[Closed] Anyone want to car / trip share? Alps - This summer

BUMP!

(for people just out of bed on a sunday... 😉

Already booked flights & accommodation to Les Gets, think there's still room in the chalet, if that appeals July 14-21.

Got space for 1 for 2 weeks in Les Arcs in July.

Cool offers guys thanks, i guess ideally i'd like to car share too?

What are the dates in July Doug?

I'm thinking of going out for a week 31st August to do a back country week with White Room and was thinking of driving.

I would prefer to go in july or early august really, god i'm difficult to please.... 😉

Picking a mate up in Brum 6-7pm on Fri 12th and getting back very late on Sun 28th. Actually got space for 2 in comfort in the monster MPV ( I'm 6ft4 and fit comfortably in all the seats) but only one bed space in the apartment. Weve both been before and know our way round well and will also be doing day trips over to La Thuile, Tignes, Beaufort, 3 Valleys, trip to watch the tour?

If the dates work and mail me if your interested in either catching a lift or to see about coming with us for a bargain fortnight if riding styles/experience match up.

Cheers Doug, i'll take a look at my diary and try to work out my summer plan (it's a bit confused as i will be starting a new job around that time too........)
What sort of riding split do you like to do between Climbing/XC/DH etc?

I'd be up for car sharing down to the fun french trails with another sad loner! Pretty much completely flexible on dates.

Mainly Trail Addiction style riding but over a much larger are, lift assisted trail/enduro riding so not much climbing, xc or DH track abuse. Think Snowdon Ranger/Rhyd Ddu if you could take your bike on the train. Probably no more than a few hundred metres climbing max most days just to get to the best trails like [url=

I'll be taking a 7" FR bike with Totems with the other rider taking a 951 hence the low amount of climbing. Was thinking of taking the 6" trail bike as well for the odd backcountry earn your descents day but tbh it would probably just sit in the apartment every day due to the number of lift systems in the area and me being a few pounds overweight. This is my 40th birthday trip so not an out and out DH trip, more a trail and big mountain trip using sturdy bikes. Hopefully finish the fortnight seeing how far we can get up [url=

Sassiere[/url] if weather permits.

Forgot to mention, looking at £350-£375 for travel and accommodation depending on how much fuel we use/prices at time of going. Food an lift passes extra. We'll be hitting the Super U and Lidl as soon as we get there and mixing self catering with eating out.

Have a look at 'wildbike' . . They are running trips, and I think have minibus with trailer going down there. . V good company I had a hol with them last year. . I think youll be on price at 375. .

Doug, we are going to Les Arcs on exactly the same dates as you! Where are you staying?

Wallop, were stopping in Les Glieres apartments just round the corner from the funicular in Bourg. Was going to camp but the apartment prices have come down by about a quarter this year so the extra comfort doesnt cost much more. You?

Also going the same time, 11 of us in a mix of Van (with 3 people and all the gear) and 8 of us flying to Geneva. Staying in Villandry, the Himalaya (not sure if Trail addiction used to use the same place?).

It's much more scenic up in Vallandry, just dont miss the last chairlift 😉

I've got a stem captain clock to make sure we're at 1600 before the lifts close!

Doug, the Husband and I are camping again but we might have some friends coming who want an apartment - is that a block you're in? I'll google...

maxtorque - please drop me an email - details in profile.

Join us in Morzine if you want. We had 22 riders last year.
http://www.mbswindon.co.uk/summer-alps-trip-2013-morzine/

Wallop, stopping in similar but slightly smaller apartment in the same block as [url= http://www.selfcateringhols.com/property.php?id=1618&month=07&year=2013&section=booking ]this[/url]. Literally a few hundred meters from the funicular and 5 mins walk from town centre. Has own pool.

Doug - Member

Wallop, stopping in similar but slightly smaller apartment in the same block as this. Literally a few hundred meters from the funicular and 5 mins walk from town centre. Has own pool.

Wotcha Doug, just nipped over from t'other site...sssh. Where did you keep your bikes? In the apartment or is there a secure garage?

