[Closed] Alps riding educate me

Well the alps is a very varied range from France/Switzerland/Ital/Austria and a bit more... It's whatever you want ti to be from flat out DH runs to tech singletrack and cruisy stuff with lifts and pedal up options.

If your tight on time the flying makes sense as you will arrive fresh and something fully catered takes a lot of the stress out of it especially for a solo traveller.

Camping is available in lots of areas but it doesn't always appear in the right places so best off starting with what you are after and what you like and go from there.

I should mention cost is a issue too hence full board would probably be too expensive. I was hoping to go with 2 or 3 others so was planning on driving but maybe flying could be ok depending on transfers. I was thinking driving as I fly a lot for work and know how bad the transfers can be!

Alpine transfers are normally done by the ski guys so just book one and get picked up at the airport and be dropped at your accommodation.

Morzine is probably the nearest. Can be done in about 8 hours from calais. Fairly cheap accommodation available. Not especially cheap to eat out but not too bad if you are happy with pizza, pasta, burger and chips.

A big plus is that the trails are well marked and there are loads of them. You just need to buy a lift pass and get out there. No real need for a guide or extra transport. It's about 20 Euros a day for the pass.

I can only a couple of pointers, I've been to Morzine loads of times and Les Arcs once.

The only resort I could find a scheduled daily transfer for was Morzine, it was pretty cheap €30 I think, when we tried to find transfers for Les Arcs the only option was to charter a bus for €300 or so - we hired a car, it was cheaper.

As for Flying v Driving.

Driving is boring, but easy - it's about 8/9 hours from Calais to most of the Resorts in France. It cost about £400-£500 per vehicle both ways based on not driving like a nutter, using all the toll roads and a tunnel crossing. For me it means a 4am start and arriving at the Resort about 6pm without rushing too much.

Flying is more stressful but quicker. It's a 90 min flight from South of the UK to Geneva (it's hard to find flight to the airports near the Alps in Summer) and on Easyjet it's usually about £150, plus hold luggage £40 and Bike £84 (return) for me. Transfers are €30 per person for Morzine. It's not as night and day as you might think time wise though about 2 hours last time (I flew, some friends drove down) by the time you get to the airport 90 mins before the flight (you need to get there early with over-sized luggage) fly, wait for bike to come out, transfer etc. If you fly a lot for work you might not find it so stressful, but for me the over-sized luggage thing adds an extra element of arseache.

Different resorts do have different feels to them - Les Arcs has a bit (okay a lot) of bike park stuff but it's spread out and not always the best, most people go there for the off-piste stuff, you'll need a guide and it's technical stuff.  The great advantage of Les Arcs is the weather is usually great.

Morzine is part of the PDS area, it's MASSIVE, there's endless trails both official and sign-posted and off-piste, the resort is in full-swing in summer whereas some of the others are ski resorts at heart and a bit ghost town out of season. Morzine is the 'obvious' answer, it's easily the biggest resort in summer and there's a good night life off the bike.Downsides are it's the 'obvious' answer and some people don't like that, the main 'motorway' trails get a very torn up during the season and braking bumps will make you cry in pain in the end, oh and the weather is very changeable.

"how it works" easy really, you buy a pass for about €14 a day, less if you buy a week or a few days at a time, this gives you access to all the bike adapted lifts, at the top of the lifts there's sign posted trails of varying difficulty some head back down to where you started, some to other areas - use a trail map and explore - you can go all day without ever really pedalling if you want. Or you can take a guide who'll hopfully keep you out of trouble and show you some off-piste stuff to mix with the sign-posted trails.

Trail are usually steeper than the UK, and usually longer - but that does mean they're usually less crammed with features so you get a big of a breather between jumps and stuff

ive no interest in going back to Morzine myself, but its probably your best bet for the first trip...

driving is the way forward. dont waste a day driving tho, do that shit over night when the lifts are shut!

last year we left home at tea time after a day at work, drove through the night and were on the first funni up to Les Arcs the next morning! adrenaline gets you through the first day!

also having the van with us meant we rode a different resort almost every day - not to mention all the kit and spares we were able to carry!!

All good info thanks. Just read about
<h2>Grand Massif, anyone been there?</h2>

Don’t write off full board. Have a look at Tignes - Chalet Chardons is fully catered, and £45 pppn including booze. It’s amazing - 4 course dinner, and cake after the days riding. Add in the fact Tignes/Val D’Isere life pass is free for MTB.

We did a 4 day trip, driving from Sussex, for £300 each all in.

