Chamonix Bike Blog

Author: chamonixbikeblog

Lift openings 2022 // Third time lucky

Remember 2016? Halcyon days now that.

2020; global pandemic, world in lockdown… still, at least it’ll all be over by Christmas.

2021; what another variant!?! What next, WW3, pfft.

I guess we should learn not to joke. Go fuck yourself Putin

Assuming there is a summer here’s when the lift companies reckon they’ll open their lifts, gleaned from umpteen hours checking through websites and some emails. Or, of course, I could just make up a load of dates. Prarion is open from 1st May to 25th November. Boom. Who needs researched and verified information when you can say what people want to hear? Why accept being an adult sometimes involves things you don’t like and a small loss to you might mean a life saving change to someone else? The world isn’t what you want all the time. If only I could disconnect any website that disagreed with my newly made up dates and then the lie would be true. Doesn’t matter when the lifts actually opened, who’s going to go and check after all.

Support actual, free journalism. Social media is not a substitute.

As for the last 2 years I’ll keep updating it if/when dates change (update score: ~~15/04/2022,~~ ~~30/04/2022,~~ ~~05/05/2022~~, 25/05/2022), but with any luck it’s not going to be as volatile as before.

Why I’m invoking luck is anyone’s guess.

Chamonix, from CdMB, but provisional dependent on evolution of government advice etc. etc.

Bellevue: 11th June – 18th September (closing 2 weeks later than 2021)

Flegere: 9th June – 11th September (closing 1 week earlier than 2021, opening a couple days earlier as replacement for Montenvers which is closing for works)

Planpraz: 11th June – 11th September  (same opening as 2021) then 22nd October – 6th November

Brevent: 11th June – 11th September (same opening as 2021)

Tramway du Mont Blanc: 11th June – 18th September (closing 1 week earlier than 2021)

Le Tour: Closed for 2022. Both lifts closed for replacement of the Charamillon telecabine, so only Vallorcine telecabine for uplift in 2022

Vallorcine: 11th June – 11th September (opening 2 weeks early, closing 2 weeks later….but really just the same as Le Tour dates as 2021)

Prarion: 18th June – 11th September (+ weekends from the 4th June, closing 1 week earlier than 2021)

Grand Montets: 2nd July – 4th September (same dates as 2021 but crucially, 7 days a week not weekends only)

Away from Chamonix you’ve got:

La Thuile: 25th June- 4th September are the current dates, and no EWS this year to clutter up the season. https://www.lathuile.it/en/chairlift_time.html

Megeve: 25th June – 11th September. Megeve is really 2 resorts, so the Mont Blanc natural resort bit is staggered between 25th June and 11th September (1 week longer than 2021) https://www.montblancnaturalresort.com/fr/horaires-tarifs-megeve and the Jaillet side is….still unknown. https://megeve.com/fr/ete/se-depenser/remontees-mecaniques-ete/

St Gervais: 25th June – 4th September (same dates as 2021) https://ete.ski-saintgervais.com/fr/e5-liens

Les Contamines: 2nd July – 4th September. A week shorter than the last few years, but at least it’s still open. If more folks went there to ride mibbies it would stay open longer? http://www.lescontamines.net/home_calendar.html

Grand Massif: 3rd June – 11th September. Assorted start and finish times across the area, with a usual caveat that these are their target dates and it might change yet, and that not all the areas have decided when they’re opening yet. Les Carroz is go from the 18th June to 11th September, Samoens is hosting the Velo Vert festival over the first weekend of June, so it’d be grand if they’re open from then but it’s possible (likely…) they’re then closed until 25th June. Prove me wrong Samoens! Flaine is busy cancelling the Magland – Flaine lift that would have opened up 2000m+ bike descents, so we’re not talking about them any more  https://summer.grand-massif.com/mountain-biking

Pila: 25th June – 11th September. The best bike park in all of the world, Whistler has terrible coffee, unlike Pila. Although it has published summer 22 opening dates, again, unlike Pila (although now it has, and I guessed right. Go me. Plus Couis 1 chair runs 30th July to 21st August) https://pila.it/en/summer-season/

Portes du Soleil: 29th May – 24th September. Morzine is first to put up its 2022 dates with 17th June to 11th Sept. Les Gets Chavannes side open weekends only from 26-29th May and everything open from 17th June, then 4th Sept to 18th September weekends only. Chatel is weekends only from the 10th June, then all the time from 24th June to 4th September, then weekends only again to 25th September. Champery and Morgins will probably run until late October, but that’s just assumptions, and you know where assumptions get us. en.portesdusoleil.com/

