day or several days, and, sometimes, they don’t even have bikes! Families and children are an important clientele for us because we want them to discover mountain biking. From the moment a child knows how to ride a bicycle without wheels, they can access it for free. The idea is that people calm down before taking the chairlift to go down the green track ‘Bike All’, which is 5 km (3 miles) long and goes around the entire area, from the top to the bottom of the resort,’ he adds.

For this summer, the Métabief resort will make available to professionals a new blue trail: the Atlas trail of 4 km in length that will ‘expand the offer’.

For those looking for an activity halfway between cycling and downhill, the Métabief resort offers free access Enduro courses. These are small marked routes where you have to use your legs to make the most of the small facilities distributed in the course.

Photo: Mountain bike ride in the Métabief area

The tendency of the Assisted Electric Bike (VAE) also reaches Métabief. You can rent your bike to local partners at the resort and enjoy electric assistance, which will help you pedal. An ideal solution for all those who maybe don’t have a great physical condition and seek a smooth activity without CO2 emissions.

‘The VAE helps with pedaling but not with driving! Mountain biking, from the moment you get into difficulties, requires driving techniques. We’ve also created an electric bicycle route, fully marked and classified as red. We mustn’t forget that, even with electric assistance, it’s still mountain biking with obstacles (roots, stones, etc.),‘ explains Sylvain Philippe.

Himalaya: 1.2 km (0.7 mi) (D – 300 m / 984 ft)

Rocheuse: 3 km (1.9 mi) (D – 420 m / 1378 ft)

Caucase: 3.5 km (2.2 mi) (D – 420 m / 1378 ft)

Dolomite: 3 km (1.9 mi) (D – 420 m / 1378 ft)

Atlas: 4 km (2.5 mi) (D – 340m / 1.115 ft)

Cordillère: 2.7 km (1.7 mi) (D – 200 m / 656 ft).

Retour station: 1.5 km (0.9 mi) (D – 80 m / 262 ft).

Bike’All: 5 km (3.1 mi) (D – 420 m / 1378 ft)