When we went, the last week, half of the people (inc us) hadn’t been riding in the Alps before. They should will be fine with the HT’s as long as they are in good condition and they themselves are bike fit, more for the battering rather than climbing. As its the end of the season they use vans to get you to near the top, then you pedal/push the extra 100-500m.
I was trying to keep up with the front runners on 5″ full sussers because I’m stupid and took a bit of a battering for it. Bike didn’t have any problems and that took a lot of battering and a few crashes. Here’s the bike I was using:
Kona Kula Deluxe
Rockshox SIDs
DT Swiss 5.1D rims
Rear Highroller DH Tyre (Dual Ply is a must for a HT)
Avid Juicy 7’s / 180mm Rotors
All I did was put bigger discs on and a DH Dual Ply rear tyre. I came back with a tooth missing from my XTR chainring and scratches on my XTR rear mech cage, not bad at all in my eyes. Oh and can I also say us guys with the HT’s didn’t get any punctures, where as Stevo and a few others got quite a few, just incase they are reading this! 😉
Give the white room an email, I’m pretty sure Stevo will say they will be fine, he’s just got himself a 140mm HT.
Whiteroom sounds perfect for you and your mates, they can cater for different skill levels. We had a wide range of skill levels and everyone had a great week. 😉
Might even see you there, as we are looking to book for the last week again. 😉