I'm off to Les Arcs next Summer. I am much more comfortable on spd's with regards to getting my wheels off the ground, but being unable to unclip on steep stuff often limits how far i'll push it. What are your experiences/opinions on this? Should i get some flats now and get used to them? Or should i stick with clipless and just have the tension set very loose? I'm ok on normal trails, but on dh courses i tend to bottle things that i 'might' be inclined to attempt if i could bail easier (Willingen, Winterberg and Hahnenklee in N.Germany are the only experience i've had of dh courses so far).

Cheers 🙂

mine field this,
I am always clipped in, spain DH holiday and still used them, they do give confidence as you dont have to worry where your feet are on DH's but, and here it comes for me, they do pevent you doing stuff you might normally do on flats, I now ride with only enough tension in the cleat to hold the shoe when you pull up on the pedal stroke, gives enough to be able to let your foot 'fall' out of the clip

One SPD and one flatty.

Now you just have to decide which side the SPD goes on.

Use whatever you use normally. I have always found that if I have an off then my feet come out anyway and that I still would of had the off regardless of being clipped in or on flats.

Personally I'd go for flats if you can. Not sure about Les Arc;s but some of the twister runs in morzine were causing my mate who was clipped in on his Orange 5 no end of trouble. He wasn';t able to clip back in before the next switch back came, and was getting very annoyed.

Suppose depends if your planning on pedalling up as well?

Flats get my vote

What footwear do you use with flats though? I honestly haven't used them for that long, trail running shoes? Or something with a rigid sole like spd shoes?

I will probably take both with me, but if i'm going to use flats i guess i'd better start now. Otherwise i can see myself attempting a jump and throwing myself over the bars without the back wheel leaving the ground.

I used SPD's as per normal at Les Arc as well as Spain, but had them set quite loose for ease of escape. If you like SPD's, why change?

Flats and 5-10's. Having been an SPD user for 5 years I changed to Wellgo mag1 1's and 5-10 shoes. Worked for me in Morzine too as I had a not nice memory of being attached to the bike when i really didn't want to be.

Nowt worse than unclipping for a tricky bit where you might need to dab, only to feel your foot click in.

Use whatever you're used to. Trying to learn to ride with flats again while simultaneously taking on terrain more severe than you're used to is just asking for trouble.

It can be proper technical out here and I use flats but that's what I've used for ages. All the locals, without exception, use clips. The trails can be ridden on any pedal, look at the DH world cup riders. Both have their advantage.

Reading your post though you've got until next summer. Why don't you get a pair of flats and try them and see what you think. You could even take both like you say!

I don't think it ever did anyone's riding any harm to try a different style / pedal / bike etc etc.

You'll be fine clipped in.
As an experienced flat pedal rider, 90% of my riding is on flats, but Alps riding I'm always running clipped as I don't want to get bounced off my pedals at high speed!
A few of my mates who were life long clipped in riders, spent a few months getting used to flats before going out to the Alps and all commented that they actually felt slower and less secure on flat pedals.
Ride what your used to.

What Doug said.

I ride/guide in the Les Arcs area. You could ride almost all of the trails here clipped in (I did all last season) but I switched to flats for this summer and didn't get the SPD's out once.

Overall, I think I'm happier on flats. You do lose some pedalling efficiency on the climbs, but the extra confidence on the descents is worth it.

(I rode clips for 8 years before and swore by them, so it's a big change of heart for me!)

i have always used clips, since they 1st came out
but recently started using flats and 5/10s.
it came to me like a thunderbolt
why would i want to be fastened to my bike with a 15 ft rock drop to my left, whilst trying to ride over a rock garden

not the safest way to travel

Flats, Five tens and practice 😀