We're plotting something big for the summer and tempted with some sort of offroad tour, either guided/supported or possibly self-guiding/supported (not thought this through really).
Anyone have any ideas/advice/links/anything?
This site has some interesting routes but I don't know anything about them
http://www.alpsmountainbike.com/index.php
MBMB used to be the first choice. We went unsupported - just book some huts/ accom. Have an adventure, but don't go too early or late. We had snow in July. ChrisE on here is an Alps expert.
You want BenJonesMtb.com he does a tour of Mt Blanc and is a good guy to boot.
we're doing it in july again for my best mates 50th. phil from mbmb is a mate of ours and is plotting the route etc for us 🙂
cool. I'll check them out.
Went with mbmb, really good trip, hard going
I remember being in a hut having a warm and some italian marines saying we were crazy going over the top with bikes, made us laugh later, but was scary at the time
Another shout out for MBMB here.Did this 15 years ago guided by Phil and its still one of the best things I've ever done on an MTB.Properly epic !
Whiteroom may do it, top people. 1st on my list for this sort of trip when I get the chance.
These do it, never been with them but I am on their mailing list because I keep thinking about doing the haute route.
http://www.ridethealps.com/holidays/tour-du-mont-blanc/
I went with bike alpine but that was ca. 1995, but Richard is a nice guy.
www.bikealpin.de/tour-details/tour/transalprunde-um-den-montblanc/
Can be done on your own with only a couple of maps, a bit af planning and if you are competent being in the mountains. Late June to mid Sept. Plenty of details out there as its one of the most well used routes. Will prob make you want to do more adventurous stuff after that!
C
Just booked onto a Ben Jones tour for this summer. The Mrs was a bit tentative (generally under selling her own skills) and he took the time to call and talk through riding experience and the expectations of the tour. Really looking forward to it.
As ChrisE said, if you're comfortable in the mountains it's fairly easy to organise without a guide. As a route it's hard to find anything bad to say about it.....as long as you don't try it in peak walking season of last weekend in July to first couple days of September. Especially the last week of August when the Ultra trail du Mont-Blanc cavalcade is in town!
[url= http://www.chamonixbikeblog.com/2012/tour-du-mont-blanc-day-1/ ]http://www.chamonixbikeblog.com/2012/tour-du-mont-blanc-day-1/[/url]
[url= http://www.chamonixbikeblog.com/2012/tour-du-mont-blanc-day-2/ ]http://www.chamonixbikeblog.com/2012/tour-du-mont-blanc-day-2/[/url]
[url= http://www.chamonixbikeblog.com/2012/tour-du-mont-blanc-day-3/ ]http://www.chamonixbikeblog.com/2012/tour-du-mont-blanc-day-3/[/url]
[url= http://www.benjonesmtb.com/mont-blanc-enduro.php ]Ben Jones[/url]
Ridden with him at Les Arcs when he was with TA. Great rider, lot of fun. Bumped into him last year at Beaufort while he was leading his Mont Blanc tour. We did consider signing up this year for his Mont Blanc tour. Looked well organised with trailer back up & gear moved to hotels each day.
I can recommend ridethealps.com , Jamie is a great guide and knows all the best of the Alps
I can recommend ridethealps.com , Jamie is a great guide and knows all the best of the Alps
If you can, I would try to avoid staying in towns, where a van can dump your bags and instead stay at high altitude huts. It is much more of a mountain-experience.
C
Another vote for Ben. Not done any of his solo stuff, but he was great when he guided us in the TA days and was doing a fine job of managing the Les Arcs resort for them last time I stayed there a few years back.
Thanks for the support guys!
reggiegasket, we run a week long Tour du Mont Blanc... but a version of it where we stay a little further out from the official route to enhance the experience. Staying off the official footpaths gives us the following advantages:
1. We pick our route based entirely on how good the trails are to ride - not because they form part of the official tour.
2. We can make use of the lift systems that circle the Mont Blanc massif to gain some of our height. This gives us 23000m of descending for 5000m of climbing over the week! That's around 4000m of descending each day!!
3. We virtually don't encounter walkers - certainly not on the level you'd find on the tour.
4. We stay in comfortable hotels - not refuges. They are still set in spectacular locations - but creature comforts come in handy if it's a bad weather week!
Like the Tour itself, it's still a tough week with some long climbs - but we like to think that by biasing our route towards descending we achieve a few more smiles per miles!
If you are interested we have dates in July and August with space. There is more info on our [url= http://www.benjonesmtb.com/mont-blanc-enduro.php ]website[/url].
Get in touch on ben@benjonesmtb.com.
Cheers,
Ben
+1 for Jamie at Ride the Alps. Done a couple of point to point rides with him including TMB. He lives for it !!
cheers Ben. I'll send you a mail tonight.
Our trip report from the autumn:
I'd love to run a guided trip, just because it was loads of fun, but no definite plans at the moment.
Photos seem to be knackered on that thread for some reason, see here instead:
Ben's route looks awesome BTW, just had a wee look. Very different from the "classic" route, but definitely loads of great riding and, as above, way less walkers.