Europe destinations – without lifts

Im thinking im going to go on my own holiday next year and fancy Europe for some mtbing. After watching Vast too many times im really taking by the destination in the final sequence…anyone seen it and know where it is? Im not fussed about lifts, want some but im twisted enough to enough going up as we’ll as down…im not wanting lift-assisted every day.

So where should I be considering? Need to start planning now as im awful at saving so need to start banking the money now!

You should read jenn’s article in issue 75

just head south till you hit the alps, buy a map of the area and camp somewhere.

Kleinwalsertal in Germany/Austria?

I’d need to subscribe to read that…will start nosing at maps and Google maps I guess.

have a look at gps-tour.info for routes

pretty comprehensive, especially for german and austrian alps.

Thanks, will do.

riding in the proper mountains without lifts is hard – there’s soo little flat and the slopes tend to be steep so it’s v. tiring (from experience).

If I were doing such a trip I’d be looking at stuff like Jura, Vosgses (sp) etc, more mellow but less dramatic of course.

hmmm.. not totally true, al.
plenty of proper mountains with relatively easy going climbs of 1000m or so with pure singletrack descending…

Zell am See for example…. i even managed to drag the GF up there!

(discount the second row of hills, they are 3000ers)

fair enough, I was thinking of the main venues

How about Spain – Sierra Nevada mountains. Marco at Ciclo Montana will give u all the climbing action u desire!

Some areas I have been this year that were really good: Sospel/peille, alpes du haute verdon (Allos, lac du castallane), Vosges, tet valley in the pyranees orientale. The problem with riding in the mountains without lifts thought is the climbing sucks, minimum 1000m (and sometimes 2000m) sometimes for a 15-20 km ride.

Zillertal in Austria is an incredible place if you don’t mind riding uphill
As well as down (your description fits)

http://sommer.mayrhofner-bergbahnen.com/index/download.php?Language=de&DownloadID=10000000283

Any chance that pdf is available in English? Looks good but no idea what it says…or is there an online resource that will translate for me?

Thanks for the suggestions so far. Im happy to use lifts but I don’t want every ride to be lift up and bike down.

The location in Vast looks ideal but no idea yet where it is. I’ll do more digging, cheers.

Im on holiday just now and only got access via my phone so not the best for research, hence my post here…im not entirely lazy and I can do research myself but the suggestions so far are excellent starters.

I couldn’t find it in English, but it will be available at the tourist office (they will post if you call)

The website is in English, but the link goes to a German PDF.

http://sommer.mayrhofner-bergbahnen.com/en/100349/100351/mountain-biking-action-mountain-penken-mayrhofen.html

Forger about peuple sospel, riding is sh1te and locale not friendly. Plus during summer you are forbidden to rire on the trails

Forger about peuple sospel, riding is sh1te and locale not friendly.

Boll o cx

Well I live there and if it was nice I’ll know about it
Stick with les getz and morzine muuch much much much better

Well I live there and if it was nice I’ll know about it
Stick with les getz and morzine muuch much much much better

Out of interest, where would you recommend as being so much better?

Well not down here for sure…

Ibiza Spain. Is full of trails. highest point is 475 meters above, but you can cycle up and down all day or up once and down some..up some more then down again or mix it up however you like. stunning scenery warm weather and great atmosphere. There’s more to Ibiza.

Well I live there and if it was nice I’ll know about it
Stick with les getz and morzine muuch much much much better

Morzine & Les Gets can be Ok but not the best the alps has to offer. It has scale on it’s side but is also crowded and can be worn out in places.

Some of the Swiss (expensive), austrian and others look better.
After that Tarentaise Valley (les Arcs and Way more) fits the bill, after september the Lifts mostly close but the best stuff can be done with Lift Help on road. We did a few days where you could do 1-3 shuttles with a couple of hours riding between them. Have a look at white room back country weeks.
This ride had 2 road shuttles before a final run back from the valley floor (in other vid) A great day out.

In the Sierra Nevada, Las Alpujarras, Southern Spain, do not forget http://www.bikingandalucia.com at prices that should not break the bank too!

For your VAST reference- I’m fairly sure that’s Gornergrat/Gorner Glacier.

majorca was pretty good for us last year, big mountains, but not too big, biggest is 1600m.

Were trying out malaga this year

@DickBarton – IMO Morzine and Les Gets are exactly what you don’t want. What I would say is don’t discount some form of uplift even if that’s a bus or mountain railway (eg bus from valley floor to resort then ride down), if you ride up you can typically do one 1000m climb and descent a day, with an uplift 2 or 3 – seems a waste to miss out on the extra riding. You might also look at some of the guided holiday companies which offer holidays after the lifts have shut so it’s a combination of van uplift and climbing. Trail Addiction do this for example.

@DickBarton – I found this site and have been working through it, very interesting. Google Chrome will translate and the notes are really interesting. You do need to do some reserch on which areas you want to search. 5,500 routes …

utagawavtt

There’s lots of awesome single track descents and climbs in the Briancon and Embrun areas of the French Alps, buy a map and explore.

We had a great week riding around Zermatt once (camping in the much cheaper Täsch). There are lifts but I did a few days riding up – then meeting my friends at the top for descending down. You could also look at riding around South Tirol / the Dolomites and Lake Garda. I’ve done some great riding there and it’s quite different from the French resorts. Also I’ve done a few days biking in western Slovenia which was not so technical but an amazing place to visit.