Verbier: 4th June – 30th October. Weekends only from 4th June all the days from 16th June. Le Chable to Verbier is only open from the 2nd July, although apparently there’s going to be a bus replacement service… 16th July – 28th August for Bruson. Woop. http://www.verbierbikepark.ch/horaires_fr.php

Les Arcs: 4th July – 29th August. All the info now on the website, but crucially and early communicated is that there’s no funicular for summer 2022, just the sketchy-yet-better-than-nothing bus shuttles. https://en.lesarcs.com/hiking/summer-area-les-arcs-peisey-vallandry-opening-hoursprices.html

La Clusaz: 2nd July to 28th August, and weekends only from 11th June and to 25th September. New addition to the table for 2022, here by popular demand, although hoping demand doesn’t make it too popular, fresh trails only stay fresh for so long…  https://www.laclusaz.com/ouvertures-tarifs-remontees-mecaniques-ete.html

Usually there’s a bit of a ramble here about some of the stuff we’ve been riding, what trails are in good nick, snow levels and all that jazz. Usually, but not this year. Usually I have knocked out 100+ days skiing in all kind of shitty snow without a hint of injury. Usually came to an end in late February with my first ever knee injury. This also put an end to what had been a pretty good winter of biking. Lots of pumptrack, some Finale action, good dry trails on slopes in the sun. The recovery is pretty much done but I’m being very cautious so the riding I’m doing is too boring to write about. So I wont. Instead you’ve had a selection of images from Finale in January, which was right good.

And if you zoom in really close, you can see the martian surveillance ships gathering intelligence for the forthcoming alien invasion.

04/04/2022
Smells like Digne spirit*

Cast your mind back to when you were wee.

No, a bit further back.

Better.

What job did you want to have when you grew up: Astronaut? Train Driver? Vet?

I wanted to be a digger driver, possibly due to growing up on a housing estate in the process of construction. Then I went skiing and digger driving got binned in favour of being a ski bum. Few people get to say they’ve achieved their childhood employment dreams (could Buzz Aldrin dream of being paid to walk on the moon if the job didn’t exist?) but I’m happy to say I’ve ticked that box.

Since as long ago as I can remember, the first snow of winter has got me well psyched. Not for the skiing right there and then, I’ve always liked my skis to remain mostly intact and don’t fancy blowing my knees out on a rock at the very start of winter. Nope, it’s the anticipation of what this winter could be that gets me.

The first snows of winter fell on Chamonix last week and….

Well, kinda nothing.

I was happy from an environmental perspective that it can still snow, but really I just wanted to keep biking. Only now it was cold and everything about 1500m was covered in snow.

Time to make like a migratory bird and head south.

The Terres Noires around Dignes Les Bains and Evo Bikepark have been on the to-do list for a whiles. I’ve been to the areas over by Guillaumes but not their freeride cousins to the west. Plenty friends have, to varying degrees of success (top tip, don’t try riding Terres Noires in the rain…) and it’s hard not to be aware of Evo if you watch French VTT propaganda.

Arriving at the carpark two-ish in the afternoon after a five hour drive south, group enthusiasm was high. Arguably higher than the temperature which was hovering a bit above freezing in the sun and definitely below in the shade. Navigation wasn’t a problem, Fiona and Patrick had given it a go in the wet 6 months earlier.

Apparently the trail is much easier without a body weight’s worth of dirt stuck to your frame and wheels.

We pedalled up, and then rode down. The up was easy, tarmac and gravel road at an agreeable gradient. The down also started at an agreeable angle, fun singletrack through nicely spaced trees still in full autumn bloom.

And then, with no warning, we burst out into the open and a rollercoaster trail along a rib of dark grey (I’d say slightly darker than Zeb Ultimate, not quite as dark as a Lyric Select+. How else do we know colours?) wound, meandered, then dropped, in front of us.

The trail just kept doing this; flatish fast bit, steeper bit with trees, until we hit some jumps and drops to play on. Which obviously we stopped to do because, you know, jumps.

And the light was dead good for photos.

That lovely low golden glow you get about 30/45 mins before the sun sets.

Turns out we still had quite a bit of trail to go.

