Lupra Trail (Nepal)
I kid you not: You have to earn this descent! It's long, fast and high up in the Annapurna Mountains. First you have to climb the 3950 metre high Lupra Pass. Don't worry, you're already pretty damn high. Nevertheless, the thin air makes your lungs pump and your brain gasp for oxygen. It's only 250 metres to the top, but in the Himalayas you can safely take three. Then the 1000 metre descent begins. It's a whirlwind of dusty bends and increasingly tight hairpin bends, as the trail often circles through canyons and couloirs - surrounded by 7000 metre peaks. At some point you will cross a suspension bridge and reach the small mountain village of Lupra, but even here the descent is not over yet. Now a natural pump track leads you down into the dry river bed, where a jeep track takes you back to Jomsom. I say: adventure meets culture meets super trail.
Cut-Gate-Trail (UK)
Moody weather and few metres in altitude - England's attributes only attract a few bikers to the island. Yet biking here can be great. Provided you're in the mood for natural trails. Cut Gate is a trail loop in the Peak District National Park, not far from Steve Peat's home town of Sheffield. Here you'll find a smorgasbord of technical climbs and descents that wind through the meadow slopes, skip lonely hilltops and dip into valleys in loops with berms, rock jumps and bumps. I promise you, the corners of your mouth and your spirit will stay up, regardless of whether it's raining or storming.
Posettes Trail (Fra)
This is where I live. I feel at home here, and this is my backyard! The Posettes Trail is one of the great descents in Chamonix. Even when the lift is closed, I pedal up the 600 metres. A mountain pyramid frames the start and is reminiscent of Mordor. Similarly creepy: the nasty stone fields at the start. But then, as on many Chamonix trails, the path loses its terror and becomes gentle and flowing when it reaches the tree line. Up here, it's just you, your bike, the mountains and all the hairpin bends you have to master if you want to preserve your freeride honour. Everything else is far, far away - even the nearby DH tracks of Les Gets.
Villarrica Trail (Chile)
I love multi-day adventures that lead from point A to point B, and few beat this 100-kilometre traverse of singletrack trails in northern Patagonia - from the foothills of the Lanin volcano in Argentina to Pucón in Chile. The trail winds its way between smoking volcanoes and leads through lava fields that shimmer in the most crazy colours. Apart from its well-known start and end points, the trail is lonely and wild. In 2017, we were the first to cycle along it by mountain bike and experience a three-day bike adventure that was worth all the effort.
Jela Trail (Bhutan)
The enduro trails I found in Bhutan are the best in the world. I've been trail-hunting for over 20 years and have already discovered a lot of super trails. But what I found here in this little-known kingdom in the middle of the Himalayas surpasses everything. And the Jela Trail is the cherry on top of Bhutan's trail cake. The descent from the Jela temple at 3,580 metres with its colourful prayer flags fires your pleasure receptors with continuous fire. Sometimes you roll with a lot of flow on loamy soil, then it gets technical again. But not in a bumpy, annoying way, but in a fun way on grippy rock. The line choice becomes a delight and you can't get enough of this exciting freeride puzzle. I say: this must be one of the best descents you can find in the world. The downside: unfortunately it's not exactly round the corner.
