Portail du Fully

Finally getting up there in the Valais, Switzerland

By J

It's been on my list to do for quite a while now and luckily a few things came together to get up there and get it done. Following on from my early season visit I was excited despite the prospect of another 1400 metre climb, only 2 days after having ridden a long way uphill in Italy.

After squeezing into the 10am Dorenaz cable car, from near Martigny we were soon spinning up on the tiny mountain road, that lasted at least an hour till it became a steeper fireroad.

We all kept going, knowing that the prospect of long smooth Valaisian singletrack lay ahead. First we had to have a lunch stop with a view.

The descent starts near a ridgeline before skirting along the west side and then turning around it to traverse across a huge cliff band north of Martigny. We were told not to fall here! As the trail got going the speeds picked up on the smooth gravel trail. Another quick push and we were at the main part of the descent, 2km's of traversing, on a 1 metre wide trail. A roller coaster on slightly loose gravel. Every left hander was blind, you didn't know how much speed you could carry around it, and if you took too much and ended up on the edge of the trail you were sure to get both wheels drifting.

After this we cut our way through picturesque Swiss hamlets on narrow flowing singletrack, loamy sections with switchbacks, more traversing on slightly downhill trails and fast blasts with tricky rock gardens. A great selection of descents that ended through the Martigny vineyards. 2000 metres of descent done and dusted, box ticked, maybe again next year?

By J

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