More than 30/45mins at least…

It was still a lot of great riding, but the photo stops got shorter and less frequent as it dawned on us (or maybe ‘awareness set’ would have the closer connotations) that the sun was going to finish its descent before we did.

Turns out phone torches are of limited use for bike riding, but just about sufficient to stop you getting run over by cars…

Some navigational faff later, we got to our Airbnb. Which is where I’ll give a big shout out for Beatrice et Gilles at Le Doux Coin. Ok, maybe not for the precision of their directions, but the welcome, the unlimited yogi tea bags, the coffee machine, the comfy beds, the local VTT trail knowledge, the tarte aux pommes and homemade croissants for breakfast all beat that.

Day 2. By this point in their migration a Canadian Goose would be 2400 km south already. We just drove 6km to get to Evo Bikepark.

Then sat in the car for a few minutes. It was warm in the car. It was not warm outside.

Wearing pretty much every item of clothing in the boot, we got out and braved the park.

I guess if you don’t live in the alps, Evo is probably the kinda set up you’re most used to. A selection of battered vehicles trundling up a logging access road dragging an equally battered trailer behind it. For us used to chairlifts and gondolas, it was a novel experience. With 220m of height gained each lap you soon get used to it though. Depending on what trail you hit depends on how long it takes, but laps are pretty quick.

The park stays in the shade through most of the day, which must be grand in the height of a southern summer, but in an early November cold snap it meant a lot of the corners were still just a touch too icy. The new French winter tyre rules don’t cover bikes, and summer rubber isn’t designed for ice, so keeping speed for the jumps could be a bit tricky. All the better excuse for casing.

By the afternoon both dirt and riders had warmed up and things were flowing better. The tech trails were all fine for us misplaced Scottish folks, but the black jump trails were a wee bit rich in taste for our case-ability.

Red on the other hand, braw. Whip it is as close to A-Line as I’ve ridden outside of BC.

We probably had the most fun on the blue Savage Train though. Mellow, low stress and well built. And just fun to be out in a (not particularly savage) train with friends as we all tried in our own ways to learn, or re-learn, what to do in the bit between wheels leaving and returning to the ground.

Will be back.

When it’s warmer.

In the present we had food to find and the multicoloured fountains of Dignes Les Bains to watch. Oh, the cultural highlights we see on bike trips.

Day 3. The Great Snipe could potentially have covered 6800km by now. We did about 0.2% of that. Armed with a GPX trace from a friend’s previous visit and the hope that wearing just a t-shirt and shorts in November wasn’t going to be a mistake, we started pedalling up hill. Same story as Friday, lots of tarmac, lots of easy angled logging road etc etc.

The descent even started the same way. Albeit a bit better. Fast open trail through wide spaced trees resplendent in autumn orange. It almost felt Canadian, between the trees and the way the trail had been built up subtly with added support to keep the flow on the corners.

Then we came to a halt.

You know that bit in a Pulp Fiction where the case is opened and eyes widen at the golden contents inside.

Well, kinda like that. A playground of dirt lay below.

I’m not sure I’ve had an experience like that on bikes before. Skiing is the closest, the times when we’ve quested about in the trees in the hope of finding something we’ve only really imagined, and popped out to the top of a perfect blank canvas of white and drops and slashes.

The trail snaked through a labyrinth of ribs and ridges stretching far down into the trees. It was flippin’ amazing.

We could have pedalled up and gone again. If it wasn’t for our experience of Friday, and the drive home to look forward to, we probably would of. Instead, we dropped into the lower trails.

These were back to the perfectly worn in singletrack through the trees game. Only this time the dirt had dried to perfection, ridiculous amounts of grip to let you really push into every corner. The low light through the trees made everything look like you were riding in an advertising photo, only you were actually just ripping down a trail in a train with friends. Oddly, stopping for photos wasn’t a priority here, so use the imagination you’ve got and have a wee smile to yourself. Unless you’re reading this on your phone in company. Because then you’ll just look a bit weird and folk’ll start edging away from you.

Giddy with the shared stoke that comes with a stunningly good trail like this, psyche was high. There were a few wee climbs and changes in trail from hero dirt in the trees and the weirdly grippy grey shale that makes up most of the photos, but the trail remained consistently amazing.

Hitting an open field of blind drops-to-flat on the grey shale where a trail that avoided the worst of them had been marked out (and obviously ignored) we all got away with some serious miscalculations.

