[Closed] Fat Biking - Groomed Snow trails - Scotland??

Groomed trails is a pretty rare thing in these parts, though it does happen occasionally. I had no issues riding them on my fatbike around Glenmore etc. In fairness most folk that use the trails aren't skiers and just hire stuff for a try. If there is good snow cover(enough to cut track proper, inc skate track in centre) then you may find the
guys from Glenmore lodge out in force,

As above. Groomed XC trails are sometimes available but you'll screw up the skiing if you're riding in the grooves.

Groomed downhill trails are more common higher up but you really need to be very careful if there's other folk around.

I've done it a couple of times but, in general, I leave the skiing area to the skiers. They've paid for uplift, there are few enough good days and there are other, prettier, parts of the mountain to play on.

I'll probably be up Cairngorm for a couple of night rides in the next few months mind...

Rickmeister should be able to fill you in on some of the stuff near him in Germany though.

I took my Bucksaw up onto Glencoe for the Bluegrass enduro (more DH than enduro) last year and I reckon through the winter they might be amenable to a fat bike up there (at the end of the day before the pistes are groomed), worth popping in and asking them.

I've also fat biked in Kanderteg, SWZ which was fantastic on the snowshoe trails, traversing over to Leukerbad was amazing. Val Gardena would be my pick for the winter, as they look to have some great trails open for fat bikers.

There are some XC ski trails in some of the forests that I like to ride in. I've ridden them in the summer, but wouldn't consider riding on them when there is snow on the ground. They are groomed by a couple of dedicated volunteers for the XC-ski crowd and the last thing they want is some bozo on a fatbike trashing the grooves that they've just spent hours cutting. I kind of see this as central to my right to responsible access. If I wanted to ride those trails I could and we all know that, but I choose not to out of respect for other trail users.

I wonder whether the sled-dog trails near Aviemore might be fun for a ride, but I'd need to speak to a sled user to make sure I wasn't going to be ruining their fun first.

On the plus side, there is plenty of space for us all up here. Lots of trails get packed down by other users (hikers etc). But it's worth remembering that the snow up here is very different to that in US (or alpine) resorts as it tends to melt and freeze more often, so gets icy very quickly. In practice we rarely get enough to stop a fatbike though, so I'll usually just head for untracked trails and accept that I might need to push or carry the odd bit.

I've seen comments on (US) fat bike sites recommending lowering tyre pressures to the point where you leave a flat bottomed track rather than a curved one.

In general I'd say there's enough trails to go round that you shouldn't need to mess up XC skiing trails. Worth asking locally or checking forums/Faceache groups as well.

Continuing from Scotroutes...
Black Forest, I use the winter walking trails all prepped by the council. I also use the XC / Langlauf trails. These are mostly on fire road width areas and have both skating and traditional i.e. grooves, prepped.

I ride on the skating area only and as Colin said, keep off the grooves to the point of getting off and lifting over. Folk are curious to hostile having not seen fat bikes in the main but are agreeable once they realise there is almost no track and I keep away from the grooves.

I did get threatened with arrest for trying to cycle up an access road on one mountain and didn't push it as the access here is delicate as it is.

Two areas I know in Switzerland take bikes on pisted areas and lifts: Andermatt and Kandersteg. T-bar tows are interesting on a bike... but it works, as does cramming in a gondola with skiers who seem to like squeezing tyres. We are off to Andermatt on an organised event where the pistes are open for bikes only at night.

I usually call ahead to ski areas on their policy and respect what they say and don't push it. Access is getting easier and doesn't need screwing up at this stage, especially in Austria which is very restrictive any way.

I have found the best option is to crack on, be very polite, give way to walkers, smile a lot, pat dogs, let people look at the bike etc etc...

Forgot to add, the absolute best is what I would call "Snowgletrack"

This is made by snow shoe aficionados and are the perfect firmness and width and often the only way a bike can cross areas of deeper snow.... and have great comedy value straying 5cm off to the side at the bike just sinks and its an OTB....

Winter walking trails are fair game, often 4wd width and prepped, so a great surface and wide enough to avoid conflict.

I tried to post photos but Flikr is not behaving...

Neither is Vimeo ..

Probably my most memorable day out... Kandersteg

Austria
https://vimeo.com/191391527

Also think about snowmobile trails/ice roads/lakes etc. in Scandinavia, which I guess (i'm not a fatbiker...yet) are similar to the kind of stuff used in the US and for Iditarod. I think that is what the Rovaniemi 150 is based on too, and there are lots of that kind of trail across Scandinavia - along with their 'everyman's right' access rights...

EDIT - just writing that made me wonder why on earth haven't a ridden stuff like that already, i've been longing and not doing for too long 😐

As above, snowmobile trails are popular here in Scandinavia. XC-ski trails are absolutely off-limits. There are a few smaller trail-centre-ish pplaces that have prepared winter trails (Högbo is near me, but I know I've heard mention of others). I'm guessing that the amount of prep involved maybe just isn't worth it most places in the UK.

From my experience of this year's Rovaniemi 150, fat biking in snow depends hugely on the snow and weather conditions. Fresh or unconsolidated snow beyond 4-6" is near impossible to ride and making progress can only be achieved with big tyres, low pressure and gears - I'll be going back next year with the biggest tyres available, wider rims and some hope that I can ride a bit more - pushing for 100km+ is pretty tough when you're sinking up to your knees with a fully-laden bike. Snowmobile trails can be pretty hard going - the snow gets pretty chopped-up if it freezes is like riding on a wash-board - but step-off the edge and it can be thigh-deep which makes re-mounts fun when the bike is at shoulder-height. That said, riding alone and at night in that kind of wilderness is an awesome experience.

Forgot to add, the absolute best is what I would call "Snowgletrack"

This is made by snow shoe aficionados and are the perfect firmness and width and often the only way a bike can cross areas of deeper snow....

This ^

Some of the best riding I can remember was during one of the 'epic' winters (2010/2011?). A lot of the lower trails in the Pentlands (the ones popular with local dog walkers etc.) had been walked and compacted into a perfect width and firmness, didn't even need a fat bike. The trails rolled super fast because of the hard smooth surface, and all the usual obstacles were snowed over, so it was basically following the contours of the ground and the twists and turns of the trail, but on a super fast smooth surface.

But yes, if a wheel strayed and inch or two of the side of the trail comedy ensued...

some nice videos there rickmeister. Thanks for posting. Is there a list somewhere of ski resorts that let you ride and use the lift systems somewhere at all? I'd love to go biking in a ski resort during the snowy season.

Probably my most memorable day out... Kandersteg

Haha, Love Kandersteg! I took the moonlander over the gemmi pass with my buddy split boarding a few years back, biking around the frozen lake was certainly an experience. Some of the best trails in kandersteg are in at the base of Ochienese around the forest, or follow the snowshoe trails over Hof and down to the trout/blue lakes.

Here's a poor video of my decent off Hof: