Im trying to suss out this years trip and weighing up wether or not to bother with La Plagne or not. I believe its great and the Roche De Mio looks to have promising trails, however i was hoping to tie it in with a ride from Les Arcs and im not sure if its easily possible.

Is there any easy way of getting from Les Coches to La Roche? We tried last year and ended up giving up as it seemed to be a massive climb and it was just too hot.

Also the lift from Champagny seems to take you about 500m from where you need to be to get back over to La Plagne side if you drop down that way. Is this correct?

Seems a bit odd that they run it as one resort, yet its seemingly 3 different unlinked series of lifts which are a pretty epic XC ride apart.

If anyone can shed some light or has a gpx flie showing some routes id be greatly appreciative.

did a couple of days on la plagne with trail addition few years back, used the vanoise express to get over there, only a couple of lifts were on, so did a fair bit of climbing, epic day but epic decants, worthwhile doing as long as you have a planned route

You probably got as far up as we did then by the sounds of it.

Anyone else???

I guided there for a season with Bikevillage. There is an absolutely endless supply of singletrack, everything is linkable if you have a good map and a strong pair of legs.

To get across from les coches to la Roche there’s a few options, some of which are fire road only, others involve getting the lift up to plan bois then getting some traversey singletrack across. The easiest way to describe it is basically head up above les coches then head hard right, pick up what you can until you hit the main road to la plagne.

Buy an IGN map either when you’re there or in advance, the detail on them is cracking. It’s a hell of a ride up to Roche de Mio!

as good as les arcs in terms of singletrack,
less lifts and a bit harder to find the links between IMHO
enjoy! 🙂

I have the IGN map and have been meticulously scouring it but nothing is jumping out at me thats all. Tried it last year as i said and id really like to get to the Roche de Mio from Bourg but dont fancy getting lost en route again and wasting a day. Once you get to the Roche de Mio getting back looks easy, its just the traverse across to la Roche which is proving difficult to find. LAst time we set off up a road climb marked up as a red climb on teh VTT lift map but it seemed endless.

WOndering if just driving to La Roche is the answer? Is there a bike bus from the valley floor to La Roche does anyone know.

And then from Champrey back up and over, is this a 500m climb which ever way you attack it?

This is in La Plagne with Bikevillage, after a very long, very hot climb up from the valley bottom, worth the pain though!

My brother lives out there and was in La Plagne for some time. From what he says it’s all about climbing up and then enjoying the down.

Get a local guide and you will most likely find some excellent trails.

Ridden La Plagne a few tea with Trail Addiction, there’s some awesum riding to be had – even got engaged half way down Hot Luvin’ 🙂

It’s 300m vert from the top of the Champagny lift (1968m) to the Col de la Grande Forcle (2266m) which heads back over to La Plagne. To get to Roche de Mio from Bourg head the usual way over to the Vanoise Express, drop to Montchavin/Les Coches depending on the day of the week, up on the lifts to Plan Bois (1826m), then traverse round via Les Frasses (1830m) to Plagne Bellecote (1900m) then onto the Roche de Mio lift. It takes a fair while so we’ll probably drive to Montchavin/Les Coches.

The trail in Bigjims photo is a lovely section that heads into the top of Whitelines on the way back to Plan Bois. Will def meet up whilst there Bland.

These are all on the La Plagne mountain, all lift-accessed (with a spot of pedalling, 1 hour max). Courtesy of 12 years of trail hunting as a trailaddiction guide!

But, guides are a rip-off right……? WHo needs ’em when you have a map and a GPS, right?

To be honest, before I became a guide I used to honestly think that myself too. But now I always employ a guide if ever I go ride anywhere else. I can’t stand the thought of paying all that money to go on holiday and then narrowly miss the best stuff for the sake of an extra 15-20% of the total holiday cost, for the guide.

Oh, and for coming back from Champagny – here’s a hint: sublime singletrack all the way to Moutiers, then take the train back.

😛

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=besXgN195q4

From La Plagne we went to Refuge du Mont Jovet which included one killer climb/hike a bike bit. Well worth it for the descent! Here’s the best bits.

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcf9FXhd3YM[/video]

the music ruins that video

Cheers for the tip about the train, only £5.50. A large group would only need one or two drivers to go back to Bourg whilst everyone else enjoys a brew and a bite whilst looking after the bikes.