Don’t write off full board. Have a look at Tignes - Chalet Chardons is fully catered, and £45 pppn including booze. It’s amazing - 4 course dinner, and cake after the days riding. Add in the fact Tignes/Val D’Isere life pass is free for MTB.

We did a 4 day trip, driving from Sussex, for £300 each all in.

Wow definitely worth a look at that price

What spare do people take if driving? Tires, cables..

Not much, spare brake pads, you can get through loads of them if you drag your brakes whist you get used to the steepness, but one set will do me for a week these days. Mud tyres used to be a must, but the trails are better surfaced now.

TBH, in Morzine anyway there’s loads of bike shops, they’re not overly expensive. A spare hanger isn’t a terrible idea because you might not be able to pick one off the shelf.

Is there any Les Arcs-type riding to be found in the PDS?

Done Les Arcs a few times going Morzine this year.

Prefer driving and I'm in Lancs, you can pile everything in- spare parts, full amount of tools, every bit of riding gear you own etc. You can buy everything there but I prefer being self sufficient and enjoy tinkering on my bike with a beer after a decent days riding.

<span style="font-size: 0.8rem;">Get a midnight sailing out of dover, clear Paris in the early hours and get into the Alps mid morning.</span>

Ha . You are happy driving from the lakes and I am questioning my self for east Dorset. I need to htfu.

I am questioning my self for east Dorset. I need to htfu.

Not really  my kit is up to scratch these days, I don't need massive amounts of spares and arriving having not driven for 10hrs means it feels more like a holiday

I would never consider driving to the Alps  I'm less than an hour away from Manchester Airport and the flight is only about 2 hours

Is there any Les Arcs-type riding to be found in the PDS?

Yeah, the area is huge there’s a bit of everything. Worth getting a guide if you want the steep rooty stuff

Don’t go anywhere near Paris on the way down. Reims, Troyes, Dijon, Alps. Traffic is good, plenty of nice services.

Spare brake, something like a 20 quid deore..... spare tyres (you will destroy them), 200mm front rotor at a minimum, comfy grips, wide bars and a decent set of pads and helmet.

Remember "the alps" are about the size of the UK, you can find anything. That's good, but also means it's harder to find exactly what you want.

Honestly guiding is a huge value adder, it's not that expensive and basically takes all the rest of your holiday and multiplies it- no time spent lost, no time riding shitty bike park trails because you don't know where the good stuff is, backup if you break the bike, emergency backup...

Les Arcs is an awesome area- Les Arcs bike park is alright but the offpiste stuff isn't too hard to find and it's basically the centre of great riding- La Thuile is like super-innerleithen, Tignes is kind of like a UK trail centre with lifts, Pila's descent to Aosta is incredible... Saint Foy has great riding but harder to access unless you have a Stevomcd, La Rosiere is actually decent, there's loads of leg-powered riding... One for the trailbikes, I love it round there.

I would never consider driving to the Alps I’m less than an hour away from Manchester Airport and the flight is only about 2 hours

I’m less than half an hour from Manc airport but prefer driving after trying it for the first time last year.

Besides the flight may be 2 hrs but you are there 2 hours earlier, takes an hour to get there, an hour to get out at the other end and then another 2 hours transfer, plus all the hassle of packing & building your bike and scrimping on what to pack because of the weight limits... it also takes up a day that could be spent riding!

https://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/morzine-for-the-day-earlymid-aug-anyone-up-for-a-meet-up/#post-9802113

I’ve done 4 big group Alps trips in recent years. Morzine x 2, Les Arcs & Tignes.

All 3 have a big lift system. Morzine ( Or Portes du Solleil as the full ski area is known) is the biggest. For a long weekend, any Alpine resort is plenty. I haven’t run out of riding at any of them.

Morzine used to be the default answer. It was the first to embrace summer mtb Bike parks, mainly due to its low altitude beaning snow melts earlier, giving a longer summer season. Now many other resorts see a summer income stream and are following. Most resorts don’t open for mtb until 2nd week of Jul due to snow melt.

Having just come back from Tignes last year I’d say it’s perfect for a first time Alps trip. It’s not as DH Stormtrooper central as Morzine, but there’s plenty of black stuff if you want it. Plus the trails are nowhere near as busy.