So, obviously, instead of learning from this I took it a step further and hit the ground. Well, somebody had to do it. Snow is definitely softer, and doesn’t take quite so many chunks out your skin.

It didn’t really matter; the trail was still going and still grand. Finishing with a short section of switchbacks before dropping into the final cruise down the road, we were nearly ready for unironic post ride high fives. But we’re Scottish, so we just muttered something along the lines of it were good that and got on with packing the car to go home.

The forecast is looking like stubbornly high pressure in Chamonix, it’s definitely not time to pack the bike away yet, but at some point sooner rather than later it is going to snow properly. The ski season will start. The biking will drop away. I’m not sure if I’m ready for that, but if this was the last trip of 2021 it was good to end on a high. Oh well, whatever, never mind.

*Full credit for the title goes to Lorne, I’ll take the credit for writing 1700 words based on the closing 9 repeat refrain. Patrick and Fiona need to up their game when it comes to helping get words out onto paper.

11/11/2021
I am just going outside and may be some time // La Grave

The year is 1912. Captain Scott’s mission to be first to the south pole is not going quite to plan. Having been beaten to the bottom of the world, they now face bad weather, worse food and multiple injuries. Knowing his gangrene and frostbite were reducing the remaining three member’s chances of survival, Lawrence Oates says those fateful words and leaves the tent to die in the storm.

Alone.

Terribly English.

We’re way past the Victorian era now (yeah I ken, it was the Edwardian, but the mindset of the stiff upper british lip prevailed. Still does if you ask the right tory) so going outside is just a good way to clear the head of demons. For some at least.

I’ve had an outstanding 6 week spell of riding. Guiding on some amazing trails with great people, organising hut trips, hitting a prime selection of bike parks with friends, playing out in groups of 1 or 2 or 10. Almost every time someone in the crew has been able to progress or ride something they’ve never ridden before. Been watching friends achieve big things too, be it newly crowned Masters World Champ Emily Horridge casually smash the entire field or best of all, riding with Lorraine Truong, actual singletrack riding with Lorraine which can’t be anything but the highlight of the year.

It’s a whole lot of good, if you ignore a couple of unpleasant injuries and some broken bikes along the way….

Which confuses my poor wee west coast Scot brain. I’m a grumpy soul and all this positivity and friendship got a bit too much for me. Fun and enjoyment can’t be good for you, where’s the misery? What am I playing at just going and enjoying myself and doing a job that’s fun and rewarding when there’s so much that’s shite in the world and I could be trying to do something about? Why do I want to just play bikes to the detriment of all the other things in my life?

Everyone seems to suffer from some sort of mental block. Makes sense, how many folk get through life never getting a stomach bug or injury? How exactly can you be expected to live your 3 score and 10 without the brain needing a lie down and a warm mug of soup occasionally? Being triggered by happiness is probably not that common, or at least I hope not, but variety is the spice of life eh.

Eitherways. After 6 weeks of riding with friends and having the time of my life, a ride on my own to look at hills and let my mind go where it wanted was needed.

Handy then I had a week in the Haute Alpes with Endless Trails MTB and the “bike park” of La Grave to learn. If you’ve no heard of La Grave you’re probably not that into skiing. I am into skiing, and La Grave has an almost mythical status for us lot.

This is summer however, and we all know how the ‘good in winter = bad in summer’ ski area rule goes.

I’ve put bike park in ” ” up there for a reason.

It’s not exactly a bike park.

I mean, there are trails built for bikes, but it’s not Pila. Singletrack with surprises…. There’s a few berms, drops and kickers, but they’re pretty rare. And unlike most parks, don’t assume every feature rolls or goes. I mean, it all goes, just mibbies not the way you think it should. There’s also no grading. Which is very similar to the winter La Grave. If you have to ask it’s too expensive can be translated to if you have to ask it’s too hard. Bring your A game or you’ll probably be walking at least a bit of every trail.

What are the trails like then? Pretty good.

First off you need to get up the hill, the La Grave lift system is just as idiosyncratic and interesting in summer as winter, but you get up there eventually.

The trails feel a lot like La Thuile did before enduro was cool (strong bit of I’ve been riding this longer than you superiority name dropping there). Rough because they’re rough, not because they’ve been battered into submission by a million Megaplowers. I made notes if you want it though, because I was kinda working after all, and professionals take notes don’t they? Goes something like:

Vallons. Scenic , ok.

