Megavalanche in Peru 2009

Jan 6, 2009

This is a brief story of the Megavalanches in Peru and also an invitation to join us for the next Megavalanche in 2009!

The Megavalanche Race started in Peru in 2005. At that time the local riders from Cusco were just a few XC riders. Now it's amazing to see how this race has motivated the local people from Cusco to leave their XC bikes and try to build their DH bikes. Now everybody in Cusco loves to go fast, jump and of course they are strong enough to learn by crashing constantly.

Last year I wrote a story of the past Megavalanches in Peru. You can see this story on the following link: Past Megavalanches in Peru. That post is also on Pink Bike!

Now I'm going to talk about our experience this year in March.

Again, we were waiting for this race with a lot of expectations. We're always asking who is going to come this year! The local riders from Lima are always asking about the weather in Cusco and the local people from Cusco are riding the trail every day to get used to the wet conditions and the cold weather!


This year we prepared a tour with people from the US, Canada and one guy from England. We rode for 10 days on different trails in Lima and then in Cusco. At the beginning we thought it was going to be too much riding before the race but we noticed that we were better prepared than anybody else!

During the 10 days of riding we descended more than 18,000 meters (59,000ft.). This is a lot, since we don’t have chair lifts to the top of the trails. We rode in all different conditions. We also had one day of rain and hail on the trail.


In Cusco we focused our riding more on the Megavalanche trail but we also rode other trails near Cusco and the Sacred Valley. Lots of trails, lots of singletrack and lots of culture!

Four days before the race we set ourselves up at the official hotel. It was a five star hotel in the Sacred Valley. We had total comfort on those previous days and a lot of great food. We were considered as kings!


This year the big name was Philip Polk. Definitely he was the man to beat. There were other great riders from South America and the States like Andres Sotomayor and Mike West. It’s true that we don’t have Steve Peat this year but anyways it was a challenging race.

Kyle, from our team got the third place on the overall results. That proved that we had a great preparation for the race. I was also getting in a good position finishing on the first run in fourth place. Unfortunately, on the second run, I had an accident and I was sent to the back of the group!


Next year we are preparing the same preparation tour for the Megavalanche and it´s going to be from March 18 to March 30. We hope you can join our team and reach the podium! For more information you can visit our web page at: www.inkasadventures.com

See you next year.