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Just got back from a glorious week in Les Arcs riding. Went without guiding this year apart from one day from Ali @ TrailAddiction. I'd forgotten just how steep and technical it is in places.
Planning 2011 already!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ginja_andy/sets/72157624473002072/
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That looks fantastic, i'm off there in a couple of weeks. Can't wait 8)
Looks like you had lots of fun even without the bikes
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Wish I'd known when you were going, Andy. You could've taken Ali's new frame out with you!
I was out there a couple of weeks ago. It's alright...
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Nice pics, I'm off there for a week with trailaddiction this Friday 8)
WoW, that loks great, been thinking about that for next year, How was it on a Hardtail...?
My thoughts entirely. Planning on going next year and wondering about taking a 140mm Ti hardtail.
you'll be fine on a hardtail, after all this is where dialled mike trialled the prototype Alpine frames.
Nice one Andy, looks like you had a great time. Tom and I are heading out the 1st week of August, can't wait. 😀
Nice pictures. Do you know roughly where the sketchy dismount trail is...e.g. any nearby landmarks etc.? no need for giving away precise location on the net!
> you'll be fine on a hardtail
You will have lot less fun on a HT than on a decent FS bike, there is nothing at all to be gained by taking a HT to Les Arcs. Even the XC trails you have to pedal to get to are fast and fairly gnarly. Something around the 5-6" travel mark is the perfect bike for Les Arcs.
> Do you know roughly where the sketchy dismount trail is...e.g. any nearby
> landmarks etc.?
Get a guide. You will ride a fraction of the best trails that Les Arcs has to offer without one; the TrailAddiction guys are worth every penny they charge.
Wow. I'm going with Trail Addiction in 4 weeks.
Thinking of taking my Hardtail for a laugh (though I do have a 2010 Enduro too).
Anyone know what sort of bikes are available to hire and a rough idea of price?
armchairbiker, do yourself a favour and take the Enduro! It's all perfectly do-able on a hardtail, but the unanimous verdict when I was out there was that a 5 or 6" FS is the way to have the most fun on those trails. My Blur LTc was pretty much ideal imho.
Well I spent a day there last week. What a joke.The marked trails are fire roads (except for one cracking black run). Unless you want to do battle with the walkers go elsewhere.
Hth
Marko
Assuming you're not trolling Marko....your biggest mistake was not hiring a guide. There's a bloody good reason everyone says to get one.
HTH.
Great pics! off there on my hardtail on friday.
pedalhead - it was more because I have room in the car (and I can use it for spares!). However I know looking at the pickies - I'll be wanting the Enduro!
> you'll be fine on a hardtail
You will have lot less fun on a HT than on a decent FS bike, there is nothing at all to be gained by taking a HT to Les Arcs. Even the XC trails you have to pedal to get to are fast and fairly gnarly. Something around the 5-6" travel mark is the perfect bike for Les Arcs.
sorry but what a load of BS.
Well I spent a day there last week. What a joke.The marked trails are fire roads (except for one cracking black run). Unless you want to do battle with the walkers go elsewhere.
baffled! some of the best riding in the world!!
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me on a 456, having loads of fun, almost keeping up with the boys on FS.
I had a lot more fun this year than 2 years ago on a FS.
Nickegg
Not a troll. I paid for the lift and picked up the guide. Having spent 2 weeks in Deus Alpes and Alpe D'huez riding all the trails I was expecting the same - more or less - in Les Arcs. Just had a text from a mate in Meribel who reckons it's the same there:
Blue = Fireroad.
Red = Fireroad with some gravel.
Black = Fireroad with the occasional pothole.
It's just a warning for riders who are looking for a Morzine/Les Gets/2 Alpes style venue....And no I'm not a mental youth type downhiller, more old git who needs a rest from pedaling uphill.
No problem with hiring a guide, but it's not what I go to the Alps for.
Hth
Marko
Mark, if all you found in Les Arcs was fire roads, you seriously ****ed up.
Go for longer than a day next time and ride with someone with local knowledge.
'baffled! some of the best riding in the world!!'
My point is that if you use the resort guide you will be disappointed.
Hth
Marko
picked up the guide.
do you mean you basically picked up some kind of pamphlet that happened to be near the lift?
oh i see, yes.
pity, you missed so fantastics riding!
Marko I feel sorry for you mate, Les Arcs has pretty much some of the best riding in the alps. Knocks spots off Les Gets, Morzine, Alpe D'Huez and Les Deux Alpes.
You've missed some phenomenal riding if all you found was fireroads. Even the resort map has some of the popular singletrack routes on it.
As for a Hardtails, well hardtails aren't for me, but I know plenty of people who ride just as quickly and have as much fun on a hardtail out there.
<shameless plug>
if you want to do the DIY thing... a friend has a chalet at the bottom of the funicular in Bourg.
[url= http://www.thebikeshelter.com/ ]http://www.thebikeshelter.com/[/url]
he can organize guiding with locals who know where all the good stuff is.
Les Arc is such a good place to ride...
Marko, forget the VTT map issued with the lift pass invest in a IGN map covering the area and you will find some exceptionally good routes.
Crikey!!
Les Arcs print a VTT trail map, just like Morzine etc. If you've only got a day, you pick a route or two off the VTT guide and go ride. Well the ones the resort has mapped out - that we rode - suck. It's that simple.
I'm sure there is plenty of good riding there if you have the time (and money) to hire a guide.
Hth
Marko
Marko: In riding some of those fireroads you must of passed so much good stuff without realising, i'm gutted for you. It's all very well saying you don't go to the Alps to use a guide but the fact remains you simply won't find most, if not all, the best trails and, believe me, there are alot in the Les Arc area. Oh well, next time hey?!