We keep them locked in the apartment. There is a ski locker type room but it's shared between that many apartments I wouldn't leave a bike in there. You looking at a DIY trip this time? If your in resort at the same time give us a shout as I'm sure we could sort out some mega point to point back country stuff up around Lac de Roselend with 2 cars 😉

We keep them locked in the apartment. There is a ski locker type room but it's shared between that many apartments I wouldn't leave a bike in there. You looking at a DIY trip this time? If your in resort at the same time give us a shout as I'm sure we could sort out some mega point to point back country stuff up around Lac de Roselend with 2 cars

I'll be in Chatel for a week at start of July with 'the crew', 18 of us, big bikes, catered with guides. This query is for family bike trip. Will probably camp like last year, though that apartment price was pretty good.

Hi, I have a question about camping in the PDS area, do campsites have secure bike storage facilities?
I intend to go there on the cheap this summer and I quite like camping anyway provided there's proper hot showers...

Not seen any in PDS, we had a van and locked stuff in there with us.

Hey Guys, appologies as i mean't to catch up with this thread earlier in the week!

Doug, you trip sounds ace! But, i'm a little bit worried that i might be a bit of an anchor, as it'll be my first Alps experience and i'm only going to be rocking a 140mm bike ;-(

I have a feeling that one of the commercial outfits might be better for a first timer? As they are more geared up to guiding people with different abilities / speeds etc?

So, perhaps i need to find a carshare with someone who wants to join one of the comercial groups for a week in mid/late July?
I'd say probably starting the week slowly with some XC, then moving to a bit more gravity stuff as the week continues, followed by ending on some mild DH stuff if i haven't broken myself by then 😉

The MTB swindon group looks good too!

Doug, we will be out there the same time as you, either camping or getting a chalet if i can find somewhere affordable that isnt a hovel.

Give us a shout if you fancy any back country trecks, we are looking to do the same and will all be driving so have cars/vans and have a decent grip on the area. We were thinking of a night or two in a refuge too, however still TBC, out there 20-29th July

maxtorque

Would suggest you have a look at white room as they were perfect with different ability people.

Bland YHM

maxtorque - like I said above, drop me an email, I'm in exactly the same boat as you.

maxtorque or dickie, im looking to do this this summer. was tempting on going it alone on a guided week. email me (emails in profile) and hopefully we can sort something out.

Max/Dickie/Moose I'm in the same boat. All my riding buddies are either busy or being lame and don't want to go out so would be interested in getting something together if you fancy it? Email in profile if you fancy it

OK, maybe we can make it a STW meetup? Looks like there might be a few of us? DO you think it might be worth trying to find one of the usual guiding suspects (trail addiction, whiteroom, bike village etc) and maybe get say 4 places booked for a week?

Just been looking at White Room and they have good availability for week 29th Iune to 6th July. If there were a couple it could be better to drive a car/possible hire van to get down.

I'm in the same boat, went with Whiteroom last year & the Mega in ADH - want to do 2 or 3 trips this year - not DH but a mix of enduro/XC type stuff, drive or fly - email in profile.

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Maxtorque - whats your email address?

Mooseface, rocco, & snaps - YGM
OP - email in profile - I've been trying to make contact for 4 days.

Have stuck my email (spammy one) into my profile, so grab it from there folks! (hopefully avoid death by spam from posting in a forum?? 😉

Perhaps we should start a list? Add yours on and lets see if we can see what sort of numbers we might get! (quote list in your post)

1 - MaxTorque - July - XC 50% / DH 50% - 150mm AM bike - DRIVE: ESTATE CAR with 1 spare seat/bike space

Hopefully everyone has or is about to, receive an email from me confirming all the people i've now heard from via email!

So far, we are 6, assuming that we can find a mutualibly agreeable date for the trip etc

The consensus seems to be either Bike Village or White room so far (pending availibility)?

If you're going that June/July week I'd be interested too, just waiting to hear whether my recently sprogged mate is allowed out before I'm sure.

Email me to get on the "un-usual suspects" list mrhoppy! 😉

You should have mail.

Received! You're on the guest list 😉

So, lets discuss!

Someone mentioned earlier, they had checked at white room had availibility in late June / early July?

Would anyone be unhappy with going with them?

I'd be keen to go with White Room, their itinerary looks good and they have space the week beginning the 29th June.

I looked at White Room and they have good availability week of 29th June. Ok some questions to get things rolling.

Where are people in the country?

What dates are people looking to go out?

What type of riding are people after? (I'm guessing nice rolling singletrack, no big DH stuff, by everyone's reply so far)

Price, how much are people looking to pay?

Travel, drive, fly or train? Got a car or hire a van?

Any preference on company?

