*UPDATES AT BOTTOM OF ARTICLE*
Le Pleney — arguably the greatest single hill in downhill mountain biking. Its official trail, Mainline (known as Le Noire), is famous among riders around the world and is largely responsible for putting Morzine on the map. From World Cup pro's to downhill novices, it's a symbol of Morzine, one of the first trails everyone rides on their pilgrimage to the European capital of mountain biking.
Around 2006/7, "off-piste" trails began emerging from this main run. These steep, woodland lines—cut in by locals—had names like Club Tropicana, Pedro’s, Potato, ATM, Step Up, and Step Down. Characterful and raw, they were a testament to Morzine’s underground trail-building culture.
Over time, these unofficial trails became central to Le Pleney’s identity. Riders would warm up with a few laps of Mainline before heading into “the singles.” While none of these were officially sanctioned, they weren’t disrupting the official trail network or crossing problematic land boundaries, so local authorities largely turned a blind eye.
The Rise — and Oversaturation — of Lines
Just before the COVID-19 pandemic, more trails began appearing, often ending at the road between Morzine and Les Gets. Though never formally shut down, these trails were flagged—they crossed multiple private land boundaries and began raising eyebrows.
Post-COVID, mountain biking saw a massive boom everywhere, and Morzine was no exception. With more tourists, seasonnaires, and global riders than ever before, the pace of trail building, of cutting in lines, exploded. From 2022 to 2025, any semblance of structure among the unofficial trails was lost. Pleney became saturated with lines—many straight down the hill, others dropping riders out onto the road below, sometimes on blind corners. The danger became real. Multiple near-misses, serious injuries, and even a fatality have occurred in recent years. Rescue operations here are nearly impossible: there’s no vehicle access, and the dense forest blocks helicopters.
So why were these trails built? Because they were fun. But also, because Pleney’s official trail offering didn’t meet rider demand, especially for steep, technical lines.
The best hill on earth
A Turning Point
In recent years, heavy mountain storms have brought another consequence: mudslides. After some storms, mud from Pleney has flooded the streets of Morzine. These newly cut, fall-line trails acted as drainage channels, funnelling dirt and water into town. The damage and ecological impact is no longer ignorable.
In 2025, trail management was handed over to a new organisation, with a new opportunity to grow the area. While the lift infrastructure remains with Le Pleney’s original operators, the new appointment of the 'Morzine DLM' marks a fresh start for trail development.
Their vision? New official trails. Expanded terrain. Lift upgrades. A network that finally meets the scale of MTB tourism demand. The Pleney lift itself is one of the fastest in the world, taking just minutes to move four riders and four bikes uphill, and a trail network that meets these demands is what is needed.
But There’s a Catch
For this vision to be realised, a line must be drawn—literally and figuratively. Certain zones, particularly those that end at the main road, must be closed. They were never official in the first place, but the difference now is enforcement. The Mairie (town hall) has ordered that police issue fines to anyone caught riding in these areas. Police will patrol exits, and signage is already in place.
But here’s the truth: signs and fines have never stopped riders before—and likely won’t now.
What should stop us is the risk of losing everything.
If we—locals, seasonnaires, and tourists—respect this request and leave these high-risk zones alone, we could finally get what we’ve always wanted: steep, techy, sanctioned trails maintained by a proper crew. The demand is clear from the riders. The lift companies want to deliver. But they can’t while the current chaos continues, or at least, these are two separate issues, one the illegal trails, must be resolved now, the other, new trails, will take a little time.
Yes, it’s frustrating. One could argue that new trails should be built before shutting others down, but politics doesn’t work that way. These rogue trails were never legal, so this isn’t a “closure” so much as a correction. And sanctioned trail development will take time, possibly several seasons.
There are some amazing creations across some areas of Le Pleney that really do increase the probability of issues. While some are on land owned by the very people that build, others are not.
The trails are what people want to ride, technical, natural in parts, crafted in others. But though they are the vision of what Pleney could be in the future, they are being built without permission from the landowners. They are being built without knowledge of the ecological impact of drainage and forest sustainability.
