Long associated with winter, Les Saisies are now turning to cycling to strengthen their summer season. With a growing bike park, cross-country routes, gravel biking, e-MTB, and increased lift usage, the Beaufortain resort confirms that summer has become a real economic driver.
In Les Saisies, summer no longer just occupies the in-between seasons. It now has a significant impact on the accounts. In 2010, summer represented around 50,000 euros in turnover.
Today, the figure exceeds one million. The same trend is evident in the ski lift sector, where summer visitor numbers have risen by 31% over the past five years to reach 190,000 pedestrians and mountain bikers.
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Mountain biking accounts for a large proportion of this growth. Last year, the ski lifts recorded nearly 116,000 mountain bike rides, representing 62% of the total number of rides.
A bike park for various audiences
The season will kick off with the Saisies Bike Festival on 20 and 21 June. The event will mark the resort's summer opening, before the bike park opening on 13 and 14 June, and then continuously from 20 June.
On the ground, the offering has expanded. The bike park boasts 16 downhill trails, 175 km of cross-country routes, six enduro circuits, two e-MTB routes, three gravel routes, three ski lifts, and two pump tracks.
Unlike the sometimes very committed image of downhill mountain biking, Les Saisies aims to appeal on multiple levels. Geoffrey Souchet, the bike park manager, reminds us that’«As long as you know how to ride on a cycle path, you can come to the BikePark des Saisies.»
The most accessible tracks, such as Pikachu or Shrek, do not target the same practitioners as Tabasco or Dré dans l’pentu, intended for a more experienced audience.
A rising demand for supervision
This diversification is also reflected in the activities on offer. Beginners, families and experienced skiers are no longer looking for the same thing. The MCF ski school in Les Saisies has seen a rise in demand for lessons, from 5 to 8 % sessions per year.
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Jérôme Casgrande, a mountain bike instructor in Les Saisies for fifteen years, has also seen the profiles evolve. According to him, «The demand for guidance and learning is diversifying in age and level.»
With Marjus Moniteur Watbike, another mountain biking school, he has been offering two- or three-day micro-adventures on two wheels for several summers, to discover the Beaufortain region by classic or electric mountain bike.
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