Viewing 31 posts - 1 through 31 (of 31 total)
  • Can you take a fat bike to a ski resort?
  • gee
    Free Member

    And ride down the runs?

    My knees won’t take skiing any more but as I have a Beargrease coming once DPD have pulled their finger out I was thinking this might be really fun…

    GB

    nealglover
    Free Member

    You could.

    But they probably will not let you up on the lifts ?

    gee
    Free Member

    That’s what I’m wondering… Has anyone tried to take one up the lifts?

    nealglover
    Free Member

    I’ve never seen the bike rack attachments on chair lifts in winter in any resort.

    You may be ok on Cable cars if they are not busy, but to be honest, I very much doubt it 🙁

    legend
    Free Member

    Winter resorts are busy, you’re taking up space, time and are likely to be seen as a liability on a busy hill. I’m going for “no”

    shifter
    Free Member

    Ski patrol would flip. There is plenty of other stuff outside resorts though.

    iolo
    Free Member

    Nobody I know of will tolerate a bike in the winter season. We made enquiries lastyear in austria ans Switzerland.
    If your knees aren’t up for skiing why go to a ski resort?
    If you do end up going what will you do?
    Go for walks, drink some beer at overinflalted prices. Enjoy.

    shifter
    Free Member

    Despite what I just said, I think I’ve seen bike tours advertised on Les Menuires website…

    nealglover
    Free Member

    Probably not on the ski slopes though.

    More than likely in Cross country/Walking areas.

    andypaul99
    Free Member

    At the very best you will get told to get lost, at the worst you will get thumped.

    Ive never seen a Fat bike on the slopes but i did witness a guy riding his downhill bike down, on a night ski session. I guess he thought nobody would see him or something.

    Theres no way you you be allowed on a ski lift with a bike in season, and rightly so.

    shifter
    Free Member

    Roc’n bike – 2 trips on a gondola for €35!

    sweaman2
    Free Member

    I’m going for no in Canada. There are moves afoot to get fat bikes allowed on Nordic ski trails in North America but even that is not gaining a huge amount of traction currently. Also ski hills are actually pretty steep for bikes and I’m not sure I’d like to ride up the runs.

    I’ve ski toured up a run at Sunshine resort by Banff and it was a bit like being in a shooting gallery watching these people come at you and not recognizing initially that unlike the other 99.9% of people your travelling towards them and not away…

    jambalaya
    Free Member

    @gee if you do start careering down a ski slope on a bike some grumpy git like me is going to make a fuss. Getting up on a lift is a possibility (cable car type as no bike racks in winter) and then riding down a walking path I think you’d get away with. I don’t see why you couldn’t ride the lift up from Bourg to Les Arcs then ride down. You may die, really !

    Why not try some xc skiing or snow shoeing. I did my knee last year and I’m going to try a bit of that this season.

    legend
    Free Member

    More than likely in Cross country/Walking areas.

    absolutely not on XC skiing trails. They are incredibly well groomed, so anything other than skinny skis would make a right mess.

    nealglover
    Free Member

    absolutely not on XC skiing trails. They are incredibly well groomed, so anything other than skinny skis would make a right mess.

    Not on the trails no.

    I was referring to cross country/walking “areas”

    ie: away from the Alpine skiing areas.

    shifter
    Free Member
    sweaman2
    Free Member

    They are incredibly well groomed, so anything other than skinny skis would make a right mess.

    That depends – in soft snow 100% agree but some places seem to be thinking that once the snow has hardened and if there is a skating lane it might be okay.

    Winthrop Washington Fat bikes

    Personally I’m hoping this spreads to Canada but I’m not sure the National Nordic Center at Canmore (my local area) is going to be top of the list…..

    IanW
    Free Member

    I have only been skiing a couple of times, the last time was the hill outside Oslo, when it got too dark to Ski, a bunch of cyclists with studded tyres and big lights turned up.

    This was before fat bikes but I can’t imagine it makes much difference.

    scotroutes
    Full Member

    Come up to the Cairngorms. You’d have to cycle or push up the hill mind….

    eulach
    Full Member
    JoeG
    Free Member

    I don’t think that the ride would be like what the OP is thinking it would. He wouldn’t be able to carve turns like a alpine skier does; the bike’s front tire would slide out if pushed hard because the ski slope would really just be an off camber turn. And deep powder, drifts, or soft areas would be unrideable.

    The tire’s tread contact area that bites the snow (even with the most aggressive Nates) is tiny compared to two long edges of a set of turning skis. So you wouldn’t have anywhere near the directional control of a decent skier.

    njee20
    Free Member

    Proper ski runs would be pretty rubbish to ride on too – wide, straight and steep.

    jameso
    Full Member

    The Alpkit guys took fatbikes to the Alps early this year and went up the snowed-in roads around the resorts. Snow road col bagging, I like that idea. Fire-side in a ski bar in the evenings.

    buzz-lightyear
    Free Member

    Many blue runs are snow covered access roads and ideal. But you’ll be mixing it up with novice skiers. You will get bollocked. And you won’t be allowed on any lifts. Resorts were reluctant to allow snowboards back in the day!

    TurnerGuy
    Free Member

    Have you thought about the ski-mojo to take the strain off your knees so you can keep sking ?

    It is supposed to be pretty good and not too expensive:

    http://www.skiallday.co.uk/sm/

    wiggles
    Free Member

    Get a sledge?

    Schweiz
    Free Member

    I’ve ridden in a few resort areas in CH/AT. The winter walking paths are the place to be. Sledge runs are also ok. Pistes are too dangerous and depending on conditions, there is surprisingly little grip available.

    Only ever encountered positive attitudes and (a lot of ) attention.

    cr500dom
    Free Member

    gee – Member
    My knees won’t take skiing any more

    I very much doubt it.
    If your knees wont take skiing anymore, have you thought about boarding ?
    Seriously, I taught 2 guys in their mid sixties to Snowboard as they saw it as a way of prolonging their winter fun with knees that would cry enough after 2-3 days skiing.
    Eddie was 65 at the time and was convinced that was going to be his last ski trip as the recovery time after each trip was getting longer and longer, and he just couldn’t face it any more.
    I spent 2 days with them and got them going quite well, linking turns confidently etc
    They carried on and last I heard they were still boarding quite happily on and off piste 5+ years later 😀

    Might be worth looking at

    Steelsreal
    Full Member

    i reckon this is a great idea, i can;t board anymnore due to a fused spine, so getting to the snow and having a bimble about the footpaths on an FB whilst mates board means i can still go and enjoy it…

    Morzine got any decent footpaths i could try?? (next years group boarding destination)..

    Gotama
    Free Member

    You can hire snowscoots in chatel so I would imagine you can in morzine too. I had great fun on one last year.

Viewing 31 posts - 1 through 31 (of 31 total)

The topic ‘Can you take a fat bike to a ski resort?’ is closed to new replies.