What to take. As one of the groups mechanics, I’ve had to repair/replace:

Worn pads

broken spokes

loosened stems.

worn through Rotors ( 😳😳)

snapped cables

broken brakes.

ripped tyres.

smashed rear mech

i would take if space permits:

full toolkit

trackpump

mini compressor/airshot.

spare wheelset ( too many standards these days is a PITA)

spare brake set

cables/bolts/mech hangar

bleed kit/grease/brake cleaner/chain oil. (Dust gets everywhere & dries/gunks stuff very quickly - clean & lube every night)

FWIW I have a load of GPX files of the PDS area if anyone needs. I'll be back out again this summer, I'm still finding new stuff after a decade plus of visits. Top tip, to avoid the crowds, get away from the major centers of Morzine, Avoriaz, Les Gets and Chatel.

Having driven and flown from South Wales many times I'd always drive. Home to Dover = 4 hours. Ferry = 2 hours. Calais to Les Gets = 8-9 hours.

I really enjoy the drive, especially the section through the Jura. The tunnels and viaducts are awesome.

We loved Les Gets as a more family and quieter resort - and a swim in the village lake at the end of a days dusty riding was just ace....properly ace. I had not fully appreciated how by getting up and first lift from Les Gets we could get right over to Switzerland and other valleys in France over the course of a day - much better than battering the same trails constantly - and it required a minimal amount of pedalling still... The day pass gets you on all the lifts - amazing being 10-15 miles away from Les Gets, enjoying a swiss drink, thinking that we had another four lifts and four big descents home in 25*c and sun...made the last lift by a few minutes to get home again - 35miles and 11,000' of descent (and less than 1500' of ascent...) in a day.

I took steel hardtail, keeping it real, and managed everything that big DH and endure steeds were managing. Knee pads and open face bunnett.

We did damage some bikes - I broke spokes (braking bumps on HT!), eldest_OAB a tyre and a chain. We all used / wore disc pads quite a bit.

Besides the flight may be 2 hrs but you are there 2 hours earlier, takes an hour to get there, an hour to get out at the other end and then another 2 hours transfer, plus all the hassle of packing & building your bike and scrimping on what to pack because of the weight limits… it also takes up a day that could be spent riding!

Unless you live in Geneva I think your days riding has been taken up with driving. 1 week with bike shops about and 2x23kg is easy to work with, get a deal on ba business and its 2x32kg, evoc packing is 15mins, rebuild about the same. In Oz I finished a run packed the bike in the bag in the car park and drove to the airport its not particularly complicated

Besides the flight may be 2 hrs but you are there 2 hours earlier, takes an hour to get there, an hour to get out at the other end and then another 2 hours transfer, plus all the hassle of packing & building your bike and scrimping on what to pack because of the weight limits… it also takes up a day that could be spent riding!

It is just that I find driving so boring.

17 hours of driving I think it is to the Alps.

1 and a half hours on a plane. Getting to the Airport / Getting through the Airport / transfers / Rebuilding the bike. All take time but nothing like the time behind the wheel and all this even tho it's hassle it's a lot less boring than driving.

I used to fly to Geneva and then train transfer to Verbier. Now I drive. It is an easy drive and after having one bike damaged by baggage handlers I am happier not having to worry about the bike being trashed.

I live in Geneva and fly or drive to the uk many times a year. I wouldn’t consider driving over to ride. It’s just not worth the effort.

fly, get here fresh and enjoy your time on the bike.

The french and swiss can’t drive for shit so let the bus driver take care of that for you.

Bring a mech hangar, tyres and pads. You can get anything else here.

sun screen is essential pretty much all year but more so in summer.

NOTE. I have easy access to the alps but usually ride the Jura mountains. I think they’re more enjoyable.

FWIW I have a load of GPX files of the PDS area if anyone needs

Speaking of GPX files. Does anyone have any GPX files for the "good" off piste riding at Les Arcs and St Foy?

I used to fly to Geneva and then train transfer to Verbier. Now I drive. It is an easy drive and after having one bike damaged by baggage handlers I am happier not having to worry about the bike being trashed.

I'm more worried about myself than my bikes. Driving to the Alps has a much bigger risk of getting injured or killed in an accident. Far safer to fly.

I've always driven as it's great to have your own car out there. If you have enough drivers you can drive in shifts and everyone has had a snooze by the time you get there. You can easily travel between venues then and no hire car costs.

Accomodation: Free wherever possible! You can usually get away with pop up tents in lift station car parks if you turn up late enough and pack away early.  Hammock is a good backup if no other options. If you want to stay a few days there is loads of campsites.

I reckon Aosta valley (Pila / La Thuile) is the best uplifted unless you are taking full DH rigs in which case go places that have been recent WC or IXS DH venues. Verbier is awesome. Lac Blanc is a good place to hit on the way out to break up the drive.

Has anyone any views on Meribel riding? I'm just back from a great week skiing there and noticed the 3 Valleys Enduring being advertised.