You’ve probably heard of the Megavalanche, it’s dubbed by the organisers as being the biggest downhill race in the world, it has a reputation of being gnarlier than a gnarly thing and tough on both bikes and bodies. Two years ago in a time when I was new to enduro racing I decided to give this event a go, it ended with a broken leg and a vow to come back and conquer!

I’m now a much better rider and racer and decided 2015 was the year to give it another go. I had my own reasons to come back and complete this race so whilst I was there it seemed like a good idea to try find out what brings the thousands of bikers to Alp D’Huez, what convinces them to enter and what draws them back.

Riding the Megavalanche train! Woop Woop
Riding the Megavalanche train! Woop Woop

The Megavalanche begins with a mass start qualifying run, denoting your seeding number and which of the 6 races you will race in. The main race is a track starting on the glacier of Pic Blanc at 3,300m down to Allemont at 700m, traversing snow, rocks, fields and woodland as you descend to the valley floor. I’m not sure of the downhill connotations, I think this race fits firmly in the enduro bracket, it has some uphill’s that will be forever imprinted into my soul! The race is so classically French – there appear to be an utter disregard for and form of ‘safety’. I know that mountain biking is a dangerous sport but I’m talking lines of jumps where the ‘B line’ means crossing the ‘A line’ which will be unsighted until take off ……. rider on rider T-bone territory!

You’re going down there?!
You’re going down there?!

The race starts on the glacier but this year was made harder by the fact that there was very little snow around which meant riding over snow, ice, rock, ice , snow, water in any order and keeping you guessing how the tyres and brakes would react! That is all after you have been eternally psyched out by the euro trance music blared out across the mountain tops at the start of each race. Google the ‘song’ Alarma by 666, do it now, press play and imagine being in amongst a pack of 300 equally scared, equally psyched riders about to simultaneously tip over the edge of a black ski run – mental, huh? As, Trev, the UK editor of ENDURO Mountainbike Magazine quite aptly put it the other day “As soon as you hear Alarma you just have to remove your brain!”

Tipping over the edge
Tipping over the edge

The Megavalanche is in its 20th year and it has created quite a following as year on year people return in their thousands to have another crack at it. A relatively quiet one with over two thousand entrants this year, Alpe D’Huez was buzzing with bikes and riders of all kinds. It’s different to the races I have been to this year, it is far removed from the professional ‘team’ set up of the Enduro World Series but it is still a well organised series in its own right. There’s a totally different clientele here, there are pro riders, there are groups of guys reminiscent of some British stag do’s, there are weekend warriors, have a go hero’s and also some seriously pinned boys and girls out to do as well as they can. To find out what brings people here I decided to focus on the women, chatting to them in the lifts in the week and catching them at the end of their race run, sweaty, tired and on the most part elated to be down in one piece!

Dusty carnage just to qualify!
Dusty carnage just to qualify!

Maybe this year was an anomaly but a large percentage of female riders this year had never taken part in the race before. The start line contained fifty female shredders, all ready to put their all into a race of epic proportions! I love the diversity of a race like this, there were girls from all over the world and with all sorts of mountain bike experiences from the world’s top racers, MTB guides from Greece, elite UK Gravity enduro riders and a couple from Malta all here expose themselves to the insanity of the Megavalanche.

Elizabeth Darke - normally a MTB guide in Greece, happy to be down in one piece!
Elizabeth Darke – normally a MTB guide in Greece, happy to be down in one piece!

From the top then, Commencal team rider Cecile Ravanel and her fist Mega. Cecile is a regular face in the top three riders in the Enduro World Series. Cecile’s team are a title sponsor for the Megavalance so the whole team were present. She told me she found the race tough, with a crash in the snow on the glacier. From here she fought her way back through to the front to take the win. Cecile said she rode a safe race (a feat in itself!) as she has the next round of the EWS coming up next weekend. She’s a hard working lady though as straight after her qualifying run on Friday she went off to Les Deux Alps to race the pump track challenge at Crankworx! She was unfortunately disqualified but still returned fresh to race the Mega on Saturday. I think as long as Commencal are sponsoring the Mega Cecile will be back!

Cecile Ravanel, incredibly fast
Cecile Ravanel, incredibly fast

The top three podium places were taken by EWS riders with Meggie Bichard in second place and Raewyn Morrison in third. Kiwi rider Raewyn had the Megavalanche on her bucket list of races to tick off during her summer in Europe with riding in snow actually being a factor that drew her in! Rae said the Mega was a race unlike any other she had ever done as it’s impossible to have a real solid plan of attack as you can in the EWS. With the Mega being mass start some choices are made for you by other riders and you have to adapt quickly and make good decisions, she said she used the race to practice these skills.

Raewyn had the Megavalanche on her bucket list of races to tick off during her summer
Raewyn had the Megavalanche on her bucket list of races to tick off during her summer

A lady I queued I the lift with on Friday was Sara Wunderlin from Switzerland. Sara’s sister originally entered the Mega and has competed in it for a few years now. Her sister couldn’t attend due to injury so Sara took her place. Sara arrived at the resort at 2am Friday morning and raced both the qualification run and the Mega blind! She must have been the bravest lady I spoke to all weekend! Sara said she found the glacier tough and couldn’t ride it at all but once she got off the snow she was flying, loving the rocky exposed section at the top and the woods down in Allemont. Sara usually races downhill and enduro with her sister and I think she has a taste for the Mega and they will back together! Sara came in 10th so it would be interesting seeing some sisterly tactics next year!

Sara Wunderlin's sister originally entered the Mega but couldn’t attend due to injury so Sara took her place
Sara Wunderlin’s sister originally entered the Mega but couldn’t attend due to injury so Sara took her place

Next up is Claudia Clement, my only other rider apart from Meg who has raced the Mega before. Claudia also took part last year in the torrid, wet and miserable conditions that my colleague, Jim Buchanan experienced with his first Mega! Claudia said she was back as the previous year the race couldn’t start at the top of Pic Blanc due to the weather so she was here again to race the full race and ride in the snow. Luckily for her the weather at this year’s event was at polar opposites to 2014, there was more dust then you could shake a stick at and riders could be overhead describing “that one wet corner” in the woods – when have you ever raced and there was ONE wet corner!? Claudia, originally from Brazil rides for OBO bikes and works with Specialized France to develop the women’s range. Claudia’s ribs were a victim of the Mega, having crashed and broken one early on in the course. She said she thought she would stop but was encouraged on by other girls!

Claudia’s ribs were a victim of the Mega, having crashed and broken one early on in the course. She said she thought she would stop but was encouraged on by other girls!
Claudia’s ribs were a victim of the Mega, having crashed and broken one early on in the course. She said she thought she would stop but was encouraged on by other girls!

Along with Claudia was also Brazilian, Beatrix Ferragi who rides for GT Brazil. She was pretty pleased that she came out of the ordeal with just grazed elbows! Beatrice was over in France on holiday and describes it as a MTB mecca. She entered the Mega as it was such a well known race – a classic she said! Having seen photos of the Mega, Beatrice said it was a dream come true for her and her boyfriend to come all the way from Brazil and do the race. Beatrice said that the trails here were so good and she enjoyed the berms as they don’t get such corners at home.

Beatrice entered the Mega as it was such a well known race – a classic she said
Beatrice entered the Mega as it was such a well known race – a classic she said

Another EWS regular was Vitus rider Michelle Muldoon over from Ireland. Michelle, also a Megavalanche first timer, was over with her team and it was a group decision to enter at the last minute. Michelle was supposed to be racing an enduro in La Thuile but the group decided that the Mega was a better option as it was a weeks’ worth of riding and fun on the trails, she doesn’t regret the decision at all and says she will be back for sure! Michelle said her favourite bit of the week was practicing in the snow on Pic Blanc, she is glad to have ticked the race off her list of things to do. Michelle came in in 11th place, for a first ride in the snow and first time at the Mega it was an awesome result.

Another EWS regular was Vitus rider Michelle Muldoon over from Ireland
Another EWS regular was Vitus rider Michelle Muldoon over from Ireland

The Mega is a body beater, I hate to think how many people have injured themselves in some way this week. I wonder if it correlates to the amount of mech’s lost from bikes? UK Gravity Enduro racer Nicole Mallett came off worse in that snow/ice/rock scenario I described earlier. She nursed herself down with a separated shoulder – what a nutter! She was here to complete the race and finish it she did, still getting inside the top twenty. I think the jury is still out on whether Nicole is coming back for another go!

Nicole Mallett nursed herself down with a separated shoulder – what a nutter!
Nicole Mallett nursed herself down with a separated shoulder – what a nutter!

Last up of my series of interviews was Scottish rider Mhairi Roberts She usually races enduro in Scotland and entered the Mega as her friends were going along. Mhairi was another lured in by the glacier, this being her favourite part of the course as well. She is thinking of returning next year and seems to have been bitten by the ‘Mega bug’. We discussed the difference in races and decided the racers all appear to fall into three distance groups – pro’s, amateur racers like ourselves and the ‘have a go’s’. Mhairi thought that it was a pretty big ask for amateur racers and even bigger ask for people with less racing experience. We decided that the race would be an intimidating thought so may put a lot of people off but in reality if you are careful and enter the race with the aim to get down then its plenty do-able!

Mhairi Roberts was another lured in by the glacier
Mhairi Roberts was another lured in by the glacier

It goes to say my personal experience of this race was 100% better than last time! I surprised myself with the risks I took in the qualifying run, I didn’t know I could make decisions to overtake so quickly and came in in 10th place. I did one better on race day and got down in 9th place. To say I was pleased would be a massive understatement, I was stoked to bury some demons and develop some new skills on my bike!

Massive high five with Raewyn!
Massive high five with Raewyn!

If I’m analysing results then from these interviews it appears that the snow is a big factor in many people entering this race, it is a unique element for sure! If I am going by the feeling I got from talking to the girls then the race is an entity to conquer, an event to tick off their bucket list and one that has a history in the MTB’ing world that everyone wants to be able to say they have done. It’s a testing race in more ways than one and to come out unscathed is a feat in itself. For me, I think I’ll leave the Mega now for a few years at least. I have come and done what I wanted to do and with better results than I could have imagined. I think a lot of riders feel the same as me and come back to the Mega for similar reasons, it could be due to a demon or a personal accomplishment that they wish to achieve but once that is done the Mega is laid to rest. What is amazing is the resolve of bikers not to be beaten by this race. I heard stories this week of people on their fifth, sixth, seventh year of racing and still not managed to complete the race to their desired standard! It seems mountain biking breeds tenacious characters and the Megavalanche is the perfect recipe to test this determination!

Words: Rachael Gurney

Photos: Rachael Gurney and Cyril Charpin


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