Cote Fine. Favourite trail, almost fast and flowy. Almost. Huge fan all the way down, especially in the lower trees. Lots of throwing shapes and hanging off the back buzzing ass on tyre to get it round stuff.

Avag One. Rowdiest trail, a lot of looking for an exit and holding on until you get there.

Desoutter. Tried to eat my stanchions, so that’s a black mark against it, but lower part might be better than lower part Cote Fine, so if you swap trail at that point…

Chavala. Aye, pretty fun. Has slabs.

King Stone Road. Well! I guess if you’re in La Grave you got to ride it. There canny be many “bike park” trails like it, the trail “Top of the World” wishes it was. Stunning ride in a stunning place, do it even if you’re going to walk half of it.

There. I feel like I earnt that carte prof now.

Anyways, the trails are pretty engaging. Which is exactly what I was needing. Somewhere to get lost in the moment and get to yon place where only the now exists and all those things that have been clogging up the head have gone leaving the simple joy of riding a bike as well as you can.

I also felt a lot better at the end of the day than I did at the start. There’s plenty to be said for a day moving at your own pace, making decisions based entirely on what you feel not your perception of what other people want, not having the nagging doubt that someone’s not having a good time or finding it too hard or just hates your guts and is only out because they didn’t know which way the trail goes. And a lot to be said for having the time to think all that through and realise you’re probably worrying too much, like almost everyone probably is, and just get on with life. Which it turns out isn’t fair, and has little interest in what you think.

Bikes are good for all that eh.

With any luck there might be some more content appearing here in less than 5 months. It’s not that I’ve not been writing stuff, it’s just I now get paid for it to appear in IMB magazine, and much as it’s nice to vomit words into the ether here, money is kinda handy.

22/09/2021
How to ride a bike in Chamonix 2.021

“There’s no such thing as a new idea”. A phrase well kent in magazine journalism…. Is how I started the 2018 version of this, explaining why I was mining old content for a new post. Well, it’s meta squared now as I take that post and update it for 2021, because a few things have happened since then.

It is pretty amazing how much information is out there for free right now. Between Strava, trailforks, mass tracking via the 5g microchips we’ve all had injected during vaccination and all the other apps I’ve never heard of and will need to ask a young person about, you can find near every trail in existence. Instagram and Youtube have you covered for images of any feature that looks halfway good too. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction though, as we go image heavy we’re light on text; there’s not many folk still blogging in the ski, climb or bike world. So much information, so little context. So little quality frankly.

Here then is what you need to know to go play bikes in and around the Chamonix valley. Text heavy, image light. All the other posts on this site are more interesting, but it’s likely this is all you need so just read below and don’t bother with the rest of it I guess.

Also, I don’t work in marketing or sales.

Lifts.

These are the lifts you can take your bike on, you can find roughly when they are open here.

Le Tour/ Vallorcine: Lift info here Mellow angled flowy riding on the whole, with some great stuff down into Switzerland. Le Tour gondola is being replaced from spring 2021 so disruption is possible.

Grands Montets: Lift info here Limited riding, but some good trails worth a look none the less. Limited is a relative term in Chamonix after all. The original GM lift burnt down in autumn 2018 and currently scheduled to be rebuilt in 2023. Until then, the Plan Joran lift opens for bikes but the liasion between lift and start of the trails is a little bit too moonscape freeride. Still, easier than pedalling up.

Flegere: Lift info here If you don’t like rocks, tech, or big views you’re unlikely to enjoy Flegere.

Brevent: Lift info here There is a LOT of riding from Brevent, but it’s all on the steeper, more technical side of things.

Les Houches: Lift info here The much overlooked, underappreciated hotspot of Chamonix biking. Huge amounts of trails with more being added all the time and also the gateway to the larger Portes du Mont Blanc area.

Tramway du Mont Blanc: Lift info here 100 year old lift infrastructure that works great for bikes, getting you back into the Chamonix valley. Huge investment is going into new trams and stations, so there’ll probably be disruption over the next few years.

Then, not actually Chamonix, but covered by the “unlimited” Chamonix lift pass (lift pass stuff below) you have:

Mont d’Arbois Petite Fontaine & Rochebrune: Lift info here The Portes du Mont Blanc are a bit like the whole Les Gets/Morzine area, but without any people and only a couple of purpose built trails.

Jaillet: Lift info here Riding out of Megeve, and with a maze of great trails underneath it.

Bettex St Gervais: Lift info here Home to one of the best greeny/blue flow trails in the alps.

