Les Arcs warning

This year the lifts don’t open till 7th July.
http://www.lesarcsnet.com/item_files/les_arcs_summer_lift_timetable.pdf

My group are going on the 30th June to Bourg st Maurice

luck for us.

Tignes is open and free http://startlinemtb.com/?page_id=199

La thuile, italy is open http://www.lathuile.net/datapage.asp?l=3&id=41 & http://www.lathuile.net/datapage.asp?l=3&id=191

La Plagne lifts are open http://www.laplagnet.com/lifts/dates.html

Looks like its just the les arc lifts that are closed that week.

The funicular usually runs even when the cable cars don’t though doesn’t it? That gets you to 1600 at least.

La thuile, Italy is a right giggle. Awesome Ice cream too!

Best way to get to La Thuile is to ride down to it from the top of the St Bernard pass. Awesome fun. Stevo from the White Room guided us down that way.

The funicular usually runs even when the cable cars don’t though doesn’t it?

I thinks so but are bike aloud on when the other lifts are not open to bike?

ChunkyMTB – Member

La thuile, Italy is a right giggle. Awesome Ice cream too!

Best way to get to La Thuile is to ride down to it from the top of the St Bernard pass. Awesome fun. Stevo from the White Room guided us down that way.

Best days biking I have ever had was in La Thuile last year doing what sounds like the same route as you. We did run into a group from The White Room.

Going to Bourg St. Maurice on 7th July. Good timing then 8)

I thinks so but are bike aloud on when the other lifts are not open to bike?

We used the funicular when the other lifts weren’t open (Chunky – we did din’t we? I’m not going mad am I? It was 2009, mind!). It was pretty empty and nobody questioned the bikes.

Quick topic question – I’m thinking of heading to Les Arcs for the first time this year. Previoulsy ridden Morzine, Morgins, Chatel etc.

I’m a bit worried that Les Arcs won’t offer the same adreneline kicks from jump, drops, gaps etc. What do you think?

Bike wise I’ve got an Intense Slope Style and stick a pair of Totems on the front for Alpine shenanigins…is that overkill is Les Arcs?

Funicular is generally NOT open outside of the lift season, other than for a day or two of very limited service.

****! I’m out there for two weeks from the 30th.

Must be going mad then Stevo. I thought we used it on our backcountry week.

*goes for a lie down*

saxabar- might have spair spot in cars for trips to the other near by locations. Tignes, La Rosiere, la thuile, val ‘isere etc….

@ mainmonkey king. It doesn’t, somewhere like tignes or Deux alpes would be better.

I always go to the Tarentaise when the lifts aren’t running…don’t need them if you’re on a ‘Backcountry’ week 🙂 Besides, the lifts down give you access to the best stuff.

My 4th trip coming up on 9th June…..can’t wait.

@ mainmonkey king. It doesn’t, somewhere like tignes or Deux alpes would be better

+1 Tignes only 45mins drive from les arcs and this year there linking up with the val ‘isere lifts so, World cup DH track maybe!?!

And the lifts are free at tignes!

My sister has a place in Tignes – didn’t realise they had starting doing biking there.

How does it compare with Les Arcs/La Thuile?

Ianv + scottfitx – many thanks. I’ll go investigate. I was close to going back to Morzine but when I went a few years ago it did nothing but rain. So now I’m comparing the avg rainfall to other places! Les Arcs meets the climatological requirements but perhaps not the riding I’m looking for…

It poured down for 36 hours solidly in Les Arcs last July so I wouldn’t expect it to be any drier than anywhere else in the alps!

How does it compare with Les Arcs/La Thuile?

150 kms of trails of the Bike Park: 12 downhill trails, 5 enduro courses, 2 X-country courses. There are no trees. But for free it is amazing.

Here are the trails:
http://www.tignes.net/en/summer-sports/maps-of-the-bike-park-322.html

Rickos – Member

Must be going mad then Stevo. I thought we used it on our backcountry week.

*goes for a lie down*

Don’t think we used it in 2009. We took the van up and then climbed over to La Varda remember. 2010 everything was open.

Don’t think we used it in 2009. We took the van up and then climbed over to La Varda remember. 2010 everything was open.

For La Varda- did the van take you up to les arc 2000 or some where else? going to ee if we can get to ride it when the lifts are closed.

Yeah, The White Room van took us to 2000 and then we rode and hiked over the very top. Steep down the other side!

Cool so first bit is ride up the fire road and then hike-a-bike the that bit?

When I went with Coolbus, we were dropped off at Col de Petit St Bernard and then dropped down to La Thuile from there down some very off piste stuff – it was an epic day! My GPS tracker died at 2pm having done 70km already and we were out until gone 6pm when we rode back down into Bourg St Maurice in time for a quick beer and the last funicular!

Happy days!

Cool so first bit is ride up the fire road and then hike-a-bike the that bit?

Something like that. We were some way left (as you look up from 2000) of the Plagnettes and Arcabulle lift station at the top.

cool vid where was that ??

mainmonkeyking – Member

Quick topic question – I’m thinking of heading to Les Arcs for the first time this year. Previoulsy ridden Morzine, Morgins, Chatel etc.

I’m a bit worried that Les Arcs won’t offer the same adreneline kicks from jump, drops, gaps etc. What do you think?

Bike wise I’ve got an Intense Slope Style and stick a pair of Totems on the front for Alpine shenanigins…is that overkill is Les Arcs?

