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After a youth spent visiting as an alpinist, rediscovering the alps on a mtb bike has been a revelation, really blown away by how good the riding in the Alps actually is, sampled both DH and classic alpine singletrack loved it, now looking for other venues, any recomendations for a born again alpine biking noob, can't wait untill next time.
PS. We were based in Chatel.
Verbier and the surrounding area. Go with www.bikeverbier.com if you really want to reach the very best stuff (and eat like a king, sleep like a log etc). Amazing place, amazing set-up.
Les Deux Alpes
Alpe d'Huez
Would like to do the Mega track at some point, is this worth it ouside the race.
Been thinking of Verbier, just the sort of riding i enjoy.
The mega track is fun and riding the glacier is certainly different. You can also visit Les deux while in the area. The Venosc run is a highlight.
Les Arc is wicked too.
Based at Chatel, you must visit Morgins. It's brilliant.
The stuff in the Isere valley is superb, have a look at some of the photos on the White Room FB page to get an idea of the amount of good riding on offer.
going out to Les deux alpes and Alp d'huez in just over a week 8)
quite excited.
Actually the more i think about it, is there anywhere in the alps that is actually rubbish, i doubt this very much.
Please feel free to spray about how good youre visit has been.
Everywhere.
But yeah verbier is excellent but don't forget about the rest of the 4 vallees and the general sion valley area. Fantastic riding all over it if your willing to pedal.
I've done a fair amount of checking out potential riding areas in the Alps and certainly found plenty of duds, just because the terrain's lumpy doesn't guarantee decent riding... saying that, the usual suspects are good for a reason!
In general I find Italy and Switzerland keeps me going back for more, Graubunden especially.
definitely don't go to Aosta / Pila, it's rubbish.....
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davos , switzerland if u love natural single track ,just come back awesome trails
Maxtorque woosh!!! ...sorry i don't get the joke, that looks like glentress, irony? isn't aosta/pila known for mega alpine descents.
Just been to Sainte Foy with the whiteroom. Awesome. Had a day at pila which was great, the 11km freeride trail from the top right down to aosta was absurdly fun!
Would people recommend Aosta/Pila or La Thuile? We are staying in Tignes so fancied doing one on a day trip. Also going to spend a day or two at Les Arc
^^
OP yup brilliant way to explore in summer and imho fascinating to compare resorts summer vs winter too.
In my view the guided holidays are cracking value, they know the best trails (not on any map), have access to van / 4x4 uplift, fully catered ... etc. Some ideas below
Bike Verbier are legendary and uplift and ride away from Verbier itself some days for great trails that are otherwise hard to reach.
White Room highly recommended too, great riding in a variety of resorts above Bourg St Maurice
Basque MTB
Verbier and Chamonix you can do as a 2 resort holiday 3-4 days in each only 60 mins apart
We have done that self guided a few times but you'll only scratch the surface that way. Also Tour du Mont Blanc for an adventure.
Finally the Portes du Soleil has much to offer, I have been maybe 6 times in 10 years, aside from marked bike trails there is plenty of off piste and also nearby options like Samoens which I am hoping to explore in a few weeks.
Quite different riding between Pila/Aosta and La Thuile!
La Thuile is super steep techy, shorter trails than plunge off the top of the mountain into the woods. It get's er interesting in the wet too....
Pila is more bike park at the top, wider faster, not too steep, certainly more bermy/jumpy. Run down into Aosta from the top is ace, literally hundreds of lines through the woods, over different trail features of varying sizes (from mild to wild!)
Head to Austria. Loads of amazing places.
Alpe D'huez! Its awesome!
by the way the video above is the megavalanche qualifying track. In my other videos on my channel i have my videos from the race on there and a little headcam of Pila.
If I had to choose between La Thuile and Pila for one day, I'd go to La Thuile. Both a great, but both different and La Thuile is closer to Tignes 8)
Cheers guys
Les Arcs/surrounds is basically my perfect area, might not be yours but it's got everything i want. St Foye drover's paths, Pila has the best single descent I've ever ridden, La Thuile is like mega-innerleithen, Les Arcs itself and La Thuile have good bike park stuff (La Thuile blues and reds are great for a chill day off having to think, they're very UK trailcentre), La Rosiere similar but more interesting, Les Arcs obviously famous for La Varda too and then there's buckets more Just RIding Around. I could spend a month in the valley no bother. I reckon it needs a guide to get the best from though.
