We (me, Mrs Like_food and Micro Like_food) are heading back to Bourg St Maurice for the 3rd year. Over the last couple of years we’ve ridden Les Arcs and Val d’Isere and that’s been great. Micro L_F is 8 now and happy on FoD blacks and BPW reds so we’re ready to do a bit more exploring.

So, questions:

1) Is La Plagne any good? The maps on the website are uninspiring to say the least Mtb map here and BIke Park map here. There looks like trails over the back to Champagny but it’s not clear if it’s possible to get a lift back to La Plagne and Micro L_F isn’t a huge fan of big alpine climbs! I also remember reading on here that it was worth getting a lift pass from Les Arcs + La Plagne in La Plagne rather than in Les Arcs as it was cheaper for both areas, is that still the case? Any advice/experience people can pass on?

2) What about La Rosiere? Again, we haven’t ridden there but I like the idea of starting there and linking to La Thuile. Is it possible to do that and return without a significant climbing?

3) I’m hoping to get a days guided riding in just for me, although I think it’ll be pretty tricky to get just one days guiding. I’ve heard the White Room mentioned loads and also a thumbs up for Emily at The Inside Line. Are there any other people worth trying? I’m looking for a middle of no-where quiet singletrack epic rather than a monster DH smashfest, and I don’t mind lots of climbing.

Thanks in advance 🙂

IME La Plagne isn’t great for MTB – as you say mucho climbingo. Snowboarding OTOH, I loved it.

Emily at Inside Line is fantastic, has guided there for ages and you won’t ride with many better riders

Cheers both.

@ Rob_Hilton. Thanks, that’s what the map looks like. I have a tow rope for the kid, but I think the altitude would crush me!

@ bigjim. Nice one, I’ll drop her a msg.

<sneakly reads replies>
I’ll be in bourg and La Ros the end of next week. I’m presuming from Bourg… Les Arc is the best option??

Sam Morris at Bike Village operates from Landry in the valley between Les Arcs & La Plagne.
As anyone who has ridden there will likely confirm, Sam has ‘epic xc’ completely sorted and the riding there is as good as it gets. Not a DH smashfest, just huge amounts of challenging meadow, mountain and forest singletrack. Worth checking to see if any of his regular client groups on your week have space for a spare rider.

La Rosiere’s got a couple of really good tracks, I enjoyed it more than les arcs bikepark (but not as much as la varda, double header and the like). It’s not a patch on, say, Pila or La Thuile but I really like it.

The thing about the col du petit st bernard is that it’s long and pretty flat-topped. You can definitely get up to the top by the seez-la ros lift (which is a bit of a drag to get up to from bourg), and ride down that side. And riding down to la thuile from the hospice is good too. I gather there’s a way to get up high from la thuile and ride down to the top of the col but never done it. But it’s still a bit of a trek even if all the main climb is removed, I’ve always been glad to do it in a van at the end of a long day.

It’s not a patch on, say, Pila or La Thuile but I really like it.

This, Pila is the best place I have ever ridden.

Assuming you’re driving to your start points, then Rosiere and Thuile would be great days out.

Re the tow rope – how do you rig it so you don’t pull 8yo over? Interested as I’d like to do the same.

is 8 now and happy on FoD blacks and BPW reds

Chapeau Micro L_F

Bike park stuff in La Plagne hasn’t been great in the last few years. They don’t seem as sorted as Les Arcs in that respect, but as the liftpass prices have risen perhaps this year is different. The footpaths stuff is on a par with, if not better than, Les Arcs imo, especially the stuff down to Champagny but you need to negotiate the lift system wisely or risk being stranded miles away from your base. I think there is some climbing involved to get back to the main valley from this side; I’ve probably erased it from my memory.

La Ros is Ok, nothing amazing. The Black “dreamtime” or “dreamforest” is good. I believe the more interesting footpath stuff down to Seez is off limits. I won’t be visiting this year. Just keep driving over the Petite St Bernard to…

La Thuile is phenomenal, way better than Pila, but possibly too difficult for an 8 year old especially after the Superenduro blew out the corners last weekend. Pila is lots of DH lines up top and one very long “enduro” trail down to the valley floor. It gets pretty boring after 3 or 4 runs.

Def worth dropping Sam a line at BV, has intimate knowledge of that whole area.

As above – I really like La Plagne but if you don’t know what you’re doing then give Emily Horridge a shout and she’ll take you out for a day.

