I know its a long way in advance, but i want to get out to the alps next summer as i never got round to it this year. Planning on going with a few mates, and being students we will need time to save up…
I know its been asked a million times but could someone recommend me+2 more some place to go. I've never been before so not really sure what to look out for. Should we go somewhere that includes guiding, such as the White Room, or will be be ok just following marked routes for the week in one of the larger resorts?
Recommendations from trips people have been on this year would be good.

Thanks,
J

Verbier with Bike Verbier, been every year since 2003 and still doing new stuff

Tracey

Verbier or Les Arcs

what riding do you want to do?

ian- probably something i should have mentioned. we would be looking to do as much down and as little pedalling as possible without it being classed as DH- if makes sense to anyone 😆 However we would be up for the odd blast down a proper DH track.

the les arcs or verbier, though tbh there is also loads in morzine/les gets. next year i've solved this problem by planing to go to 3 different places

we would be looking to do as much down and as little pedalling as possible without it being classed as DH- if makes sense to anyone However we would be up for the odd blast down a proper DH track.

Could try Alpe d huez and Les 2 Alpes a mile or so down the road. Went this year, plenty of lift assisted singletrack with more DH stuff at Les 2 Alpes. Also you can do the Mega course!

Bikevillage is ace… good guiding really makes a difference, so nice to go to a spot where that isn't an issue (that was the big drawback to Morzine I thought)

Whiteroom came highly recommended to me, and can recommend them highly myself. Had a great week with them this year. Reckon it's definitely good to have someone with local knowledge to guide you. Sure you'll have fun whatever you do.

Bike Verbier and TrailAddiction get my vote. Also consider a road-trip taking in a few places like Pila, Sauze D'Oulx, Montgenevere, Les Orres, Valloire and Alpe D'Huez. There's good riding at all those places that won't require a guide to find, and if you're flexible you can move on when you've had your fill.

The Footprint guide is a good place to start. ISBN-10: 190609831X.

I know Morzine is a bit passe these days but it still offers brilliant riding, hundreds of miles of trails (more than enough waymarked plus loads more cheeky) lots of lifts and a pretty good town with other activities. More trails every year and some nice/frightening shore. Drive down, rent a small apartment (one bedroom + sofabed in lounge) and it'll be pretty cheap, too.

if you want to do as much dh as possible, but not on offical DH runs, then I think that gives you only a few serious options….

….ie somewhere with great lift access (and by that I mean SKI lifts, not vans, because a ski lift will get you back up the mountain at least 3 or 4 times more quickly than a van ever could…)

…but away from the main DH resorts (if you prefer natural singletrack to man made stuff)

….and therefore ideally I would say guiding would be worth it very much (because the best single track is usually unmarked and hard to find, and if you buy a package, it generally works out as extremely good value anyway)

All that in mind I'd wholeheartedly agree with previous recommendations on this thread of Verbier or Les Arcs.

By the way, Whiteroom are a) not in les arcs (but rather in st Foye, about a 45 minute van ride from les arcs centre) and b) there are no ski lifts running in the summer in ste foye (rather, they have a van going up and down the hill) although I have seen from this forum that they do come well recommended so they must be doing something right, I guess it depends what you are looking for.

If you do a quick search, you'll find alternatives for Les Arcs that are also highly recommended on this forum! 😉 For Verbier, I understand that the gold-standard in terms of service, is BIkeVerbier.

i had two weeks with trail addiction

the package was excellent value-for-money, with the guides having extensive knowledge of the local trails. groups were split according to ability and riding type. there is riding to suit all in the area.

the accom was at 1350m vertical altitude, and about 500m of flat road to the first chair lift. from this chair lift one can gain access to 2700m with very little pedelling. a lift pass was 80euro for the week.

there are many way-marked trails, and these could be described as wales on steroids; but for other trails a guide is recommended.

as far as i know, bike village don't use the chair lifts, preferring to ride up!

i will be going back next year…

BV do use the lifts and uplift too,maybe not as much as others but some of the best riding can only be reached by riding to it

I would definitely go to Les Arcs with TrailAddiction. Can't recommend them more highly like everyone else on here. If you are thinking of doing a couple of weeks I would do TrailAddiction for a week then drop over into Italy and ride Pila and La Thuile.

Bike Village have a great reputation but they do a lot of pedalling up so probably not what you are looking for. Bike Verbier are great too.

Trailaddiction in Les Arcs has a good selection of runs that are not monster DH runs but still rely on ski lifts and van uplifts. Excellent accomodation, hosts with excellent knowledge of the area, good food.

Alp d'Huez similarly good singletrack runs but not so much guiding needed cos the trails are more waymarked.