Hey there folks,

After our latest trip to the Passportes this year (all good, no one dead), our group of useless old f4rts fancy going somewhere else next year.

I’ve been kind of interested in Finale Ligure for quite a while and I was wondering whether anyone had any opinions on how hard the trails are. We’re all getting on a bit and, as a whole, we’re not really up for super technical trails all day every day.

The general standard of technical ability in our group is fairly good (easily cope with any black rated trail centre ride that’s not a DH black and good for DH reds) but we’re more focused on getting out into the countryside and having a good day out with a bit of yee-haa.

The impression I get of Finale Ligure is that it is super steep and super rocky. Can anyone who’s been there give an idea of whether the various trails are equivalent in technical difficulty to UK rides (e.g. are we talking Ciaran Path level for everything or is there some more Kirroughtree or Borrowdale Bash stuff out there).

We’re only looking for a long weekend, so four days of riding max.

Any thoughts?

Cheers.

I’ve been there a couple of times now, amazing place – will be going back next year for sure.

Some bits of it are quite steep, but not all of it. Madonna Della Guardia and Mini Champery are two of the steeper/harder ones if I recall correctly.

I guess in terms of how it compares to the UK. Its harder than FOD, probably about the level of the DH black at Stiniog, but not as hard as the Double black at Stiniog.

Hope that helps.

It’s hard to liken exactly to anything in the UK – everything has a really “natural” feel to it, and lots of the tracks are long at 8+ minutes, containing a mix of high speed, flow, rocks, drops and tight switchbacks.

If you’re happy riding harder reds/blacks, you’ll be fine, especially if you’re in a group that is up for sessioning sections and having a laugh. It gets really lairy when you start trying to hit stuff at race pace.

DH Men is pretty wild, as is the run down into Noli – make sure you ride the Dolmen trail, that’s a mainstay of Superenduro races for bloody good reason. Absolutely insane trail, a bit of everything in there and ridiculously good fun.

Cheap Peroni on the beach after a day’s riding seals the deal too 😉

That all sounds good and doable. Do you have any recommendations for which guiding company would be more trail than DH focused?

Not sure re: guiding companies – always been out there for SuperEnduro and then EWS the last couple of years, as well as staying with my mates in Sanremo so playing the “locals” card.

I’d imagine Finale Freeride is a good bet, or perhaps Ricky at Finale Outdoor Resort (he’s the local organiser for the SuperEnduro round so no doubt has some good connections).

http://www.facebook.com/FinaleOutdoorResort

We’re booked in for mid-October with Just Ride Finale for their Enduro long weekend (mixed uplift and pedalling) clicky, so if you can wait until after that time then I’ll be able to give you an update!

That sounds good prouster. If you could give us a shout with a report when you get back, that would be great.

Second Lou and Ale, therecare plenty of trails there for the more beginner. They will cater it for you. Ask them to take you to Nava or Calizzano, like finale but not worn out and no crowds, Molini if yoi fancy a big alpine style day..