August 2025
Ice, Chaos, and Crushed Lungs: Jack’s Megavalanche 2025
The wind howled. Jack stood at 3330 meters above sea level, staring down the glacier. The snow glistened like cracked glass in the early light. Riders fidgeted beside him. Two minutes to go. No turning back.
Welcome to the Megavalanche — one of the rawest, most unforgiving races in mountain biking. A mass-start sprint down the Pic Blanc glacier in Alpe d’Huez, through brutal snow, rock, dirt, and singletrack all the way to Allemond. 30 years old in 2025, and still completely unhinged.
With SR Suntour in town for pit support, Jack’s Madonna V3 setup was dialed. He ran the new Durolux 38 RC+ , VORO coil shock at the rear, and radial carcass Schwalbe Alberts — a combo that floated like a magic carpet over chaos.
Qualifying: One Shot for the Front Row
Friday’s qualifying heats decide your destiny. Top 3 in each heat make the front row — crucial for charging out front and hitting untouched, hard-packed snow. Every rider after that is stuck in the ruts, skidding through other people’s mess.
Jack’s heat included Jose Borges , a powerhouse Enduro racer. Realistically, the race was for second. Jack delivered: second place in the heat, 10th fastest time overall, and a golden ticket to the front row.
What made that even more impressive? Jack hadn’t done a single minute of endurance training leading up to this. Between racing, coaching, running Gravity School, traveling, and raising a family, fitness had taken a back seat. He was banking everything on skill and determination — not lung capacity.
Race Day: No Room for Error
The gondola line starts at 6 a.m. Riders are quiet, tense. The sun’s just rising, and the glacier is waiting. No matter how many times you’ve raced here, the nerves hit just the same.
From the peak of Pic Blanc, the view is jaw-dropping — snow-capped ridges as far as you can see. It almost makes you forget the absolute carnage that’s about to unfold.
Riders line up based on qualifying. The top finishers pick their starting positions first. This year, snow conditions were ideal except for the top 75 meters — mangled by piste machines. One narrow clean line down the left. The rest? A choppy mess.
Jack, called up 10th, had no choice: far right. It was going to be a rough entry.
Into the Abyss
The speakers blast. Two minutes. One. GO.
Jack sprinted off the line in fourth, jumped on the bike a touch early, and lost momentum over a flat patch — dropping back to 10th. The glacier hit fast and hard. Riders flew, slid, piled up. Jack clawed back to 6th on the technical descent.
Then the climb began.
And that’s where it all fell apart.
With no training in the tank, Jack couldn’t match the firepower on the pedals. He slipped back to 14th. Once the trail tipped down again, he came alive — passing three riders, hammering through traffic, and crossing the line in 11th place , just two meters behind 10th.
What Could Have Been
It’s a brutal feeling — watching riders breeze past you on climbs, knowing you’re faster everywhere else. Jack’s descending was top tier. But without fitness, you get boxed in. Blocked. Beaten where there’s no room to fight back.
We say it every year… maybe next time Jack will show up with some gas in the tank.
Massive thanks to SR Suntour for the flawless support all week.
Want to see the full run? Head to our YouTube channel and watch the madness unfold.
Words: Jack Reading
Video: Diogo Gomes