What is "megavalanche"

Megavalanche is a mountainbike downhill marathon style event. The most famous round is run from the French Alps town of Alpe D'Huez, starting on the glaciated summit of the Pic Blanc (3,300m) and descending to the lush meadows of the valley bottom at Allemont (720m), after some 2000 metres down and 30 km along.

The format of the event follows three main days:

• Practice - Lifts and courses are open and free to anyone with a race plate. Rookie riders are encouraged to ride as much of the courses as possible
• Qualifying - Riders wake early to take the Oz cablecar to the start where six heats of about 250 riders race the qualifying course. It is said to be a true 'qualifier' as it encapsulates all the elements of the main course in a shorter and more intense run. The resulting qualifier times are broken down into 'Lines' designated by a letter. 'A' being the front.
• Megavalanche - The top 25 riders (in 2014) from each Qualifier start the 'Mega' on freshly piste bashed snow. The following 25 from each qualifier then race in a similarly mass started event on the Saturday, called the 'Mega Challenger'. Any riders outside these two categories are grouped into the 'Mega Amateur', and the two 'Affinity' groups 1 and 2 where they can start at any time after the first two mass start races, their times being recorded automatically by transponder chip. This can be seen as an advantage as there is less traffic at the start, however the snow conditions are far worse as those riding the mega/challenger have churned numerous ruts into it, and the less experienced riders qualifying for the affinity often bunch up and stop at any and all technical sections, slowing down anybody who may be faster.

Around 2,700 participants will depart the summit of the Pic Blanc with top competitors making the 2000m descent in less than an hour (00:38:28 in 2013).

Many of the competitors are from mainland Europe, however an increasing contingent of British riders are making the pilgrimage, spurred on by ever increasing press about the event.

Other rounds of the event take place in Peru and Reunion Island.