Alps – where to go (other than Morzine)

Time for somewhere new!

We’re looking more for XC, or rather not full-on DH. Lots of singletrack would be good, rather than large, loose fire roads.

We’d look to plan the holiday ourselves ie not go with a package holiday, but also appreciate we may need a couple of days riding with a tour guide to be shown the best bits.

All suggestions greatfully received!

les arcs
you ll need a guide to find the best bits

Visit The White Room. Get to go to Les Arcs, Italy, around St Foy etc.

Verbier with Bike Verbier, Verbier with Bike Verbier, Verbier with Bike Verbier, Verbier with Bike Verbier, Verbier with Bike Verbier, Verbier with Bike Verbier, Verbier with Bike Verbier, Verbier with Bike Verbier, Verbier with Bike Verbier, Verbier with Bike Verbier, Verbier with Bike Verbier, Verbier with Bike Verbier, Verbier with Bike Verbier, Verbier with Bike Verbier, Verbier with Bike Verbier, Verbier with Bike Verbier, Verbier with Bike Verbier, Verbier with Bike Verbier, Verbier with Bike Verbier, Verbier with Bike Verbier, Verbier with Bike Verbier, Verbier with Bike Verbier, Verbier with Bike Verbier, Verbier with Bike Verbier, Verbier with Bike Verbier, Verbier with Bike Verbier, Verbier with Bike Verbier, Verbier with Bike Verbier, Verbier with Bike Verbier, Verbier with Bike Verbier, Verbier with Bike Verbier, Verbier with Bike Verbier, Verbier with Bike Verbier, Verbier with Bike Verbier, Verbier with Bike Verbier, Verbier with Bike Verbier, Verbier with Bike Verbier, Verbier with Bike Verbier, Verbier with Bike Verbier, Verbier with Bike Verbier, Verbier with Bike Verbier, Verbier with Bike Verbier, Verbier with Bike Verbier, Verbier with Bike Verbier,

Bike Verbier – that’s one I was trying to think of. So has anyone done a DIY trip to Verbier, then?

Megeve

I went, funnily enough, with Bike Verbier and I really can’t recommend them highly enough. You will need a guide if you want to get the most from the region, especially if you’re looking for more XC trail type riding.

I don’t know what the cost differential would be between going it alone or going with Bike Verbier, but the value of having the guides would be worth it on its own.

Add in the fact that the food is top notch (I mean you would be thrilled to get what they serve in a half decent restaurant), the accommodation is lovely, they have a garage full of spares and tools that is also secure, they know the area better than anyone else, they pick you up and drop you off at Geneva, they have WiFi, cold beer and tea and cake waiting for you at the end of each ride and you could pay twice what they ask and still feel like it was a bargain.

But the most important part of their service is that everyone rides what they want to ride. If they have a mixed group, then the group gets split and one guide will take you on the trails you want so that everyone is happy.

It was unequivocally the best week on a bike I’ve had in 23 years of riding mountain bikes.

+1 Bike Verbier – amazing riding and a superb company whose experience and local/regional knowledge really sets them apart. You’ll never find the very best stuff without them to be honest, especially since most of it is away from the resort and accessed by a mix of van, pedalling and tiny little local chair lifts in the back of beyond. I know folk who’ve tried DIY in Verbier and totally missed out on the best singletrack, plus it doesn’t even make economic sense when you add up all the DIY costs – I found this out for myself one year.

Verbier!

+1

Check the digital supplement (if you are a subscriber) in issue 71 for why 🙂

mbmb.com

Megeve

Got any more details on Megeve? I’ve just moved to Geneva and that’s one of the closest places

If you love technical single track I would recommend Les Arcs. You do need a guide, but only for a couple of days to unlock the trails, they are stonking!!!!

Booked on with Whiteroom for my first trip to the Alps this summer, fingers crossed for a corker.

bikevillage!

Booked again this summer in Les Arcs with The MountainBike Chalet , looked after us superbly last year and cater for all standards of rider .

les arcs was unreal – singletrack was epic !

The problem with Bike Verbier is that you get your riding skill’s ass handed to you on a plate by a cheeky little northern lass.

And Phils jokes are terrible.

BikeVillage.

EDIT: And get to ride Les Arcs, La Plagne and the Beaufortain.

Just to balance things up, Ms AD and myself have ridden at Les Arc and Verbier self-guided. We’re still alive, we had fun and it was cheaper.

Can you use the internet, read a map, fix your bike if it breaks? Yes to all 3 and you have plenty of options.

Or you could try Chamonix, it’s easy to find the trails and there’s even a guide book available. Plenty of singletrack, rather than groomed DH, though much of it is pretty technical.

There’s some nice milder singletrack at Gap and Valloire (for example), why not visit a few locations, shame to go all that way and spend 100% of your time in one resort.