Tried the search but a lot of the posts are pretty old, has anyone been recently?
Whats it like now for the bike park trails and other trails in the area? Anyone recommend a guide who knows who can show the good trails?
Will be in the van at Val D'Isere.
bump in case anyone can help
Soz, didn’t reply first time round as you said recent....
Been there twice with fam and was defo the favourite out of Verbier,Champery, Meribel, La Plagnes, les Arcs etc.
Val campsite is hot, shadeless and full of RVs. Tignes campite is much nicer BUT you have to use the tiny shuttle in the morning.
The Enduro routes are great. Theres less than there were but still a good few. Much more techie and pedally than the DH and more interesting.
The one down La Face at Val is enorme.
Dont try and do the vallee perdue by bike. It doesnt work!
I did two bits of exploration... the terrace along the north side of isere just above val is ok, but by no means spectacular. I also pedalled up col d' iseran ( pads and all!) to come down the footpath GR? It was a bit meh TBH.
Tried, and i think succeeded, to find the rest of HEIDI belowthe dam in the subsidiary valley, but never summoned the courage and taxi to drag wife and 11 year old kid down it on spec.
So, sorry, not really got much useful info. But sinceyou bounced I thought I should post what I could.
Thats the usual stomping ground of Stevo and the crew @Whiteroom. Might be worth contacting them? might have a space for day guiding? or suggest another local?
Thanks for that, appreciate it. Looking for a campsite thats reasonably central to the resort/lifts, and Val looked like it fitted the bill (have to accommodate my wife as she wont really be riding).
Only really been to Morzine & Bourg area in the Summer on the bike in France. She needs a gym she can walk to daily, so camp site needs to be reasonably close.
Did a couple of days at Tignes bike park last year and will be at Bourg again in Aug - I liked it fine but not really my cup of tea for more than a day. It's bare-assed mountainside with little interesting tech (that I saw), just 100s of jumps. Did one of the enduro trails (which led to forest bump) which was very good. Hard for me to judge but I think it might be on the easy side if you're into DH - rode all the reds no bother, 1 of the blacks was too hard for me on a short travel bike, but still gave it a go. I wouldn't generally go near a proper Alpine black DH run.
I'm sure some folk would be happy on that all week but I think the better riding is down the valley sides. Get in the van on trailforks and consider a guide if you can get one for a day or two.
The green trail from the top of Val D'Isere lift was really good for beginners if your wife wants to get out on the bike - massive elevation drop but gentle gradient down and pretty smooth.
Went about 5 yrs ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. At the time lots of folk on here were busy slagging it off for being no better than a bunch of trail centre red runs. We thought it was great fun and enough to keep us happy for a week. If you want black runs and Porte du Soleil gap jumps then you’ve probably made the wrong choice. But on the plus slide it isn’t full of lager-swilling Brits in vans.
We don’t have kids but if you do there is plenty to do off the bike too. The lift passes used to be free if you stayed in a hotel there but I have heard this is no longer the case. I would still go again.