The penultimate round of the UCI EDR season.

Aletsch Arena in Switzerland is the home of the 2025 World Championships, where I claimed the E-EDR World Title, so I've definitely got some bloody good memories here.

I arrived on Sunday afternoon after a three-hour drive with no phone data, so it was old-school paper maps to get me there. Somehow, I only took one wrong turn and still arrived exactly where I needed to be.

I camped at the local campground for the week. As athletes, we were offered a 50% discount, which still worked out to around 20 CHF a night, but that was definitely better than full price. I set Buddy up in a nice spot under a tree for some natural shade and somewhere to hang my washing line too, as I had plenty of gear to wash.

Monday, I wanted to do the ride to the glacier that a couple of friends did last year, so I took the e-bike. The ride either started with a gondola or a 1,200m climb, and I didn't fancy paying Swiss gondola prices, so pedalling it was. It was a nice steady climb followed by a traverse, and there were so many hikers out enjoying the trails. Eventually, I reached the tunnel that linked through to the glacier. It was freezing cold and prettydark in there, but once I popped out the other side and rolled down a short trail, I was greeted by the biggest glacier in the Swiss Alps. It was absolutely stunning.

But then the real adventure started.

What looked like a black and orange trail back to camp turned out to be some seriously technical riding, and the orange trail involved plenty of pushing and carrying the bike. It was an awesome adventure though, and I made it back to the van safely!

Tuesday was a cruisy day with some openers on my analogue bike, a few haircuts, some work on the computer... and then a few more haircuts!

Wednesday was bike prep day. I'd managed to get my hands on the new Yeti LT frame after La Thuile, so I'd spent the last week and a half getting it built and dialled in. Wow... I am absolutely loving it.

My fork had started leaking from the left leg, and unfortunately, with this round onlybeing Enduro, Fox wasn't there to provide support. Luckily for me, Alex from Yeti was servicing the boy’s forks, had a spare seal kit, and sorted mine out.

I was running the new frame as a mullet setup and was waiting on a 27.5 CushCore insert from a local bike shop. While I waited, I gave the bike a full bolt check and bled the brakes. Once the CushCore arrived, I fitted fresh tyres front and rear.

Thursday was the first practice day. With the World Cup, Open race and Swiss Enduro Series all using parts of the same course, we started by practising the Day 2 stages.

First up was Old School DH, a track directly underneath the gondola and probably the toughest and most physical stage of the weekend. It also happened to be the stage I won last year on the e-bike... with a flat rear tyre! Needless to say, I was excited.

Straight off the gondola and straight onto the track, the new bike felt incredible. It was hard not to just let it rip.

Then came a 2.5-hour liaison climb to Bellwald Bike Park, followed by a couple of chairlifts to the top for the stage called Lord of the Rims—a super rocky track that also required plenty of pedalling.

After that, we had a short climb to Into the Wild. Both tracks were running brilliantly, and I was loving every minute.

We then headed down the road to the final stage, Back to the Roots. Once again, there was lots of pedalling mixed with super technical riding. The track crossed a train line, so there was a neutral zone where timing stopped before the crossing and restarted afterwards in case a train came through during a race run. The bottom section has always been technical, but this year's changes somehow made it even harder. Thankfully, I made it through without any dramas.

After giving the bike a quick wash, I noticed a helicopter flying overhead carrying buckets of water. Rumours quickly spread that the campsite was on fire, so I raced back to the van, only to discover it was actually a house just up the hill. Thankfully everyone was okay, although every time the helicopter flew over collecting water from the river, it gave my campsite a nice little shower!

A swim in the campsite pool, dinner with the crew, a bit of GoPro footage watching, and then off to bed.

Friday started later, around 10am. We took the gondola before a 50-minute hike-a-bikeup a gravel road to Alpine Rodeo. Imagine the rockiest trail you've ever seen... then double it. That sums up Alpine Rodeo.

After that came Blueberry Trail, another stage I'd raced last year, so I knew it pretty well. Fewer rocks, but plenty more pedalling.

Then came Stage 3...

The track I had been dreading.

It's an awesome trail, but after completely destroying my rear rim there last year andnearly ending my weekend, I was pretty nervous.