It looks like the lift system is LP is less ridiculous this year than previously, in that more of the lifts are open on more days, so you can actually get around the hill for once.

Thanks everyone for the replies, I appreciate it. I’ll msg Sam at BV as well as Emily and hopefully get a solo day sorted.

It sounds like driving to La Rosiere and separately to La Thuile will be smarter, I have a PhD in ‘Epic Dad Organised Potentially Disastrous But Saved By The Skin Of My Teeth Bikerides’ so trying to learn from my mistakes (taking Micro to BPW aged 4 1/2 is an example of one such adventure).

Shifter – ref tow rope. It’s a 4.5m long piece of 3mm climbing cord. Double it back and tie an overhead knot so you have a 30cm diameter loop with two ~2m long tails. Tie small loops in the ends of these tails. A mini-carabiner in each of these small loops clips to the shoulder straps of our pack (under your armpits) and the big loop passes over the top of his stem and snugs between his stem bolts. Hi me a pm if you want photos. It seems to work ok for us, although downhills are to be avoided! I can tow him up BPW fireroad, but it’s getting harder niw he’s heavier (and possibly lazier, but I can’t tell as I’m too tired to turn round and CHD he’s peddling)

La Plagne, for me, has the best lift-accessed singletrack in the valley, but none of it’s on the official trail-map! The lift system is a bit disjointed as well, although better than in the past. The new pump track is superb and the new bikepark off the Colorado chair also looks good, although I haven’t ridden it much.

Riding back from La Thuile to La Ros is dead easy, and doing the full over-and-back makes a good family day out if kids are fit or you can tow them.

From the top of the La Ros lifts, you need to pedal up to the Fort (about 10 mins for a fit adult), then drop off the back to ride down to the call. This is waymarked and mostly mellow, but the last bit of singletrack down to the Col is pretty tough for newbies (rocky steps and a couple of tight switchbacks) but it’s a short section. The waymarked ride down on the Italian side is very pleasant and not too demanding.

To come back over, you need to take the lifts to the top and pedal up to the Col de Forclaz (I think). This is about a 30 minute pedal on double-track. Fairly steep at times. It’s then an easy ride down (double-track) back to the Col.

Generally speaking though, the riding in La Thuile is quite tough. The reds would be about as far removed from Forest of Dean reds as it’s possible to imagine!

On the La Plagne side, it’s also possible to get the bus from the swimming lake at Aime and stick your bike on the trailer up to the Colorado lift or all the way up to Plagne Bellecôte so you can catch the Roche di Mio lift.

Then drop all the way back to the valley floor for a dip in the lake and an ice cream 🙂

Thanks ILF – I’ll be copying your design 🙂

If you’re looking for quite singletrack then try a local called Bruno who operates out of Montchavin with evolution 2. He actually lives in Landry and knows the area intimately. Speaks very good English and has a cracking sense of humour

You can buy a week long Paradiski pass from Bourg again this year. Its 80 Euro’s. The Les Arcs pass is 65 so it’s worth the extra 15 even if you only do the runs under the Vanoise Express or the runs down to Aime.
If you do drive to La Thuile play scissor paper stone for who gets to ride back to bourg from the col. You can either ride down dream forest or down the footpath from concrete armco. Once down at the bottom of the Ecudets lift its a 10 min pedal to get to a great descent down into Seez.

down the footpath from concrete armco

This is currently banned to bikes – you can ride the first section down the ridge-line, but not the rest.

go to aime 2000 , climb hike to mont jovel , then theres a sweet trail all the way to moutiers , takes about 3 hour to descend , its awesome singe tack

go to aime 2000 , climb hike to mont jovel , then theres a sweet trail all the way to moutiers , takes about 3 hour to descend , its awesome singe tack

Bottom half is currently closed as they’re building a new Hydro system on the stream. There are alternative routes, but they’re not as good.

Thanks everyone, now my fingers are crossed for good weather!

Just a further question to this helpful thread….

I’m taking my 9yo son to Les Arcs in a weeks time..we are flying. Is it worth buying the paradiski extension. Like the OP he doesn’t like pedalling up too much but is very competent downhill. We are staying in Moulin near PEisey so we can easily access the Vanoise express. BUT, can you get over into the Plagne Bellecote valley using the lift system on that side in summer without much pedalling up?? He will do a bit of pedalling, we did Chatel and Lindaretts from Morzine last year, but not a big slog up.

Otherwise we will just buy Les Arcs passes.

Thanks