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Off to the Alps for a weekend's riding next Friday.
The group I'm riding with are there all week but I'm only flying out to ride Saturday and Sunday (teacher - can't get time off during term). Cool guys that they are they have said because of that I can choose the weekend routes so I get to ride some good stuff before I head home.
So, what is the good stuff there? Need two routes to try that show off the best the area has to offer. Would prefer natural to bike park stuff but not discounting that totally. Ideally one big mountain tech route and one more flowy but again not overly fussed. We have already booked lift passes if that helps? All pretty competent riders on 150/160mm AM/enduro bikes (except for the nutter who insists on riding around on a Gambler).
I'm not an expert but there are no all day trails I am aware of. Longest lift accessed top to bottom is half a day, ie so a day you do 2 or more runs
My 2p would be (from Bike book)
Les Houches: Hugh's Way & Pipeline - morning warm up on Blue - time for something else off Mont Blanc Tramway ?
Le Tour/Valorcine: Tirent via Cross plus some other trails off those lifts
Need to study routes and how to link up with train also be aware of 2 hour lunch break in the service during the day
There was a thread about whether Brevent/Plan Praz/Flegre where open for bikes
Holy trail the obvious one for big epic.
Better still Col du Tricot
Trient from cross very good
Sicktrack from flegere.
My favourite trail is the La Flegere one. Take the big telecabine up from Les Praz and then ride down past La Floria refuge where I usually stop for lunch. I think it's my favourite trail anywhere. It's not an all day ride though - probably about 2hrs without a lunch stop.
You cannot ride that one during July and August, but bikes were permitted in June and Sept the last time I was there.
I also love the marked trail from top of the Argentiere Telecabine down to the valley floor - just awesome switchback heaven!!
Bump for the evening crowd.
Rides from the top of Brevent would be the obvious choice, but there's too much snow there just now.
Still a fair bit of snow round the back of Le Tour towards Trient, but it's passable with care. Vallorcine will be open by then to help you get back.
What passes have you booked? The bike pass only covers Le Tour, Les Houches and Grand Montets. Flegere and Brevent are back on for bikes thanks to some local negotiating, but the bike ban will be in effect by then anyway.
Check the blog here for ideas at each lift area and see what takes your fancy. [url= http://www.chamonixbikeblog.com/ride-guides/ ]http://www.chamonixbikeblog.com/ride-guides/[/url]
Depressed in Chamonix 🙁
In the end we did (and I think there was some cheek involved in a fair bit of this but I'm pleading ignorance)...
Got there later than expected due to riding mates being delayed in the tunnel for 6 hours, so Saturday we did a couple of runs down from Planpraz - one towards Flegere then down on some wide, fast gravel switchbacks, and then one the other side of the lift that started off rocky and then soon turned into narrow, rooty, twisty, steep tech stuff.
Sunday (on advice from a certain Mr Jedi) we headed across from Planpraz, contouring along to Flegere, then dropped down into Argentiere on a nice rooty, rocky, tech trail. Up to Lognan and down the '47 switchbacks'. Back up to Lognan and then along and down some proper tech stuff into Les Bois.
Shame I could only do the weekend, as the riding was amazing. will need to go back...
Thanks for the update 🙂