been to the alps twice…la tania nr courcheval.
anyone who has been will know how quiet it is.
the riding trails are not very well developed. you can ride allday without seeing anyone.
a few mates are going to the alps this year to one of the busier spots.
and i have just been watching some vids of morzine, les arc, chamonix, les gets.
the trails look knackered, wide dusty and horrible.
why would people want to go and ride at these places.

Discuss.

Because people dont like riding up.

the track on bintangmans post looks awfull for instance.

Knackered doesn't describe what i've ridden in the Alps. Dusty yes but then they would be, it was summer. Much like my local trails have been here for the last 3 months! It really depends on when/where you ride i guess, as far as knackered trails go. I prefer out of season riding mostly cos it's alot cheaper!

The way i see it is that 1 week of uplift is what i deserve after 51 weeks of climbing to get my descents.

There are tracks like that, but it doesn't take a lot of effort to get away from it either. TBH long may that continue.

the riding trails are not very well developed. you can ride allday without seeing anyone.

My experience of 4/5 times to Morzine/Les gets in just like that…

the answer is slovenia ………i mean sod off dont go its crap 😀

i think the alps with it's lazy type cycling is fine, but just not for me.
i like to earn my rewards.

There were some trails that were in a poor shape this year as there are across the UK too, rode back to back for 6 days and ventured over the Col du Cou and Pila we used Morzine as a base. In Pila we were one of 20 using the trails all day it's was excellent, video of that later in the week, but on the whole the trails we used were ok and they have been doing maintenance and there was evidence of more more maintenance going on while we were there.

I enjoy the alps it's about the roadtrip, the company and of course the riding if all are good then it's a fantastic trip as the one we have just returned from was.

ETA – we also snouted out cheeky trails and they were in great condition part of the fun.

I love the Alps for skiing but to me, getting a lift up a hill/mountain is missing out on half the fun.

i don't see the appeal of the berm-berm-berm-jump-berm-berm-berm-jump downhill tracks that burn 600m of height in 8minutes, full of braking bumps all the way down.

The french do love their braking bumps – either that or they're crap at course design*.

i like the 10km 45minute technical singletrack descents that are almost always signed with 'VTT interdit' (whatever that means) – they're ace!

(*a 15 minute chairlift ride followed by an 8minute descent is not good value, and shows lack of imagination. give me 600m of vertical drop, and i'd be embarrassed if i couldn't build a super flowy 6km descent. Braking bumps are not a sign of poor riding technique, they're a sign of poor track design)

courcheval is better in winter 8)

ahwiles – some of the cheekier decents on the VTT into Morzine are just brilliant.

tell me about it! – i nicknamed one of them 'jet-fighter' cos of the childish noises i had to make dodging between the trees…

I never quite understand why everyone seems to want so much travel to ride in the Alps. I've only ridden round the southern alps region of North italy / east France (nr Cuneo?) and I did that on a 100mm travel XC bike! Is it really vicious everywhere else?

scotland is far better riding, and real ale too. 😉

Did you sort out a trip with Sierra cycling Ton?just back from 2 weeks there lots of climbing there if you wish!

I'm sure there are 1000s of miles of untracked riding in the Alps. No way Scotland can be better!
A few years ago I visited friends in Granier,near la Plagne and planned my own route on cart tracks using the IGN maps. It was utterly fantastic – miles of singletrack as the cart tracks are no longer used.
People just seem to flock to the touresty places, but there is so much more out there.

a 15 minute chairlift ride followed by an 8minute descent is not good value,

Better value than a 45 minute push for a 3 minute downhill! I do love Scotland for 51 out of 52 but my week in the Alpes is a joy. And I might be falling for the bait here, but loads of 5 minute runs in a day with your pulse at 180 is not lazy!

forge, where is that descent at about 4.30 in your vid? It looks fantastic.

^^ Have you got your kid in the back there!

lol@Scotland being better than the Alps

The alps are great. I can ride much further, much faster, and its great fun. A really good holiday. The knackered trails are the popular manufactured ones and they are still fun but there are empty trails less than a mile away. Riding up is good too but with a lift you can choose to do as much up and down as you want. You can also get away from it all and do some real adventure stuff, makes the highlands look like the south downs (both of which are good, too 🙂 )

Screaming Reels.

TheBrick – Member
^^ Have you got your kid in the back there!
erm yes good resistance training

some of the cheekier decents on the VTT into Morzine are just brilliant.

shit loads allover. You have to ask and stray. They aren't hard to find. Apperently Super Morzine is now a VTT trail, the Gully run down the side of Chauvanne is now a organised trail 🙁 and singletrack of death is sanitised or closed(?).

"Tennis courts" (inbetween the top of Pleney and Les Gets) – brings you out at the bottom of the Gully run.

There are loads of trails to be had off the main drag strips. Alot don't even have names.

ton, it'd be like turning up at Lakes and riding just Whinlatter and the North Face I bet.

I did 2 weeks in the alps a few years back. didn't enjoy it as much as riding in Wales. Lifts were good, but breaking bumps on every bend, a wicked mix of insanely fast riders and dangerously slow riders on the same track meant i was always being held up and holding up someone else. much prefered quieter trails. I'd go again, but probably not to Les Gets.

hora, you are a self admitted lazy fecker, that is the only reason you like it………… 😉

Ton – even the hills surrounding Morzine/Les Gets have loads of outstanding quiet trails hidden away if you look. FWIW last time I was there (2wks) I didn't even do one single run of the official Penney track (main DH in Morzine) for all the reasons you state! but I did come down that hill at least once each day (and spent some days riding it all day).

Gully run down the side of Chauvanne is now a organised trail

No matter – still nobody rides it!

bintangman – that is the Panaromic and it heads down into the Chatel bike park from the top of the Chairlift from Lindarets.

Lifts dear boy. And long, long descents.

Question: if we had (lots more) lifts over here, would we go over there?

I certainly would Buzz, the closest i've come to an Alp like descent in the UK was down the Snowdon Rangers path but that involved a 1.5 hour push/ride up!

20-30 mins in a van whilst in the Alps last year more often or not resulted in 45-1.5 of descending (perhaps with the odd climb). In a week of riding in September we never climbed more than 300-400m a day under our own steam. There is so much more to the Alps than chairlifts and braking bumps.

why do our mtb's come with 27 gears??

morzine les gets are great , but are the hub of brits abroad biking hols, obviously this makes trails busier and causes more wear and tear.There are loads of other trails other than just the downhill courses. Admittedly, i have not been for 4 years though as i got fed up with the same trails and problems mentioned above, That's why i have been to les arcs, once and switzerland twice and am going to les arcs again this summer. In my opinion better singletrack and more varied terrain and trails exist here. Worth bearing in mind that the alps extend through other countries too, go explore!

jemima – Member

a 15 minute chairlift ride followed by an 8minute descent is not good value,

Better value than a 45 minute push for a 3 minute downhill! I do love Scotland for 51 out of 52 but my week in the Alpes is a joy. And I might be falling for the bait here, but loads of 5 minute runs in a day with your pulse at 180 is not lazy!

you misunderstand me, i'm only suggesting that the longer singletrack descents offer a better lift / riding ratio, and that braking bumps are a sure sign that the course builders are clueless idiots.

The places (presume you mean the park type places) you mention don't hold much interest for me either. But Les Arcs, Sainte Foy and the surrounding valleys with all the superb singletrack most certainly do. ie:

But at the same time, we got driven up. And this year will be the same with the added benefit of chairlifts to get us even higher. Earn my descent? Half the fun missing? Nah, not the way I see it. At all.

And that Coogan is exactly what i was refering too!! Bring on September!

why do our mtb's come with 27 gears??

they don't.. well none of mine did 😉

coogan: demonstrating my point perfectly.

(photo #2) La Varda (?): 15mins on a lift for about an hour of speed, switchbacks, swoopy corners, good times and tech.

s'why i'm going back to les Arcs in August. that and Double header, grange hill, picnic bench and turn left, etc. etc.