Les Contamines: Lift info here Hidden away at the top of a long dark valley, doesn’t get the attention it deserves from aficionados of lift accessed big mountain scenery riding.

Lift Passes.

So you know what lifts you can use, but what lifts can you afford to use? In 2021 you have 4 choices.

1) 25.00 euro VTT day pass which gives you a day unlimited use of the lifts at Le Tour OR Les Houches OR Grands Montets OR Megeve.

2) 35.50 euro gives you all of the above on the same day, but you need to get between the areas yourself.

3) 70.00 euro “Unlimited” pass which means you can use all the lifts listed above, and the non bike accessible lifts too, so also the Midi etc. If you’re fitting bikes around tourism then this pass is for sure the best bet, and if you’re out for a week then the full area summer pass is actually pretty good value (in Chamonix lift terms at least) at 137 euro for 6 days, and worth getting for the access to the Tramway Mont Blanc and Portes du Mont Blanc region alone.

4) Buying individual tickets each time you go up the hill which, if you want to ride Brevent or Flegere without a season pass, is sometimes the only way to do it. Or maybe you’re just off on a mission and only need the one go on a lift. Either way, the costs are here. If you want to ride any of the Megeve, St Gervais or Les Contamines lifts WITHOUT having the Unlimited pass then you need to buy tickets at those resorts. Those passes cover all 3 areas and at €18.50 are a bargain for the amount of riding available

The lift pass prices page is hidden on the CdMB website here. Another option if you’re riding here a lot during the summer is the rapidcard, which is a one off purchase of 25 to 50 euro for the card, then every day you use it is much reduced compared to the normal daypass price, with the added advantage of covering the lifts that aren’t on the VTT pass so you can easily ride the Brevent/Flegere/Tramway lifts without a fight at the ticket desk….

If on the off chance you’ve accidentally gone to Chamonix for a full season, you’ll probably want a full season pass. Info for that is actively hidden on the CdMB site, it’s actually part of the residency test to work out how to buy the pass. Here’s the start of a breadcrumb trail for anyone who think’s I’m joking. The Les Houches Bike Crew (more further down) is trying to get a VTT season pass started, so that should hopefully be a thing by summer 2021 onwards.

Trails.

There are some restrictions on where and when you can ride a bike in Chamonix and surrounds, but it’s really not that hard, you just need to ask yourself one question: Is it July / August or not?

No- Outside of July and August you can ride anywhere that isn’t the Aiguille Rouge National Park. The park is well marked on the IGN maps and with little posts on every trail that goes over the park boundary. Simples.

Yes- In July and August Arrete du Marie 010605/2020 comes into force and you can only ride those listed tracks in the valley. This really isn’t an issue. All those other trails are covered in walkers and trail runners and you canny get any flow at all. At either end of the valley, Les Houches and Le Tour, you have some different rules. Les Houches only limits bikes on the “Grand Sentiers”, so the GR5/Tour du Mont Blanc trail from Bellevue. Fine, just use the recently resurrected DH track. Le Tour has the same limits on the Chamonix side, but the Vallorcine side is a different commune, so no stoppage, and the rest of area accessed from the lifts is in Switzerland where again, bikes are allowed on all the trails as long as you give way to walkers and don’t damage the trails. Saying that, the Tour du Mont Blanc route from Tete du Balme round to Trient has an unofficial ban (think like the voluntary Snowdon ban) during the busy periods of the summer. Fortunately it’s also not the best, or even second best trail round there, so it’s no great hardship to miss it out during July and August.

If all that’s too much hassle to deal with you could always just hire a guide, me preferably: Alpineflowmtb, guiding you to your new best trail ever. If a guide is too much like someone taking away all the fun of getting lost and riding the blown out knackered trails rather than the finest, gold standard, alpine singletrack, then try getting hold of a copy of the Chamonix Bike Book. Still available from local bike and book shops.

Trail etiquette. Guess what. You ain’t that important. The town, authorities, lift company, none of them really give a shit whether you come here to bike or not. The biking euro is useful, but compared to the money brought in by walkers, trail runners, alpinistes and skiers… it’s nothing. So if one user group is going to get banned, it’ll be bikes.