If you’re a park rat then Les Arcs isn’t for you. If, on the other hand, you love natural trails that go on for mile after mile then you’ll love it. The SS would be ideal, last year I just used the full-blown DH bike for a week, awesome fun – just meant I had to pedal a little harder now n again

For anyone reading this who has booked on a trailAddiction holiday week ( I know at least two of you have panicked and emailed us already!) – FEAR NOT.

trailAddiction has a very special relationship with SMA – the local lift operator, who work very closely with us on all aspects of mountain management and single track access in the area. This includes scheduling the lift opening timetables.

For anyone riding with a trailAddiction guide this summer, Im pleased to confirm we have special provision to open any lifts that we need to uplift our groups, in order to run our holidays as normal. We’ve agreed a special timetable for this directly with SMA for that week in question when the resort is not fully open to the general public.

Bad luck to anyone else who has mis-timed their dates…….we still have a few slots left for those dates to join our groups, or otherwise Id suggest some of the alternatives listed here. Tignes is a good alternative for bike-park and big-hitting riding but is very limited on good single track. La Plagne is superb but the lift system is limited unless you plan very well indeed, La Thuile is superb but probably only 1-2 days worth of riding there – Aosta / Pila is also great and not too far once you’ve made it as far as la Thuile.

However, you might also want to consider checking out a little known place not so far away that you’ll ALL be talking about a few years from now, if we’ve got anything to do with it………and its fully operational from the start of July, and less than 1 hour away from Les Arcs (2 hrs from Geneva)

Destination X

Drop us an email if you need any more info on any of the above

hughjayteens – Member

When I went with Coolbus, we were dropped off at Col de Petit St Bernard and then dropped down to La Thuile from there down some very off piste stuff – it was an epic day!

Aye it’s good innit 8)

@mainmonkey king. Have a look at Andorra (Valnord/grandvalira) excellent weather usually and top bike parks. In the alps, there are some good southern ones like orcieres.

scottfitz – Member

Cool so first bit is ride up the fire road and then hike-a-bike the that bit?

Yep a bit of bike on shoulder stuff and a walk through some snow. But well worth what awaits on the other side 😮

Last time I rode La Varda the small lift at the end was working. So that dumped us back up to the other end of Les Arc, which was nice! Then tranversed across via sweet singeltrack.

Update on this. There will be a limited service from 30June-7thJuly in Les ARcs. Funicular open, Cachette open, some lifts in Vallandry open. Transarcs prob not, meaning a drive to Arc2k+pushup/cycle to top of Transarcs.

Phew! today has been a bit of a panic 🙂

saxabar- might have spair spot in cars for trips to the other near by locations. Tignes, La Rosiere, la thuile, val ‘isere etc….

Hey scottfitz – thanks for the offer, but it should be OK. I’m staying with the Mountain Bike Chalet so am waiting to hear back if they have anything in place. It sounds like with the inclusion of a few excursions to other spots, all might not be lost! I’m also taking a Slopestyle out with me so 1000s of mtrs of peddling isn’t quite what I have in mind!

I was in Les Arcs last week. I had some interesting chats with some locals regarding brewing user conflicts on some trails. This is a pity as I have ridden in Les Arcs a number of times and have really enjoyed the riding there, but trouble at t’mill may be on the way…

who were you chatting to?

nobbyq – Member
cool vid where was that ??

Unsure exactly which run but it ended up in La Thuile eventually!

Cheers for the reply (trail addiction). I am also heading out with trail addiction first week of July, so it’s good to hear that everything is going to be running.

Martyn

I’d rather not say ash, but NOT a competing business.

One conversation was focussed on the use of VTT on ‘walking’ trails, and the resultant erosion and perceived ‘near-miss’ incidents. The person felt that steps were taken to signpost that the trails were not for bike use – I don’t know it this is true or not – and felt that these signs were deliberately ignored.

Another conversation was the old chestnut of the requirement for ‘French’ qualifications and the likelihood of enforcement.

Some second-hand information was passed regarding competing MTB companies regarding trails as ‘their own’ and chastising others for using them. Again I have no idea if this is widespread (which I doubt), an isolated incident (perhaps possible), or untrue (again, possible).

From my point of view, I really don’t want to see Les Arcs (or ANYWHERE ELSE) go the way of Chamonix with Arrete Prefectorials issued forbidding mountain biking on the majority of trails. Harmony isn’t easy.

From my point of view, I really don’t want to see Les Arcs (or ANYWHERE ELSE) go the way of Chamonix with Arrete Prefectorials issued forbidding mountain biking on the majority of trails.

Nobody wants that less than us locals. I WILL say that I see more people than I would like to (or, more people than we used to) ripping the place to bits like they don’t care, but it could be way way worse. The notion that any one company thinks it owns the trails is long perpetuated myth: anyone can use any trail, but I do freely berate ANYONE I see locking brakes and cutting corners 😉

The chats you speak of are things that have been talked about since about 2006… “next year there’s going to be this in place, that in place”. It doesn’t happen. The “no biking” signs that were put up in 2009, were put up WITHOUT the permission of the local mayor and without ANY arrete municipale in place. In other words, they were officially worthless signs.

That said, there are two particular trails in the Peisey Valley that trailAddiction chooses not to ride (and asks others not to ride) because we would like to do our bit to ease simmering/potential trail conflict issues in a few hotspots.

Respect the trail, respect other users (be it walkers or other riders) and everything will be tickety-boo. Les Arcs is, as a one-resort lift-accessed “package”, overall the best place in the Alps that you can ride. Certainly the French Alps. Let’s keep it that way.