You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
Waaayyy back in the day - think it was 1996 or 7 - me and the (now) Mrs went to Les Gets for a mountain bike holiday. Now thinking of going back with our little 'un who will be 4 next summer.
Question is - what is it like nowadays? I'll be doing some biking 😆 but will also want some non-bike/non-biker walking etc plus something for Mrs and Mini to do when I'm out and about.
I'm just concerned that the whole place will be like a giant Glentress carpark on a bank holiday weekend - rammed with youffs maxing it to he power of rad? 😕
Or should I be going somewhere else altogether?
It'll be expensive, but it is (well was the last time I went about 4 years ago) still good fun and doesn't feel like a skate park.
It's lovely, which is why I bought a place there and go back every winter and summer.
Lots to do for grown ups, a bit less for the smaller ones. There are the ubiquitous donkey rides etc, but for me one of the attractions of the place is being able to take a chairlift up, walk along a ridge, and take the lift down - ideal for the kids. You're obviously within easy distance of Chamonix (take the railway up to the glacier, walk inside it etc), there are several aeriel walkways (rope-things) which at the lowest level would be fine for your young 'un, there's Lac Montriond, the summer sledge-run (fantastic!), a new swimming pool to be completed for next summer...loads of stuff. Not sure you'd be able to do even the most gentle of the white-water rafting-type activities though.
Whilst there are a fair number of Vaderesque characters shredding rad to the power of max (sadly, I'm one of them), they don't take over the town, and the lift queues for non-riders are very short.
You've hit the nail on the head - I'm concerned that it has turned into a big skate park.
Dazzling - don't worry, it hasn't. Still reassuringly middle class and expensive!
Stayed in Les Gets last summer with another family (Chatel the year before) 4 kids between us ages from 9 -16
We did a lot of biking - my kids are into it but there is so much else to do. The walking is great - try the Roc d'Enfer - and as nicf says there is loads to do. The stormtroopers congregate close to town - it's not difficult to get away from that but it feels quite chilled - I think the highlight of my 11 yr olds son stay was overtaking a group of fully armoured guys of DH bikes who then "high-fived" him when they caught him up!
My wife and I visited Morzine and Les Gets this summer and loved it. Our secret was to go the last week in August just before the lifts shut - our very nice accomodation in Morzine was circa £80 each from Rider's Retreat or the like. Overall it was pretty quiet especially Les Gets, but far from a ghost town.
We did mostly XC, but you have to put the effort in to find the trails away from the tourist runs. Prior to arrival i'd read a lot of on line moaning about braking bumps on the downhills - it wasn't that bad and I was only on my stumpy, let alone a max sick downhill bike.
I went to Les Gets again in 2009 and head a great time. Went to Chatel this year and I'll not be going back. Skate Park to the power rad pretty much sums it up. I guess it will hit Les Gets eventually but I don't think it has so far. Funny, when I started riding in the PdS, Chatel was the xc/trail end and Les Gets was the hard core end.