Simply put, we are worth the least to the valley. So we kinda have to play nice and not give anyone the excuse to extend any of the existing restrictions. For 99% of the folks biking in Chamonix, this isn’t a problem but there’s always someone who doesn’t quite get it. A refresher if you need it; Say hello (or bonjour, salut, ciao, whatever you’re comfy with), smile, make eye contact, slow down when passing other trail users, slow down to a stop at the side of the trail if it’s narrow, don’t skid every. damn. corner, don’t make cut lines. And some of you really won’t like this but outside of the bike parks, maybe don’t wear a full face helmet. If you’re riding quick enough to think you need the extra protection, you’re probably going too fast for a shared use trail. If you are worried about the trail being too technical and you think you’ll be crashing lots on the way down, perhaps an easier trail will be more fun for you, and most folks walk at least one section on a long descent. A full face lidded, goggle wearing rider barreling down the trail is pretty intimidating and freaks folk out. But, if folks can see your face and make eye contact, conflict is way less likely. Almost everyone you meet is going to be friendly and encouraging, so please don’t give the 1% any more ammunition than they can already make up.

Since 2018 there’s been a wheen more riders out on the trails…and building trails. This is great, but is also causing a bit more friction in a few places. So, the Les Houches Bike Crew came into being as a trail advocacy group to both campaign for new trails, coordinate building new, sustainable, trails and work on keeping and expanding the access we have. It’s early days and like all new groups, not everything is perfect, but there’s some new trails and events in the valley that wouldn’t have happened without them and the crew provides a vital link between the lift companies, Maries (who aren’t always as anti bike as you might think) and other parties with the riders of the valley. So, if you want to try and help have the MTB voice heard, or want to support the building and maintaining of trails in this bit of the ’74, you can join or donate to the leshouchesbikecrew.com

Or to summarise, again: Be nice, say hi. Don’t be a dick.

Public Transport.

Sometimes you want to take your mode of transport onto another mode of transport. In the Chamonix valley you can use both bus and train with the bike. There are bike buses that run from late June to early September each year and are in practice free (best carry your carte d’hote just in case, but you’ll rarely be asked to show it) and take you from the town centre to the lifts at Prarion and Le Tour. You can also fit up to 5 bikes on the trains, or considerably more if no one is being a jobsworth, but don’t count on that. The train is free between Servoz and Vallorcine with your Carte d’hote, you have to pay for it from Le Fayet up to Chamonix or from Vallorcine onwards to Switzerland. You can check the train times here.

What’s a carte d’hote I hear you ask? Well, when you stay in a chalet/airbnb/hotel/campsite/whatever, the proprietor will charge you “tax de sejour” or a day tax for being a tourist in the valley. Part of what this tax gets you is a business card sized, umm, card which is for free transport in the valley. If you don’t get given this either your accommodation provider has probably forgotten, so ask them for it. If you’re staying with friends the tourist info office will happily sell you a card for about the cost of 1 train journey, so it’s a fairly simple cost/benefit analysis to make.

Bike hire and repairs.

Sometime you break your bike and it can be fixed. Sometimes it can’t. Sometimes that super lightweight rigid singlespeed fat bike just ain’t gonna cut the mustard. Sometimes you decide you want an e-bike. All and more of these issues can be dealt with at the following places: Slash, Zero-G, Legend CHX, Sport Spirit

Other stuff.

What is the best bike to ride in Chamonix? Any bike you want really, but the Airdrop Edit is hard to beat… DH focused geometry without being a DH bike, 155mm travel at the back with a bit more at the front, solid reliable build but more than capable of going up the hill under your power too.

I’ve finished riding, where do we toast a successful day shredding the gnar? Anywhere that sells Sapaudia beer. Obviously. Which just happens to be Bighorn, Le Vert, Delice and Beckett & Wilde, with other bars having it occasionally on tap.

Yeah, pretty blatant, but Airdrop and Sapaudia have both believed in me and this blog enough to help out when they have plenty of other things to be cracking on with (like making excellent bikes and fine ales), and continue to do so despite me cranking out recycled content like this which in turn is helping you out, so why not support them a bit too for the help you’ve just got.

21/04/2021
Lift openings 2021 // Roll the dice

Last years version of this was easily my most edited post ever as I tried to keep up with when lifts would actually open. Anyone want to put money on this year going to the original schedule below?

