Just in time for the summer holiday rush, Premier Dealer The White Room fills us in on their riding holidays in the French Alps, plus details of a subscriber discount and giveaway!
Tell us a little about yourself
We’re now in our 10th season running guided holidays in the Les Arcs / Tarentaise Valley area of the French Alps. We’re all about trail / singletrack / enduro / whatever it’s called these days riding. Our focus is on riding as many of the best descents as possible with the minimum of climbing, so we use the chairlifts around the valley and our vans and trailers for uplift. At the same time, we love a big day out in the mountains, so we’re always up for that little pedal or push over the next ridgeline to open up more trails and make the riding a little more adventurous.
Which resort do you ride in?
We’ve always preferred not to limit ourselves to any one resort. It gives us a much bigger range of trails to choose from. Our chalet is down in the valley floor and makes it easy to access any of the resorts around the valley. Les Arcs has the biggest lift network in the summer and some classic trails, mostly on the steeper/more technical end of things. La Plagne has a more natural, less-used feel and some amazing long, flowing descents, often dropping way down into the valley or over the back into neighbouring valleys. Sainte Foy needs a vehicle uplift but has some of the best flowy, natural singletracks you’ll ever ride. Sneaking up to the Italian border lets us drop down into La Thuile and ride a whole load of steep, loamy, EWS madness. Tignes appeals to the big-bike crew but has some great singletrack as well.
What kind of trips do you run?
Most of our trips are our “Classic Singletrack” weeks in July and August when the lifts are open all around the valley. As much uplift as possible for as much singletrack descending as possible. 4 guides on hand for 14 clients so we can run groups for all different riding levels. Posh chalet (hot tub!) and all-inclusive beer. We run some more adventurous trips as well though. We’ve got two different point-to-point trips running (a lift-assisted Tarentaise Tour and a classic Tour of Mont Blanc), our June/September backcountry weeks when the lifts are closed (maximum van uplift, a little pedalling and a huge choice of wild trails – our favourite time of the season!) plus our legendary Summits Week – a week of pure adventure riding, aiming to get our bikes to the summit of a local peak every day, then ride all the way to the valley. A lot of effort and a lot of hike-a-bike but totally unforgettable days!
What bikes do you ride?
Big, tough enduro bikes are the weapon of choice over here. We’re very stoked to be working with Orange bikes and most of us are going to be riding the new Alpine 6. Our tall and quirky team member Alex is going to be on the new Stage 6, giving disdainful looks to everyone who tells him big wheels don’t go around switchbacks.
Tell us something about your team that no-one knows?
Pat has won the old-Etonian enduro championship for the past 7 years in a row.
How can readers keep up to date with White Room news?
One of the easiest ways is via the White Room Facebook Page. Our website is also a great source of information too: www.whiteroomchalet.com.
What do you offer to Premier Subscribers?
We offer a €50 discount off all of our holiday prices. For this week only, we can extend that to all members of a group booking with a Premier member.
What are you offering for this Tuesday’s prize draw?
We are giving away one of our very stylish riding/guiding jerseys, as modelled by our in-house Zoolander, Stevo. Available in long or short-sleeve and all manner of sizes and designed by our friend Natalie.
To enter the giveaway click here.
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Hands up if you can name all the photo locations in this article !! 😉
Me, me! Bet you can’t though!