so I have booked the ferry and bought the tent, so is this a good base for riding, it doesnt look far from les arcs which is where we are looking at, Campsite we are looking at is le versoyen, if i knew how to put a link on I would but I dont, what Im after is a nice campsite close enough to the lifts if possible the I dont have to use the car, any advise would be great
thanks
craig

perfect base, been twice. ideal for all the Les Arc area, and some bigger natural rides. the funicular is brilliant for repeat downhill trails.

i fancy a week there with the road bike myself.

Camping Le versoyen is nice, close to the big supermarket. Opposite end of town to the funicular bit it’s only a 5 minute ride to it. Funicular takes about 10 mins to get to arc 1600.

There’s other places you can ride from bourg as well, la plagne is just hop across on the cable car from les arcs. Tignes if you have a car and I th ink there’s some other places too if you have a car

cheers ton

can you take your bike on the funicular thing, thats a train?

Yeah bikes fine on the funicular

you can indeed mate.

and can you then get on chair lifts and cable cars from the top of venicular? its all new to me this and wanted to go for a long time and the mrs wants to do it as well so we are excited but dont know out about the area, thanks for your help so far, this site is so good for getting advice before we head of

you can get right to the highest of the Les Arc resorts with you bike via the lifts.
get a day booked with a guide, it is worth you cash.
there are some natural trails that are truly epic that drop back into the bourg area.

The only problem with camping in Bourg is that it can be very hot at the bottom of the valley. great riding when the lifts are open all around the area and vehicle access to a number of other top spots in an hour or two for a day trip.

If you aren’t using the ‘train’, it’s a long climb…

Check dates, as the lifts aren’t open for bikes until June.

The good thing about staying in Les Arcs is you dont always have to go UP straight away, You can come down, then go up.

Bad thing about Bourg, It does get hot on the Valley Bottom, And it gets redders in the Fernie,,,,,, Ice cream from the shop at the bottom helps relieve this tho,

And yes all the way to the top for some stunning riding, Infact its great riding everywhere.

I like staying in the valley for access to the supermarket, bakery, bars, shops etc. It’s really not that hot 😆

If you stay up the mountain and you miss the last funi back up its a bit of a pedal home 😆 (saying that, we are up the hill this year!)

You won’t need to use a car to ride from Le Versoyen. Nice campsite.

But the car will get you to Tignes, La Rosiere, La Thuile etc.

oooh yeah, Actually FORGOT to mention the last Fernie, You don’t want to arrive at the base to see it slipping up the track, That would be Harsh…………… Wallop, are you speaking from Experience? As that happened to us last year.

add in St Foye if they are still uplifting and you have lots but no car will be a pain. Look at local lift/guide options you may need a translation but as others will confirm Yvan is bonkers and great on the trails
https://www.facebook.com/Ybomtb/?pnref=lhc

Nah, I don’t think I’ve ever ridden right through til 7pm – usually having a beer by 5pm.

Where were you staying when you missed it?

Peisey, had a few mechanicals on Poundstretcher, then another, and it got to the point where we started to realise if we didn’t get our shit together then we were gonna be pushing. Then the group had another pinch flat and another, tired teddies at the end of a long day at the end of a long week, I think trying to nip that off as a last run was a bad idea,
Not sure if we came out in the wrong place or took a wrong turning near the bottom but the pedal across the Valley floor seemed to take for ages. We could see the track but it wasn’t getting any closer, crossed a few rivers over bridges and scooted through park areas and playing fields on dusty bermed paths but as we got there the inevitable happened.

Edited to add, I seem to remember stopping for longer than we should have at the German Anti Aircraft Gun Emplacements and tunnels on the hill, looking out across the valley, might have lost a good half hour there.

ok looks like we have found a place to stay, last thing, I am not good with heights at all, how big a deal would that be getting to the top of the hill, I have never been in a cable car, sounds daft but im sure im not the only one
cheers
craig

The fernicular not an issue, most of the lifts are easy, chairlifts might wake you up a little

i guess once you have done one rest are easy

Exactly that, Fernie as Mike said is a train type thing on a track, The lobster pots are a bit tricky the first time you get on, The 2nd time you will be straight in and looking at the newbies.

The chairs are highest, but not that high, you will spend most of your time on the chairs looking at the trails to see if you have ridden them and watching others ride them down as you get winched up.

Highest of all is the Vanoise Express, “Which takes you across the valley” to the other side away from the bike park bits to the more natural stuff. “Best Riding” But thats a big box like a Van, fits at least 12 bikers in, When are you Going?

I would disagree with that and say most of the best natural riding is on the Les Arcs side. Sure, there are trails to be found in La Plagne but the lift system is not as extensive and the different lifts are open on different days, which can be confusing.

For me the better natural was the St Foye side of things 😉 some of the stuff off the Rosarie and above coming down from Tignes

The cable across is only open on certain days, if that’s working then the other lifts are working, the chairs on the other side aren’t as extensive but for me that was the best riding of the lot,

Can’t remember all their names? But white lines, miners strike, gold miners and some others, it wasnt nearly as busy across there and was much steeper and more natural, the arpette chair then a pedal up onto the Bellecote was fantastic.

