Hey all, been out in the Alps again for the last couple of weeks. I've been making this trip in various forms every year for the last 10 years; staying in Chatel, Morzine, Les Gets, Morgins, all the usual suspects. Sometimes staying for a week, sometimes a couple of months, and in general it has been excellent.
I started feeling malaise with the riding in the Alps about 4 years ago - I don't know whether it was the fact that the main resorts were becoming busier, the trails were becoming more worn, the weather was getting worse every year, or the prices were constantly rising - or maybe a combination of these things was dulling the polish a bit.
The trip this year was the worst yet; the trails were universally in terrible condition - I know the weather has been shite all season and this leaves the tracks in a state, but come on, braking bumps starting 40 yards before berms [i]and carrying on all the way through to the exit[/i] is ludicrous. Add to that foot-deep ruts and slimy mud and the riding becomes more of an endurance event than enjoyable. Get back to the resort and your wallet is raped to the tune of £6 for a beer, £4 for a can of coke and typical levels of French customer service.
So for me next year it will be Whistler for a couple of months, I'm done with the Alps, which is a real shame as it has been a part of my life for a long time.
On another note, big DH bikes are dead to me now. I sold my 224 earlier this year and got a 5 instead. I'm getting on a bit and gnarly rad jumps and all that are something I'm just not capable of any more, and in the UK at least, the opportunity to do big DH days doesn't happen for me that often. So I stuck a CCDB on this 5, some 36s up front, big tyres and went out to the Alps.
"Wow" comes to mind - nimble, lightish, [i]fast[/i] - I never felt out of my depth on this bike, I even had the confidence to do the Chatel road gap, which I haven't been able to do for the last few years, even on a big DH bike. What a great bike, I can see what the fuss is about.
Glad you enjoyed your five, but do you not think maybe the braking bumps would have been less of an issue on a DH bike? Just being devils advocate here, I just sold my DH bike and have a strongly built up coil pitch now.
Fair play for hitting the Chatel road gap on it too! 🙂
Is this more to do with where in the alps you're riding than the alps themselves?
wot northwind said there are more places to 'mountainbike' than france or whistler
[img] 
[/img]
What's wrong with the French customer service?
The braking bumps on the Pleney and Chavannes this year gave me a hammering on a 180mm FR bike, so you must have got a beating on a Five.
Don't write the Alps off though. We did Morzine and then moved on to Verbier and Les Arcs this year and the latter two places have a wealth of brilliant technical riding - with barely a braking bump in sight.
... and of course, you're not at all responsible for this debacle...
Out to the Alps year in year out, trashing the trails on a big bike, not putting anything back...
mtbers in sustainable tourism shocker...
🙄 😉
I like the braking bumps, and the roots..
simples - just don't ride DH tracks! get out there with a map and explore...
rkk01 - Member... and of course, you're not at all responsible for this debacle...
Out to the Alps year in year out, trashing the trails on a big bike, not putting anything back...
he [u]is[/u] putting something back, he probably paid about 90 euro dollars for his lift pass.
i've just come back from a week based in Chatel, the PDS mountain paths are now covered in 'VTT interdit' or 'no mtb - respect the rules'.
he's paid to ride in the park, he should expect trails to be in good condition.
as it is, they're not designed well at all. the corners all lose height - so gain speed, and all the straights lose height, so gain speed. braking is inevitable, erosion and braking bumps are inevitable on such poorly designed trails.
(the trails don't help you lose speed, all your speed control is done with your brakes)
I saw that road gap for the first time a few weeks ago, and now you have said its dooable on a 5 I will just have to go back and have a go on my bike.
I found some of the trails full of braking bumps, but then others were far less busy and bumpy. I found the further from busy resorts I got the less used they were - not surprising really. Plus I was there early in the season.
The exchange rate is shite though, I remember when it was 2:1 almost.
What about other places in the Alps - Austria ? Germany ? Italy ? or the Pyranees perhaps ?
Never been the alps, somebody's gotta have positive's, what about the pyrenees
£6 a beer? What/Where were you drinking?
€5 for a pint of Mutzig in Bar Robinsion and didn't pay more than €5 for a pint anywhere last week.
I thought the customer service was excellent. Bar and restaurant staff were very friendly. Bike shop staff were super friendly, helping at the drop of a hat for urgent repairs or advice.
Agree that the braking bumps were bad though certain tracks suffered worse than others. The red DH under the Chavannes lift was brutal however the trails over on the Nauchets side were generally ok. Pleney trails were ok too apart from a couple of sections.
And although the actual resorts and lifts were very busy with riders, the trails were actually very quiet.
if you're feeling down about the big resorts in the Alps region, maybe try Les Deux Alpes or even Alpe d'Huez and Oz-en-Oisans. Really awesome trails, and makes a nice change from the Pleney every year ;-)! Maybe check this blog for some ideas - 19 parks in the Alps in 2 months this summer!
[url= http://blog.worldbikeparks.com ]worldbikeparks.com blog[/url]
Just my 2p 🙂
Never been the alps, somebody's gotta have positive's, what about the pyrenees
I will tell you in about 3 weeks when I get back. 😀
As above though - I bet there's millions of places to ride in the Alps that aren't worn out DH tracks.
Second vote for Alpe d` Huez. Trails are proper big mountain affairs and open other weeks than just for the Mega. Starting 3300m and descending to 800m is a blast and probably rather more fun if you take your time rather than breathing out of your arse/trying not to vomit for an hour.
Good looking DH tracks as well especially the one obove Oz. Main thing is the variety of trails from high and exposed to twisting through the trees.
Have only ever been Mega week but if you don`t fancy the race then still a top venue. Only problem is you might be back next year in July once you have seen how good the course is.
whistler wasn't a lot better for braking bumps this year. Apparently later in the season is the best time to go for trail conditions, as the crew have stopped pissing about building the crankworks course. I'd suggest its probably harder on bikes as well, I know 3 people (myself included) who've snapped frames in 2 trips to whistler, but only 1 (me again) who snapped a frame in france, and thats in 5 yeras of trips
Posts like this just prove to me that the French (and probably other Alpine nations) have now got their mountains as commercialised in summer as in winter. When you go skiing you have to accept that you are going to get shafted; the same now applies to summer cycling.
Skiers who have outgrown the commercialism of the resorts tend to move on to ski touring with lightweight skis, minimal equipment and only reluctant use of commercial facilities. The whole purpose of ski touring is to use your mountain skills and your equipment to get to the unfrequented parts of the mountains and find un-pisted snow in the best possible condition.
See the parallel with mountain biking here? Maybe it's time you guys with your heavy DH rigs and macho "ride anything" attitude went back to lightweight XC bikes that can be shouldered up then ridden through and down the mountains with the minimum of impact, using the bikes as tools for exploring and experiencing the whole mountain environment, not just that over-used trail in front of your nose.
@ahwiles - the straights lose height, and the corners lose height?
Bloody hell. What are downhill trails coming to, eh?
globalti - MemberMaybe it's time you guys with your heavy DH rigs and macho "ride anything" attitude went back to lightweight XC bikes that can be shouldered up then ridden through and down the mountains with the minimum of impact, using the bikes as tools for exploring and experiencing the whole mountain environment, not just that over-used trail in front of your nose
What makes you think that everyone with DH bikes don't already go exploring what else is out there, rather than the rutted motorways that purport to be DH tracks? Granted, a lot of people do go to the PDS and just ride the main tracks but I assure you that there are a good number of us who go out there and don't touch Pleney, Chavannes, etc., because they just aren't fun to ride.
Maybe we got lucky in that we have friends who were seasonaires out there and knew of the cheeky stuff and were keen to show us / laugh as we tried to get down such 'joys' as Widowmaker, etc. But don't for a second think that the heavy bikes are the limiting factor in exploring further afield.