As for hardtails there, having had to use my mine around MBR yesterday i can safely say that it's full-sus all the way when to comes to the Alps! Fair play to anyone who rides a hardtail on those trails at those speeds.
Wow, missed this one.
Mike - sorry. Dropped you an email but should have been more explicit as I would have dropped the frame off for Ali.
We've been going there since 2004 so know most of the trails. Most are best found with a guide like Ali from TrailAddiction. Been going out there for almost 10 years and know it like the back of their hand.
As for a hardtail vs. full suss. Had just as much fun this year on a hardtail. Was probably faster on that than years previously on a bigger fs big. You'll have fun whatever you ride. Stay away from the Cachette DH course as it's rubbish! Go for the singletrack. That's where the steep, rocky, techy, fast scary stuff is! Love it.
Matt - yeah we had a great time mate. Hope you and Tom have a good one. Weather was cracking for us!
Driving out to Les Arcs tomorrow morning - staying with ChillChalet in Bourg. Can't wait. Not sure about black runs being fireroads, i would'nt call the Black8 run a fireroad. Sounds like you missed the best stuff. But each to their own, perhaps it's not whatv everyone wants.
The Cachettes DH course is ok and there a number of good runs behind Bar Maxima, Church run plus countless other trails.
Marko
Blue = Fireroad.
Red = Fireroad with some gravel.
Black = Fireroad with the occasional pothole.
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Is my understanding of a fire road wrong then? In all those pictures only one looks like it's got what I think of as anything like a road in it.
The point is that, like a lot of places, the Les Arcs trail map is a bit rubbish. It's definitely not all fire roads (Black 8 is a well-worn classic obviously, and there's quite a few other decent bits and pieces on it) but it does contain quite a few and it most definitely doesn't give much info on the great singletrack riding to be found at Les Arcs.
If you REALLY just want to turn up, pick up a trail map at the lift pass office and use that for a day's riding, you'd arguably be better off at Sainte Foy, La Thuile or even Tignes if you're in the Tarentaise area.
On the other hand, with a proper map and a bit of imagination, it's not exactly difficult to find great trails in Les Arcs. Might involve a few adventures along the way, but loads of stuff to be found.
more rad photos...thanks...still wondering where's the "sketchy dismount" trail/promontory that bikevillage take people on? (google image "sketchy dismount" "bikevillage"...you'll see why I'm asking). I know Les Arcs pretty well, don't need a guide, just want to know about this one trail if anyone's come across it and feels like sharing...!
> still wondering where's the "sketchy dismount" trail/promontory that bikevillage
> take people on?
Oh you mean La Varda! Lovely trail that; there is a clear landmark near the start of it, it looks bit like the top of a big mountain 😉
though it was sketchy dismount before it was la varda 😉
LOL at this thread.
Marko, looks like you missed all the good trails buddy. I've been with trailaddiction, they are the guys to show you around.
Hardtails rock too. Yeah, it's easier on a full-susser but it's just as rideable on a hard-core hardtail.
jhw, isn't the trail you want in front of Bellecote?
Marco couldn't organise a piss up in a brewery!
weeks of amazing trails to be had!
I'm sure if Marko went back to Les Arcs, had a bit more time on his hands to explore or some local knowledge his opinion would change.
As it goes, his 1 day experience with only a VTT map at his disposal, is not indicative of what people normally get out of a trip to Les Arcs, and shouldn't form the basis for telling people to avoid/go elsewhere.
+1 what mike said
Les Arcs is pretty dull without all those sketchy trails at the top in the rocks and in the woods that Alistair and the gang know.
[edit] those rarely used trails are beaut...
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those rarely used trails are beaut..
You mean like this one 😀
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Fantastic pics. REALLY MAKE ME ****ING JEALOUS.
The previous 2 pics could well be from the same trail. Trail addiction did a fantastic job last week. Chalet was great, steam room, hot tub, table tennis and 200m from the lifts. No nightlife in the village but after a couple of beers in the bar straight after riding you just felt like chilling out in the chalet with some fantastic food, free wine, reasonably priced beer and chewing the fat with all the other people in the chalet.
The guiding was excellent and these guys put a fair amount of effort into finding and developing some of the more cheeky trails.
Every now and again I cant help sticking my nose in on these threads!
Just got to clarify a few little things to you all.....
1) La varda.....sorry, it was defo La varda first, sketchy dismount second. On the other hand, I have to say that Sam from bikevillage [i]probably[/i] knows the entire (I mean the whole tarentaise not just les arcs) valley better than anyone else.. But its a tough one to call, both ash (trailAddiction) and bikevillage (sam) have been riding the area for 10+ years, and for lift accessed singletrack, Ash probably has the edge on sam. My opinion only, Im sure others would beg to differ, lets face it, between them they know more stuff than the rest of the local population put together!
2) "local guide" = sorry, but even "the locals" do not have a clue what they are doing or where they are going. "locals" generally means ski bum seasonnaires looking to make a quick buck in the summer, or French qualified guides who know how to LEAD but have not spent much time actually researching the local area. In summary, you gets what you pays for out in les arcs.
3) La varda / sketchy dismount. That'll be this one then....
You would be an absolute idiot to ride this on your own or in fact with ANYONE except trailAddiction or bikevillage. Basically, chance of death or serious **** up = off the scale. This is proper, PROPER alpine stuff. Would you try to go climb everest on your own without the backup of a qualified and experienced guide? NO? Well what on earth are you thinking trying to do this on your own then?!? And therefore, Im not telling.... 😉
Instead, I'll just rub it in with a few photos from the last time I rode it.......
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(Last one on HEIDI, not La Varda, but I just love this pic so much!)