Mike, Just linked to YBO’s site, that Gliders V riders debate is interesting, and to see that its MTBing’s fastest growing segment,

At the risk of hijacking this thread, my missus and the kids have decided that we should return to the Alps for this years family holiday. We’re more than familiar with the non-biking things to do in and around Morzine (Ice skating, Morzine pool, Rafting, Avoriaz pool, Lac Montriond etc) – my question is, are there similar lounging around opportunities in and around Bourg St Maurice? We will have a car if that helps.

Take a look at the les arcs summer link above, last time I was there it was one huge activity holiday resort for families.

At the risk of hijacking this thread, my missus and the kids have decided that we should return to the Alps for this years family holiday. We’re more than familiar with the non-biking things to do in and around Morzine (Ice skating, Morzine pool, Rafting, Avoriaz pool, Lac Montriond etc) – my question is, are there similar lounging around opportunities in and around Bourg St Maurice? We will have a car if that helps.

We looked at what felt like every Mountain resort West of the Urals with exactly the same requirements and ended up booking a Chalet in Les Brevieres on the outskirts of Tignes.

I will be there for a week, july 16

What bike would you recommend for led arcs? Would a Giant Anthem with 100mm forks be enough if you avoided the DH runs and didn’t do many big jumps?

milkyman – Member

ok looks like we have found a place to stay, last thing, I am not good with heights at all, how big a deal would that be getting to the top of the hill, I have never been in a cable car, sounds daft but im sure im not the only one

Google vanoise express, prepare to shit your pants. I ****ing hate that thing 😆 It’s basically a conservatory being transported across a bottomless valley on a string (also never done any riding on the other side that was worth the slower transit, maybe it exists)

I’m bad with heights… Mostly chairlifts are fairly low level, there’s some much higher lifts at Les Arcs but I don’t think they tie so much into the bike trails. I hated chairlifts the first few times but soon got used to it. If you’re on one with a keen skiier/boarder, be aware they’ll often want to raise the bar before you get near the station, they’re more used to it. So I sit with my foot on the bar to make that impossible 😆

I’d want more bike than that personally- I’ve always had my Hemlock out there, 160mm front, 120mm rear. You could use a dh bike and a lot of locals seem to but for me it’s trailbike territory. An Anthem will do it, under the right rider but it’s not ideal (in fact first time we went we had 2 people on Anthems Xs) If nothing else, the amount of ground you cover doing an uplift holiday is enormous, and you’ll often be either riding the same trails several times and getting faster and faster, or riding unfamiliar trails as quick as you dare and getting really in the zone- it’s harsh on bikes and it beats up riders. Course, you don’t have to do uplifts etc and we did some more laid back rides, but self navigating XC is going to be harder, not to mention that you’re basically visiting a chairlift epicentre so it’d be kind of a shame not to.

And regarding the trails… Well, some people spend a week in Les Arcs. I could, I think, especially knowing a reasonable amount of the unmapped stuff. La Rosiere is pedallable too. Getting some guiding to get out of the park would be a good idea. But I’ve been down there 3 times with white rooms and there’s better riding nearby- St Foye, La Thuile and Pila over the col into Italy especially. Maybe it’s one of those deals where it’s fine until you know there’s better? In which case, sorry 😆 (St Foye’s bus uplift is good but I don’t think I could make use of it without a guide tbh; I had no idea where we were going, where to meet the bus, etc)

Tignes up the valley is kind of more UK trailcentrey, the trails are mostly less good IMO but we had a great brain-out lower difficulty day of just charging around blues and reds, a nice change of pace.

Appreciate you have a plan already but I really reckon there’s a lot to be said for guiding, especially the first time. It’s a holiday multiplier- it costs money but it means you find the best trails, and you avoid wasting time by staying off the worst and not getting lost, or having to seek out food/bike repairs/all that jazz. Above all it’s a safety net, if I spanner myself up a big mountain I like to have someone who parlies frenchies and knows exactly where we are… Probably the reason the area is so well known is having Trail Addiction, White Room and Bike Village all in the vicinity making it easy for us.

There is loads of good stuff in La Rossiere to on the otherside of the valley from Les Arcs

Its awesome, even working there for a season I was still finding new stuff on my last day…
I know Sam at Bikevillage may be able to help with some guiding (There are bits that you just wont be able to find running blind) or indeed may be able to point you in the direction of someone who can?

Milkyman, not a 100% sure but I think we are out there the following Friday, looking like we will training it all the way down, not done this option yet? Not sure on Cost either?

Bourg is an ideal base, particularly if you have transport, but if not youve still got access to LA and La Plagne, and can ride up to te lift into la rosiere and on to la thuile.

The nice thing about Bourg is that there is bits of everything available so you can pick what suits your bike to an extent. A lot of it is trail riding so your anthem will cope, the local trails are far less about hucks and jumps BUT descents are long, steep and rough and you and the bike will take a battering over the course of a week.

In the course of an uplifted week you can be doing 20k+ m descending which does take its toll.

Does anybody have recommendations for accommodation for a long weekend in the Les Arcs area? 5 of us with a car – would like secure bike storage.