Les Gets: Ready Set Fly!
26 May 2014
Q&A: Bikepark Les Gets!!
Who are you and what do you do at Bikepark Les Gets?
My name is Benjamin Mugnier, I am the Sales & Marketing Director for Les Gets Bikepark. I’m in charge of promoting the bikepark and coming up with innovative ways to work with the athletes and manufacturers with product offer.
How long ago was Bikepark Les Gets developed? Who or what was the driving force?
While Les Gets has offered mountain biking for over 10 years, we really developed and structured the Bikepark after 2004. The year when we organized the World Championships, everybody wanted to try the track from the Worlds on the Mont-Chéry side so we decided to better structure our MTB offer.
How many visitors do you get in a weekend/season at the bikepark?
The number we are always looking at is the number of people going through our lifts. Last summer we did a record of 400,000 bikes lifted to the top of our 3 lifts combined. That’s a pretty huge number and we are ranked 1st in France given that number.
What is the most popular trail at your bikepark?
The “Roue-Libre” track is the most popular of our track. With a length of 2.8 km and a vertical of -490m and various jumps it’s the highway from the top to downtown Les Gets.
Will there be any new trails added this season or will you be re-developing any existing trails?
We have some big news this year with the new development of an elite black trail on the Mont-Chéry side called “Gets Airline”.
It will be the hardest trail ever built in Les Gets, it will have a ton of wooden jumps.
We will also equip our second chairlift Les Nauchets with a 2-bikes lift system so that it will reduce the waiting time at this lift.
Tell us a little bit about Les Gets mountain town. Are there any restaurants or bars that mtb-ers like to spend their time?
Les Gets is famous for it’s mountain bike culture. People love to hang out on the numerous sunny terraces we have in the summer. Inhabitants have made a big effort in the past years to have all the facilities required to welcome the guests.
More than 60% of the lodging facilities have secured lockers, bike wash, and drying machines.
Tell us about any big events that are happening this summer at the bikepark?
2 Big events will be held this summer in Les Gets.
First on will be the Passportes du Soleil where Les Gets will be the host Village. The MTB Pass'Portes du Soleil is a mountain trek ranging from 1000 to 2250m in altitude, in both France and Switzerland, where one can discover the fabulous Portes du Soleil MTB terrain and its grandiose scenery.
The 80 km circuit use 15 lifts. Different variations will be organized for mountain bikers wishing to cycle up hill.
The second big event is the Alpine Battle,
It is a new mountain bike enduro event that will take place in Les Gets on 23rd and 24th of August.
Over the 2-day competition, teams of 2 riders will have to find and join as much checkpoint as they can. The team that will have joined the more checkpoints will win. Lifts are authorized.
When is your typical season? Do you have an opening date yet?
The opening will take place on May 29th 2014 for the weekends and every weekday from June 14th to September 7th 2014
More information click here
What does the future hold for Bikepark Les Gets?
We are working now on a future development strategy for the coming years. We want to innovate even more to be still at the edge when we talk about MTB. We have set up a commission involving all the key mountain bike players from the bike scene in Les Gets (lift company, MTB shops, instructors, etc.) that gather several times a year to work on the new projects.
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