Further to my last question about public transport between the two, it dawned on me that there might be some fantastic trails between these two places. It is in the Tour de Mont Blanc sort of area I guess? Anyone have any ideas for a multi day hut tour route between the two places?

Also any ideas of how to get baggage between these places aswell, I don’t really fancy doing it with frame bags and panniers.

Anybody?

It is looking promising as far as I can tell, Les Arcs – Aosta then Aosta – Rhone Valley looks tasty.

Anyone know if you can see french topo maps online anywhere?

there might be some fantastic trails between these two places

There will be, utterly fantastic, all over that general area.

I don’t really fancy doing it with frame bags

Can’t help as much then sorry – we rode some of the TMB and les Arcs area last summer going N-S on a Geneva-Nice bike-packing trip but we carried our kit and bivied for flexibility. Kit transfer will be tricky?

We did some route planning with google earth but still needed paper maps as what looks rideable in advance often isn’t and there’s great cheeky trails and VTT pistes not listed that are worth following. If you cut your kit right down, staying in huts means you can do it with a 10-12lb load – it won’t limit your riding much. Just need to plan on shorter days so you can be sure of being at the huts or a B+B late afternoon.

French trails resource – try http://www.vttour.fr/topos/ or look up the Chemin de Soleil, the GR5 and GR52 for some ideas? A few on here have done similar trips and have more hut-to-hut experience.

Hey Mate, cheers for that. Ace trails = excellent news.

I should clarify the frame bag comment, I am happy to ride with them, and have done some fairly full on alpine stuff with them before, so happy to take it on. I was planning on racing a superenduro before doing this trip so just need somewhere to shed all the bobbins that I would take for that. Sending it home with a mate is an option.

I don’t suppose you mind detailing the route you took, and huts you stayed at?

Not sure about kit, packing up and sending home all you don’t need to ride may be the best bet? Light is good..

Route – without a map I couldn’t say easily, we’re awful organisers / good at winging it so much of it was made up based on what looked good as we went.
We started on the GR5 just outside Geneva, that bit’s a slog. We got onto good trails after a long day and 1/2, as we came into the Morzine / PDS area at the Col de Bassachaux (Lindarets area, above Lac Montriond).

We stayed on the GR5 to start, then just rode as we saw it staying on or close-ish to it. From photos/googlemaps/memory after Bassachaux – GR5 up to just below Mossettes, Col du Cou, long way that I forget (tired then) to Col Anterne, down to Les Houches, lift up, trails I knew towards Contamine and Balme on the TMB, to Notre Dame de Gorge, Crette Gites, down to Cornet Roseland, then descended to B st M on road as mate stacked.
Bg st Maurice to Les Arcs up VTT trails, through the park Vanoise over Col Palet (not VTT-permitted but we pushed a fair bit anyway), DH run to Tignes , VTT trails to bottom of / road up climb to Val D’Isere / Col Iseran, GR5 down the other side, random trails and farm tracks to Mont Cenis / Modane area, (then around Frejus?), great trails to Mt Thabor and amazing descent then into Italy via VTT pistes, back on road col to france, minor/good trails around Nevache – Plampinet, to Briancon, over Col Ayes, great random trails from there to ?La Cassiere, back on GR5 at Chateau Queyras, over the Col du Fromage (highlight section) to Ceillac, random VTT trails to the road up to Col du Var, more random trails off the top of the Var, a couple of brilliant bonus runs down to Condamine, a slog over the Col Bonnette to catch up as there’s few permitted VTT trails there and we’d fked about riding fun minor trails for too long ) then down the valley on road, into the hills, back track, over a road col into the mercantour to find the only legal trail across it by Isola 2000, jeep tracks and back roads for a while to Col Turini, great descents (GR54? and VTT trails) to Moulinet, road, carries and trails around Sospel (good but there’s said to be more there, gets loose and random tho), then we were done in and rode jeep trails to near Menton at Eeze sur Mer which sounded like a good spot, where we ate steaks and got smashed on expensive beer. Then rode to Nice to fly home.
Essay! .. Been meaning to get that down as notes for ages and there was the excuse. http://www.flickr.com/photos/67338272@N05/sets/72157631189677422/ pics here. ~10-12 days riding.

ChrisE posted his trip on here and that inspired our trip, if you search ‘GR5’ on here his thread should come up, loads of info there. If his thread and my load of waffle and some pics helps anyone decide to do a similar ride I think he’d help you out with some info. He’s a hut-to-hut guy and very organised, did a similar route. We slept in bivi bags where we ended up at 7ish most evenings and organised very little. Either works )

*Gets map*

Hell yes. That sounds awesome.

Done hut to hut and bivi stuff way further east in the Dolomites/Tirol/Graubunden part of the Alps, it is rad. Bivibag/one set of socks could be a good plan.

That description should make for a decent start point for figuring out a route, allthough I guess I’ll be heading in the opposite direction.

You have any plans for this year?

If you have any Tirol/Dolomites routes notes I’d be interested – been meaning to head out that way. I go to lake constance each Sept so hoped to get a trip in around then.

tbh looking at the map I’d stay east too, the GR5 north of the Lindarets trails is hard going. But any of those GRs are a good starting point. Some ideas here from a pioneer! http://www.ocd.org.uk/alps/rs/fred.htm

My brother and I took a fairly haphazard route from Chur to Innsbruck a few years back. There is photos and that here, here and here

We found a few campsites and hostels that came with free lift passes so we ended up stopping in Arosa, Davos, Ischgl and Soelden as opposed to pushing on every day. It was ace. There are a few tasty looking routes you could do between Garmisch and Garda, allthough I have only ridden the trails as day rides for the most part.

That website is Bananas, I have hiked up to the Pitztaljoch, that was scary enough. Is that the guys of Lakeland passes fame?

Not Fred Whitton I don’t think )
Cheers for the pics link.. great trip!

Saw this and thought it may be of use for tamer trail / road links – a Martigny to Aosta waymarked route. We rode the Camino in Spain, nice easy bikepacking tour, some great trails and some easy days. http://www.viafrancigena.org/

That is a pretty useful map. My current thinking is strap on the frame bag and do the D902 out of Bourg St Maurice then over the Col De La Seigne, down to Courmayeur, over the either the big or small Col de Ferret, allthough small looks to be more singletrackous, and then in to Martigny, and stop over at a hostel on route.

Great plan, unless anyone else knows better?