5 of us are looking for an Alps trip early July.
We've had 2 trips to Morzine/Les Gets. Last year was Glentress/Inners.
Current thinking is either Les Arcs/Tignes/Val d'Isere. Looking for a long weekend of lift-assisted singletrack fun, possibly with a guided day.
Any suggestions? Looking for accommodation ideas too.
heard good things about pila
Les Arcs, buy an OS style map or just explore, there's unbelievable amounts of amazing trails there.
Les Arcs is a good bet, research done on here to have an idea of better trails (all not bike-park). Guides available.
EDIT [url= http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/les-arcs-single-track-the-hard-to-find-stuff-where-and-how#post-6924965 ]useful thread[/url]
Verbier if you have the budget as accommodation and food etc will be more expensive (you can stay in the valley more cheaply) - guided day with Alpine Roots if you wish. Bike park and enduro trails map. 2hrs from Geneva
Chamonix, enough trails even with the bike ban in force (need research and copy of bike book plus map reading skills), riding a bit more disjointed than Les Arcs or Verbier. verbier and Chamonix are 1hr apart so could mix it up for a day. Guides available.
Needs to be drive able from Calais in one go too. The only thing putting me off Les Arcs is most lifts seem to close at the weekend.
We had a great week in Les arc last year, wasn't very impressed with the day we spent in Tinges though, it was all very open and man made groomed trails. We did only do the main area from the town so there may well be more
Pila is good. Then you can easily do Chamonix on the way back and Les Gets if you fancy it.
Iv'e done Les Arc last 3 years, the best riding for me was on the Vanoise side, just keep taking the lifts up and speak to riders at the Ferni on the valley floor, loosely follow some of the guided rides out there Like TA and see where they lead you, I found most of the French guides more helpful than some of the companies out there,
Maps won't show you the hidden stuff, so it's get lost and then find yourself time, I dare say there are trails on STRAVA etc but failing that I'd definitely reccomend ales Arc.
Does anyone know of a guide or guiding group we can use/join - we've booked to go in Aug self-catering.
To Les Arcs that is!
@P-Jay have a look at that thread in my post for maps / links. I believe Yann who used to work for White Room now works for himself
Thanks all. Good link Jambalaya. Any accommodation recommendations?
We went to Samoens with Bike-Alp. Would really recommend it. We rode all sorts of non bike park off piste loveliness. It's not far from Let Gets and isn't all that hard to get to Chamonix either.
The only thing putting me off Les Arcs is most lifts seem to close at the weekend.
Probably an area that works best with a guide and shuttle as a proper all in week. Getting out of Les Arcs is a great move, heaps of great riding not served by lifts that works for a guided group. Check out the likes of white room.
Week not an option. Luckily we live 1 hr from Folkstone, so travel is fine through the tunnel, but drive down Thursday night, back Monday is the only way it will work.
What Paul B said; had a days guiding with Steve at [url= http://bike-alp.com/ ]Bike Alp[/url] and it was awesome. Never going back to the battered bikepark-ness of Les Gets/Morzine.
Paul B - Member
We went to Samoens with Bike-Alp. Would really recommend it. We rode all sorts of non bike park off piste loveliness. It's not far from Let Gets and isn't all that hard to get to Chamonix either.
The riding in Verbier is absolutely amazing, best enjoyed with help from with www.bikeverbier.com. In fact you'll need their help to find and reach many of the very best natural trails.
If your going for 3 days only then for me to make it worth it look at something like this
http://www.thecoolbus.co.uk/mtb_backcountry.php
http://www.thecoolbus.co.uk/mtb_tarentaise.php
http://www.thecoolbus.co.uk/mtb_lathuile.php
Not cheap but would give you a lot of bang for your buck for 3 days
Coolbus looks good. Do they guide as well as uplift?
Not sure, but they were doing the up for some stuff when I went with White Room
The best technique I found for finding trails in Les Arcs:
-Ride along road/track
-See trail
-Ride it
-Pop out on road
-Select direction
-Repeat until hit valley floor
-Ride to the funicular
Looks like CoolBus are based in Bourg 30 mins away from where I will be in Tignes for a couple of weeks might well give them a shout.
I know it's old fashioned but I do like rocking up in a new place, buying a map and going exploring.
With Strava Heatmap, Google Earth and IGN Maps you can actually do quite a but "Off Piste" Recon before you go as well.
Yeah, it was a while back but I much preferred the stuff the funicular didn't work for (ie on a different Hill and not in the resort)
@wl what you say about Verbier is true but there is a lot of very very good riding you can do without a guide / their uplifts
Yvan Bonin is the ex-white-room guide I think Jamba meant. Definitely worth hooking up with if you're in the les arcs area, he's a great guide and legendary french gnar-yoda.
If you're in that district then you have to hop over the border to pila and la thuile, imo they both kick crap out of the french resorts. Pila's got the single best manmade trail I've ever ridden and la thuile is basically super-innerleithen. It's a bit of a drive, over the col du san bernard but totally worth it.
Pila & La Thuile are both Coolbus day trips, so that's worth thinking about. Are they both rideable without a guide?
La Thuile has a map, easy to get around, the bonus of guided is you can get dropped at the top of the pass and ride in. The bigger days out are where the van stuff makes a difference
No need for a guide in La Thuile for a day although there is a few trails on the oppersite side to the lifts, also the EWS is there again this year so they might build some new stuff, last year they opened a new section for a local race.
Pila, same again no need for a guide for a day, but there is a awesome ridge ride accessible by the top lift which is only open for a short while or a hike a bike up the foot path above the start of the trails.
Aosta Freeride are worth a hook up with to see what else the valley has to offer.
This is all sounding great guys - thanks!!
Is La Varda a "must ride" trail in Les Arcs?
Is La Varda a "must ride" trail in Les Arcs?
Probably marmite, not my favourite but others love it.
Is there a similar, but slightly less tech alternative?
dantsw13 - MemberIs La Varda a "must ride" trail in Les Arcs?
It's officially closed to bikes now isn't it?
It was closed to bikes last year, but I was reading locals are in talks trying to get the ban lifted,the full trail is all rideable but hard in parts lower down ( not everyone's cup of tea ).
Chalet booked in Les Arcs.
Will the marked trails be enough for the first day before we head off exploring?
So, it's nearly time - how are conditions? There was a lot of late season snowfall - has it gone yet?
If you fancy a day over at La Rosiere / La Thuile / Petit Saint Bernard Pass with guiding the guys at [url= http://summer.larosiere.net/summer-rentals-guided-outings.html ]La Rosiere[/url] are really good, well impressed.
La Thuile is worth a visit. 😉
On our way home now from Les Arcs.
Thanks so much to all who helped. I passed on some Karma by giving the off piste map to a guy out there for 6 weeks.
3 days riding a mix of every waymarked trail and some off-piste, including La Varda - which was a great day out (still snow covered for the hike-a-bike up to the Lac du Moutons). I really liked the waymarked Enduro trails - Elle Chablette black run was my favourite. I would class myself as a competent rider, certainly no god, and the middle/end of La Varda was on my limit.
My stand-out observation of Les Arcs was quiet trails and very friendly riders. A world away from Morzine/Les Gets, although I've still enjoyed my riding there in the past too.