Nope, me neither. But here’s all the dates you want and need anyways, with updates coming thick and thick as I have them. Last update: ~~08/04/21~~ (post is up for a day and updated already)  ~~09/04/21~~ ~~18/04/21~~ ~~27/04/2021~~ ~~03/05/2021~~ ~~19/05/2021~~ ~~21/05/2021 29/05/2021~~ (and all lifts now updated so any changes from here in means la merde has met le moulin. Again.) 21/06/2021 (quelle suprise)

Chamonix, provisional dependent on government advice (https://www.montblancnaturalresort.com/fr/ouvertures)

Flegere: 12th June – 19th September,
Brevent/Planpraz: 12th June – 12th September, then 23rd – 7th November
Tramway du Mont Blanc: 12th June – 26th September
Le Tour: 12th June – 12th September (but work has started on replacing the lower gondola, so this has even more chance of going wrong)
Bellevue: 12th June – 5th September
Prarion: 19th June – 19th September (+ weekends from the 6th June)
Vallorcine: 26th June – 29th August
Grand Montets: 3rd July – 5th September, WEEKENDS ONLY!.

There’s rumours that good riding exists somewhere that isn’t Chamonix. If that’s true, it might be at one of these places:

La Thuile: 26th June- 5th September although mind it’ll be closed 7th – 11th July for the EWS. www.lathuile.it/en/chairlift_time.html
Megeve: 26th June – 5th September. Mont Blanc natural resort bit is www.montblancnaturalresort.com/fr/horaires-tarifs-megeve and the Jaillet side 3rd July – 29th August but subject to change megeve.com/fr/ete/se-depenser/remontees-mecaniques-ete/
St Gervais: 26th June – 5th September. https://ete.ski-saintgervais.com/fr/parcours-vtt
Les Contamines: 26th June – 5th September. Information up on their website, obviously, because Les Contamines is about the only place in Haute Savoie that can do in informative website. www.lescontamines.net/home_calendar.html
Grand Massif: 26th June – 5th September. Or at least, that’s what Les Carroz is running, plus the weekends either side of those days. Samoens, Morillon and Flaine are a week shorter either side of the Les Carroz season at 3rd July to 29th August. summer.grand-massif.com/mountain-biking
Pila: 26th June – 12th September, plus bonus weekends of 5/6th, 12/13th and 19/20th June for the gondola for 2021. Woop. pila.it/en/summer-season/
Portes du Soleil: 28th May – 01st November. That got your attention didn’t it… Obviously, that’s not everywhere. Champery and Les Gets open 11th June with Les Gets open fri – sun for the 2 weekends before that (then maybe not the 13th – 16th, bit unclear) , Avoriaz and Chatel open the 12th, 13th, 19th and 20th June, then all the days from the 25th June, Morzine 27th June then Morgins opens 4th July. Closing is 1st to 6th September except Champery and Morgins, but that’s all far to far away to worry about, lets see if things open first. for  en.portesdusoleil.com/
Courmayeur: 11th July – 30th August. Apparently the Mont Blanc Unlimited pass gives you 1/2 price tickets for the lift, and bikes seemingly now travel for free on the Courmayeur lifts. woop, etc. https://www.courmayeur-montblanc.com/?q=access_parking&language=en
Verbier: 19th June – 31st October. The Verbier – Ruinettes lift is being updated this spring, so a slightly later opening. All the lifts open 3rd July – 20th September and a selection outside those dates. Also, Bruson 17th July – 15th August, now that is interesting…. www.verbierbikepark.ch/horaires_fr.php
Les Arcs: 26th June – 28th August. There’s a bit more effort getting put into the bike park, hopefully also into running a longer lift season one of these years….starting this year with the Funicular and Cachette open weekends from 5th June. lesarcs.com/hiking/summer-area-les-arcs-peisey-vallandry-opening-hoursprices.html

Here is usually the bit where I whimsically ponder on early season riding and try and mention stuff that’s new in the valley. Only I’m nearly done updating the “how to ride a bike in Chamonix” post from 2018 so that should cover the news, and early season riding has mostly consisted of either going ski touring (which I guess is not what you’ve come here for), or getting all my post brexit paperwork in order to still be able to guide in Switzerland and Italy as well as France (which I guess you also did not come here for, even if you might be pleased to hear it worked: alpineflowmtb.com).

So, you’ll just need to hold tight for another few days until there’s some readable content and make do with photos of the fruits of one man’s labour on a hill above Les Houches when he decided he couldnay be doing with skiing much this year and instead did a bit of trail work every time he took his 2 dogs for a walk.

And watched too many edits from Squamish of riding stoopid stuff.

07/04/2021