Andorra Enduro Trails

Lawnmower, Corkscrew +Ridgeliner

Descent 21km / 2400m
Uplift: 1900m Climb: 210m/50m/250m

Lawnmower: we begin the day with a van uplift to the top of the highest road in the Pyrenees at 2408m, before a short climb to access the descent, which drops around 7km down to Soldeu. The trail begins by descending a beautiful valley through meadows full of horses, down into the treeline before hitting some fairly easy switchbacks and a couple of tricky tech sections , such as “Gary’s Rock” which will test your skills a bit! A final high speed traverse delivers us to Soldeu. After a bit of lunch we head back up on the local gondola to 2250m, from where we can access another descent…

Corkscrew: this trail has a couple of options to start – but our favourite is called “Try The Door”, which begins at the same level as the gondola, before hitting the main Corkscrew descent, which drops back down steeply to slightly below Soldeu – giving you a meaty 500m of loamy, twisty forest descending. Initially steep, but not particularly technical, you’ll sliding around mulchy corners deep in the forest, before popping out into the main descent about halfway down. From here it is blisteringly fast and flowing, contouring back and forth with wide, sweeping corners to the valley floor. A 10 minute climb returns us to the gondola, which we use to return to the top station, before a short 250m climb to reach the main event…

Ridgeliner: this super-high altitude descent is genuinely one of those trails you see in movies: a ribbon of singletrack unfurls along the crest of an enormous, spiny ridge…yet at the same time it is mostly surprisingly non-technical, and not exposed! Despite dramatic views down huge cliffs to a valley hundreds of metres below it doesn’t have any nasty edges anywhere near the trail and is only occasionally technical. It is an awesome route for a picture – one which you show your friends to really make them jealous! And best of all this descent is huge 10km long and 1000m high… You follow the spine of the ridge for a few kilometres before the trail starts to dive through the trees on easy, but occasionally steep singletrack. Further down there’s a short, steep technical section – but mostly it’s all very rideable by most people! From here onwards it’s simply beautiful – 5km of singletrack swooping down through the forests on loamy trails and through meadows all the way to the valley floor….

Valira Valley Explorer

Descent 2450m / 27km
Uplift: 2100m Climb: 150m/200m

First thing in the morning we load up the trailer and head to the gondola station at Soldeu, in the Valira Valley. We will use this lift 3 times today to access a variety of awesome trails deep in the dense, ancient forests, starting with

Helter Skelter: a furious descent on Andorra’s finest loam , all of it super-narrow singletrack. It’s not got too many technical features, but it does have a few corners…72 of them!! There’s a mix of switchbacks, natural berms and steep corners – it’s constant steering. Occasional rock gardens keep you on your toes – can you clear it dab free? Few can! This drops us onto the “The Basement”, which today we will use to return towards Soldeu (sometimes it is a descent), around 150m above us up the valley.

Oscar’s Legacy: not so much a trail, more a set of options which are the remnants of the old Soldeu bike park, sadly closed for many years. Oscar Saiz, ex-World Cup DH racer, and coach to many current pro riders designed the park – and is a good friend to StS. There are several trails which remain rideable from the top of the Soldeu Gondola, such as Cova, Os, Marmot and Basket Case…they all drop 450m back to the bottom station, from where we head up again.

Happy Ending: how many MTB holidays offer you one of these?! Ours lasts ages, and has huge variety – and whilst at times it might surprise you it’ll put a huge smile of your face by the time it is finished! The entertainment starts off smooth and rhythmically, and quickly becomes fast..but edgy. Suddenly we will dive off in a surprising direction and things quickly get hectic! Enough euphemisms…fast flow gives way suddenly to steep sections – nothing too technical – but the steep keeps getting steeper. It is easy to get lulled into a false sense of security – before you know it you are going faster than you want to be and the brakes aren’t co-operating! We always encourage riders to hold their speed down whenever possible, because this trail accelerates you all the way to the valley floor 730m and 7.5km below in teh town of Canillo, where we are met by the van for yet another uplift!