I took it relatively easy... or so I thought.

One tiny mistake off the main line and... boom.

Both tyres flat. Both rims destroyed.

*Super lucky Toddy was on course videoing the Yeti Boys and helped me out with the flat tyres*

I managed to stop, throw a tube in the rear, plug the front with a few spare tyre plugs, and limp my way to the bottom.

Safe to say I was even more nervous about racing that stage now!

Stage 4 was another trail from a few years ago, back in the trees with fewer rocks and more roots. It was corner, straight, corner, straight all the way to the finish before a 1.5-hour liaison back to the pits.

There was plenty of bike work happening around the campsite that evening. The constant sound of people hammering bent alloy rims back into shape echoed through camp. Luckily, I had a spare wheelset, so I swapped everything over after practice. Now I just had to make these wheels survive race weekend.

Saturday was race day one, and having practised the stages the day before, they were still fresh in my mind.

Stage 1 was always going to be tough with very little warm-up besides the hike.

My mindset for the weekend was simple: smooth is fast. I knew both my bike and body needed to survive two long, physical days.

The plan worked.

Halfway down I started catching the rider ahead, which told me I was having a good run. I finished fifth on the stage, and more importantly, the bike survived.

A nice gondola ride up to the glacier helped settle the nerves before dropping in. Again, I focused on being smooth, ticking off section after section. Once again, short pedalbrought us to Stage 2, where I backed it up with another fifth.

Then came the dreaded Stage 3.

A nice gondola ride up to the glacier helped settle the nerves before dropping in. Again, I focused on being smooth, ticking off section after section. Once again, I started catching the rider ahead. After surviving all the rocky sections, I went full gas to the finish.

Honestly, it was such a relief crossing the line with two wheels still intact.

Sixth on the stage—not bad at all.

Stage 4 suddenly felt easy after surviving Stage 3. Another solid run gave me fifth again and secured fifth overall after Day 1.

I was absolutely stoked.

It was my best World Cup result so far, and all I had to do now was hold onto it for one more day.

Day 2's stages suited me even better.

We kicked things off with Old School DH, and I attacked it hard. As soon as I started catching dust from the rider ahead, I knew I was flying... until an unfortunate front-wheel slip on a rock sent me over the bars.

I hit the ground hard.

Back on the bike, bars twisted, and my Garmin device alert sending messages to my mum back in NZ… Sorry Mum. I just focused on getting to the finish.

Seventh on the stage, but I still held onto fifth overall.

The long liaison to Stage 6 gave me plenty of time to reset mentally.

I threw everything at that stage, pedalled as hard as I could, and came away with another fifth, clawing back a bit of time overall.

At the bottom of Stage 6, Ella—who was leading the race—rolled in with a flat tyre. While the other girls continued on, Melanie and I stayed behind to help get her going again. We were racing each other, but it was still the right thing to do.

The ride to Stage 7 was short.

Most of the girls were saying how cooked they felt. I was definitely tired too, but I also felt like I still had something left.

So I emptied the tank.

Fourth on the stage and still holding fifth overall, now with a 30-second buffer back to sixth.

One stage to go.

I was on a heater.

Everything was flowing, I was hitting my lines, and the speed felt effortless... until onesilly mistake over a rock sent me crashing again.

Twisted bars. Again.

The stage was live-streamed, and watching it back wasn't exactly my proudest riding—it's pretty hard to ride well with your handlebars pointing sideways!

But I made it to the finish, held onto fifth overall, and honestly couldn't have been happier.

A career-best finish and a bloody good weekend that I'm incredibly proud of.

This season, I feel like I've just kept building and building, and it's awesome to see the hard work paying off.

If you've made it this far, well done—that was one hell of a story!

There's just one round left in the UCI Enduro World Series in August. I'm currently sitting seventh overall in the standings, with a healthy gap back to eighth and only 80 points separating me from sixth.

We'll see what happens.

For now though, it's back to e-bike racing.

I'm looking forward to a couple of quieter days because that weekend definitely took its toll on the body, and then it's off to Méribel for Round 4 of the European E-MTB Series.

Let's get it!

The penultimate round of the UCI EDR season.

The Best EDR Race Weekend Yet!

SWIFT RACING LIMITED