[Closed] Alps advice (again)

Vars!!!! The ridge ride off the main lift, but away from the bike park is the best piece of single track i have ever ridden in my life. Adventurous and far away.

Vars looks good. Where did you stay?

is the #21 the vars?

http://www.activeazur.com/mountain-biking-france/mountain-biking-in-the-south-of-france

Pra Loup. Lots of trails in Ubaye Valley and the lifts at Pra Loup (open late June?).

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Rey & DA in Ubaye Valley[/url]

Stop in Guillestre, eat at dedan dehar. Go rafting with Vincent up in Chateau Queyras then do the Vf through the gorge.

There where big floods in Provence last year so I'm not sure you are guaranteed different weather in the mountains further South. I'd personally just pick two different Alpine venues, PdS plus Chamonix and Verbier or head to Les Arcs

I know nothing is certain, but the Active Azur website says:

"Val d’Allos is a good all-round mountain bike resort in the southern Alps with loads of good singletrack and a fantastic climate."

I [s]want[/s] need a fantastic climate.

Also, anyone been to Pra Loup or Montgenèvre?

I have been to Montgenevre-it's quite good, but even better is Sauze D'Oulx down the road-which is brilliant and italy always has better weather than france

Cheers, Sauze D'Oulx looks interesting.

http://www.alpibikeresort.com/interna.aspx?idA=24

Don't listen to certain people. 'Normally' the weahter in the northern alps is rubbish compared to the weather in the southern alps. The border is probably around the Maurienne Valley, but opinions may vary and it is a gradual change. So all the usual Morizine, Chamonix etc is in the North. The Ubaye Valley is all together a different climate. Val d'Allos included. Can't speak for the actual biking. But climate wise it's a different kettle of fish: different vegetation, different architecture etc. all because of the climate change. I get to see the differences through the seasons as I live near Grenoble.Why not see it all and live and experience the changes as you head south to the coast?

I've ridden at Val d'Allos; trails were dry & dusty. there was a bit of rain but nothing compared to my 5 day wash out last July at Beaufortain (we even had snow) with TA. Cold, muddy & miserable. I'm off to Pra Loup / Barcelonnette and then north to Les Arcs this summer.

Here's a vid I made from Val d'Allos

There's only 1 or 2 days riding max at the park at Val D'Allos, and its all bit French ski resort DH if you know what I mean. But if you explore the VTT trails then there's a lot more; I rode a couple of trails futrther down the valley as marked on the tourist office VTT maps and they were good. But they're basically footpaths, and though they're way marked you'll need a map and sometimes they're a bit sketchy:

Last summer i spent 10 weeks doing an Alpine roadtrip with the original intention of staying in a compact area and thoroughly exploring it. However, with the abysmal weather in the entire region i ended up chasing weather windows from Garda to Sospel so mainly stayed on top of the general grimness. The weather these days can't be relied upon (you've mentioned the PdS already)so make sure you have internet to hand to make informed decisions, you don't want to lose any of that 2 weeks!

Thanks guys. We had quite a wash out last year(also had snow) so want to hedge our bets as best we can. Torihada, thanks, that is very useful.

Torihada, just watched those videos properly. First one seems a bit boring but the second one 😯 Erm. . Yeah sketchy.

Indeed @timid, that's the sort of stuff which scares the sh-one-t out of me. Anything with a rope or a chain ! Came quite close to a terminal fall when I was a teenager and have never forgotten it 😥

Obviously I would have jumped it so no problem, but I can see that it might unnerve a less being.

🙂

If you are heading further South its worth double checking return distances as the Alps around Morzine are effectively only about "half way down"

Good point. We went to Tignes last year which was a fair old drive but clearly not far enough to avoid the snow. I've got a couple of days extra leave the following week so we have the option to pootle back. Might stop a few places on the way.