And THEN there's the beaufortain too...
would like to do the Mega track at some point, is this worth it ouside the race.
Yes definitely! Its crazy how much variation in terrain you have in a single trail. A real adventure!
You can also visit Les deux while in the area. The Venosc run is a highlight.
Agreed! The red DH from Les Deux Alpes down into Venosc is my favourite track ever!
Great beta, La Thuile looks right up my street, italian side of mont blanc towering above wowser. Tried to get there this year, but couldn't find the right accomodation.
So who has been to Beaufort, did it become the next best thing?
Shit, my last post says "la thuile" in a bunch of places where it should say tignes
Yeah i did think it sounded strange when you said it was like a trail center, where as the enduro trails at La Thuile look very natural.
Interested in La Thuile vs Pila too, will have a couple of days either side of a week in Landry to kill. Have done a fantastic ride in La Thuile which I think we can resurrect from gps.
More into flowy techy singletrack than wide trailed bike park jumps berms etc.
I was wondering North, when you said you can ride La Thuile Reds without thinking! I did that, for about 5 yards, caught my pedal on a hidden root, and went OTB in massive stylee.... (luckily, the trail was sooooo steep i didn't really fall down and hit the ground, more just did a massive forward roll down the track 😉 )
Just spent the last 3 days in Livigno, some super sweet trails! 2 gondolas- one side Hans Rey designed flow trails, other side bike park, north shore knarl etc. Everyone is super mellow, the trials are very well built/ maintained- almost all the bike park is single track stuff, and some walkers paths are open to bikers, which makes for some very interesting lift assist xc. It's also a tax free zone, so super cheap!
We just did a week in Pila, going back next year for more of the me.
Awesome fun especially on downhill bikes.
spendtoomuch - Member
Would people recommend Aosta/Pila or La Thuile?
Pila, fast, flowy, swoopy, long, great cheap coffee half way from top to Aosta.
La Thuile, steep, techy, great ice cream, shop at the bottom
From memory. Take your pick.
bigjim - MemberInterested in La Thuile vs Pila too, will have a couple of days either side of a week in Landry to kill.
1 day at Pila bombing the Pila-Aosta trail (and maybe the top trail, I never rode that, it was shut) and not bothering much about the bikepark- which is fine, it's just not Incredibly Awesome like the lower trail.
And all the rest of the time ploughing through dust and rattling off roots at La Thuile.
I've ridden Morzine/Les Gets/the PDS area, Les Arcs & Beaufort/Albertville/Destination X and enjoyed them all.
A good riding buddy has just come back from Valberg and the Maritime Alps. I only have his report and pictures to go on but it looks ace although a little more searching out of trails is required.
@MTB well the first thing to do is get some pointers from him 8)
The second is to share them with us !
Just taken delivery of this book, outstanding imagery, seems to cover most bases. https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2015/jun/18/top-10-mountain-bike-rides-alps-france-italy-switzerland
A few of these have gone under the radar, thats my hols organized for the next few years!
Maybe a better question would have been "where's good [i]when[/i] in the alps?"
I'd say June: Portes du Soleil, 'cos it's open and there's not too many braking bumps yet
July: Aosta valley, not too busy, Pila and La Thuile running great and all the shuttle/pedal stuff is free of snow
August: Down south into the Mercantour, you'll probably melt in the heat, but there's plenty of rivers and lakes to cool off in
September: Chamonix and Verbier, dot between the 2 enjoying the open lifts and amazing walking trails with hardly any walkers on them...
...but then I've never ridden east of St Luc so that's another 1/2 of the range to look at!
Just back from a weeks biking in and around Montchavin near les Arc. We had a local french guide from evolution 2 who is based in the village. Best biking I've ever done. A mixture of bikepark and out of the way singletrack. Well worth the money