New 2025 Morzine Map
Where you can ride
You can see the areas on the map which are restricted; in reality, they always have been, only now it's different. You now not only risk fines for riding in the zones you also risk the future development of the trail network. There are some classic areas which have some of the very best freeride lines that are not restricted and which are still possible to access. These areas have great potential, but again, they need to be managed and ridden with consideration. These are the areas that have the potential to be developed in the future with more engagement in deeper conversation with the new lift operator and management team going forward.
Why are we writing this
We've sat down with Le Pleney on multiple occasions over the years, both advocating for new trails, better maintenance and to gain a better understanding of what the future of Le Pleney will be.
We do not think the messaging is clear clear enough. We are writing this on the even of Pleney opening in 2025 and riders are not clear on what is going on, it's confusing. We feel and hope that riders will respect an area being deemed out of bounds if they understand why, and if they know that in doing so there can be a positive.
So Are Pleney Steeps Finished - Absolutely not!
We’re simply reverting to the pre-COVID map. There are still steep trails. The essence of Pleney remains intact. Nothing meaningful has been lost—yet.
This isn’t about saving frogs or birds. It’s about saving the hill itself. Unless we allow the ecosystem and the management plan to catch up, we risk losing more than a few raked lines. We risk losing the very future of Le Pleney.
If we want sanctioned steeps, legitimate progression, and a long-term vision, we—the riders—must step up.
*UPDATE 16.06.25*
A meeting has been called at the Palais du Sport on the 18th June. Prior to this meeting which will have many local figureheads, fellow tour operators, business owners, landowners etc in attendance, we were invited to the Mairie to discuss our ideas for communication and what we feel is needed both on the trails and in the town to help this situation.
The meeting is not the first of it's kind by any means, we and other locals have had them before, but we've never been invited in such a humble way as were today. Everyone understands the genuine need to clear this up as soon as possible, and to push for progress, which by the way, is something Morzine has wanted to do for a long time but just hasn't been able to do on the Pleney, because of, you guessed it, politics.
As we've said those politics are shifting. It's not happening quickly enough though and that's where we're really pushing to say that there is too much grey and too much negative misinformation, that's damaging the resort.
So, what's positive?
- Morzine clearly understands the problem, they are not blind, they know what needs to be done, it's not a case of no, or maybe, it's a case of how can we do it.
- There are clearly still large areas of 'off piste' that can still be ridden. Le Pleney, the Mairie etc just can't say that, because of insurance reasons. The map makes these areas very clear.
- A focus group of locals, the locals responsible for many of the off-piste lines over the years, is a clear goal, that can help shape the idea of the new Pleney. The aim is to get this group together as quickly as possible.
- Signage around town and on the trails will be made clearer, less ambiguous and frankly less partonising than it is now. We are helping with this.
The next meeting, a larger one, to be held on the 18th June will likely be heated. But out of this heat we hope some action can be taken.
*UPDATE 18.06.25*
A more general meeting with local business owners, the Mairie, Forestry, Gendarmerie and the tourist office was held, with plenty of passionate debate about the subject of Pleney's off piste. While it is not important to go over the many suggestions and complications in this article (it would be a long read), it is important to look at the solutions that have potential.
The idea at present is to form a working group of locals that can decide on what it we think will be a good, sustainable and achievable future for Le Pleney. The Mairie want to start this in Autumn, which we all feel will be too late. We feel we should start this now, so we are going to.
As a community we will bring together riders and trail builders to map out what we think will make a solid starting point to good, official, technical, steep downhill trails on Le Pleney. We'll run these routes through mapping systems so they can be accurately presented to the Mairie, lift companies and tourist offices.
At the same time we will look to find people we think should lead this project, because it will take time, energy and focus. As business owners we can push for change, new energy and help communicate, but we need one voice to open the doors and walk through them where it really matters.
These actions are being done with the blessing of Morzine, while they gather themselves for this project. We do not think they expected the energy that is now behind this, but they realise it now.
We'll share these plans as soon as they are available and realistic.
Keep the faith, in the meantime, Pleney is not dead.
#ONEPEDALAHEAD #PLENEY4EVER