When do the lifts open? 7th July again?

There are some lifts open the week of the 29th but not all according to stevo.

After having easy jet break my brakes last year I'd rather drive, I'm in Shrewsbury, I've got an estate so could probably take 2 others. Looking for endless downhill pointing singletrack (happy to earn it) but not so much DH (grrr) riding. Pay what it costs but WR appear to be cheapest. 29th June suits me best with work stuff.

Chris

Maxtorque - ygm 🙂

Estate car here too, so that would be another two people sorted - Northampton based, but obviously can pick people up on way down south etc!

Biscuit Powered now on guest list 😉

Consesus seems to be go with WR in early July? I guess we need to check the availibility / lifts situation with them.

ta,

MT.

Some of our best riding with White Room didn't really use lifts, they have some other means 🙂

WR sounds good, nothing but good reviews from what iv read. And early July shouldn't be a problem.

Only problem for me I did see on another tread saying not to take a XC bike which is what iv got (giant anthem 100mm) what are people's thoughts?

I'm on the bucks/beds border. Not far from you maxtorque

mooseface - I'd suggest talking to Stevo about it but generally the trails in the area are not mental DH trails but more like long versions of UK mountain trails. When we were there people had a big range of stuff including 100mm HT's. How you cope will depend on how you ride, there were multiple groups out when we were there all doing similar stuff at their pace or slightly different stuff.

Would suggest a tyre upgrade though 🙂

Just drop us an email with any questions guys.

Can I just add, since I've seen it mentioned on here a few times recently:

Please don't take bikes up the Grande Sassiere. It's just a shitty, pointless thing to do. Trust me, it is nowhere near as much fun as it may appear in that very selectively-edited video.

Huge chunks of it would be unrideable for most people, both up and down. Part of the track is (albeit briefly) in a nature reserve in which bikes are banned. The environment up there is very fragile and very easily damaged. Most people would in full-on lock-up mode, digging huge trenches if they tried to ride down the summit cone.

Moose - I did Morzine last year on 100m HT so you'll be fine. Just make sure you have good tyres and brakes 🙂

I'm in South Wales and happy to drive, not got an estate though so only be able to take 1 other. Happy with WR and end June/early July is good for me.

stevomcd
Just drop us an email with any questions guys

Hi Steve. Hopefully i can corral a suitable date for a week in july out of the people i've spoken too, so far there are 8 people interested (inc me). I'll bat you an email towards the end of the week if we can get to some sort of consensus! Do you know of any lift restrictions or similar that might impact any trip in early this year btw?

Cheers,

MT.

Looks like the option for a group of any size is either 15th June or 29th June unless you go for September.

I'm happy with any date, but my concern with early season would be snow melt - Zermatt in June was still full of skiers!

MT - there won't be any lifts open during the 15th June week. We do uplifts with van/Landy + trailers. For the week of the 29th June, most lifts in the valley will be open, should be able to ride chairlifts every day with a bit of planning. It's been a big snow year again, but too early to say if there'll be any snow issues early season. It really all comes down to the weather in April/May. Last year we had both a really big snow year and a very cold and snowy April, so there were only a handful of weeks for snow to melt before the season. It's unlikely to happen that way again! Certainly by the week of 29th June, there'll be no problems.

We may be able to squeeze in a larger group for one of the August weeks where there's a few spaces - let me know when you've got your numbers finalised and I can tell you what the options are.

Please don't take bikes up the Grande Sassiere. It's just a shitty, pointless thing to do. Trust me, it is nowhere near as much fun as it may appear in that very selectively-edited video.

Huge chunks of it would be unrideable for most people, both up and down. Part of the track is (albeit briefly) in a nature reserve in which bikes are banned. The environment up there is very fragile and very easily damaged. Most people would in full-on lock-up mode, digging huge trenches if they tried to ride down the summit cone.

Just to add my situation:

I live in Southampton but my folks live in Kent not a million miles from Dover so could meet somewhere easily for driving.

I don't mind driving, however I own 2 cars:

1 - 22 year old Renault
2 - 13 year old Citroen

Do you feel lucky? 😯

Oh, and one of them has no air con, the other has broken air con 😆

I do however have a towbar mounted bike rack which can take 2 or perhaps 3 bikes.

I'm waiting to hear back from people as to their prefered dates BTW, so please take a look at the WR booking page and let me know. Currently best slot looks to be in early August!