Rockfort : After a 9km drive back up the mountain to 1950m we throw in an end of day bonus – we have a lot of choices available, including an optional 200m climb back to the top of The Boneyard (if tired we can skip this climb and head in lower down). This crazy trail was named by our crazy former guide, French-born Keev. It’s a play on words – it’s rocky, it’s hard and it turns your brakes to melted cheese! From the top of the mountain this trail descends 1000m and 7km to La Massana (700m/5km without the optional climb). This one is intense; steep, highly technical, with extensive jagged slickrock sections- it is not for the faint hearted! You need very good skills to tackle this trail well – we have had very experienced riders tell us that it is the most challenging trail they have ever ridden. Unrelenting, unforgiving and unmissable if you want to be challenged! Alternatively, if tech is not your thing we can pick one of the variations of Local’s Only, which descends through a similar area…

Hidden Natural Trails Off the Park

Descent 3000-5000m /30-45km
Uplift: 3000-5000m Climb: Zero

There’s a huge array of well-hidden natural trails to explore around the fringes of Pal-Arinsal Bike Park – so many that we can’t fit them all into a day! There’s a huge mix of trail types , and many can be combined together:

Magic Gulley: a flowing descent through the trees, which gives way into a maze of rock gulleys.  The “magic” is you never come out in the same place! This leads to two choices: a)Bus Stop: rocky, but not too technical  to the edge of town. Finishes with a flowing section to a bus stop! 3.5km/620m b) Hidden Valley:  off the side of the park; you burst out of the trees into high meadows and a gorgeous valley . Contouring, somewhat technical, and zigzags it’s way down to the edge of town via a final section of super tight switchbacks! 4km/ 620m

Round the Back: an alternative start point with a steep entrance, then a loamy woodland traverse. It accelerates downhill, with some mild tech sections and joins Magic Gulley. When combined with Hidden Valley it offers a  4.5km/640m descent

Nutjob: a hard-to-find entrance into the woods, it quickly transitions to narrow, smooth, dusty and ever-steepening singletrack. Tricky steep rock sections begin to appear, requiring commitment and control. Soon the trail levels out and contours across the mountain on fast forest singletrack, before a steep, twisting rocky finale! 5km/630m

Go Rock Yourself: from the peak of the mountain this hour-long descent drops into a stunning valley all the way down to town. It’s very long, varied, sometimes challenging, sometimes flowing. The most obvious trail is not the best – it quickly turns to doubletrack. Knowing hidden junctions and options is crucial; we keep you on singletrack nearly all the way! The very long rocky sections give it the name – but there are long woodland sections too. 10km/1100m

One Brake and a Prayer: a newer addition that needs the cable car to be running, high up at 2600m. The trail cuts across super-high meadows, far above the valley. The super narrow singletrack is not technical but the height and steep mountainside below can feel quite intimidating! This leads down and links to Rocky Road: one of the most hidden trails, and a fave of Cedric Gracia! In a video he disguises it’s location …but we know where it is! Slickrock and gulley runs, with short very technical features which challenge the best riders. Generally not steep, and most people ride the majority of it – but clearing it all needs skill! 6.25km/ 930m

Homerun: generally easy descent from the top cable car back to near our hotel. Beautiful alpine views, cruising on a benchcut trail through meadows. The last section follows a ski piste, so is less fun, but there’s the option of Lunch Trail, famous for a viral video by our friends Production Privee bikes. It’s a tricky to locate, but great fun if you like steep woodland tech! It starts out easy, but becomes very challenging; steep chutes, tight switchbacks and rock gardens 6.5km/1020m

Happy Camper: once uber-tough, this trail had a makeover by locals, and is now a rollercoaster of dusty chutes linked by naturally bermed turns. Sometimes steep, but nowhere near as technical as it once was. Comes off partway down Nutjob, and pops out 30 seconds from our hotel – a good secret return route! 5km/ 540m