Chamonix Bike Blog

Category: Chamonix ride

Olympic legacy infrastructure

For years I have searched…

Countless hours spent looking for evidence in maps, afternoons pacing the forest floor hoping against hope to stumble across something that would lead me to the next clue, find the next breadcrumb, unlock the next secret.

Over time the picture grew more complete, but never more than an outline. The shape and idea was there, yet still so far from something you could say was even near whole. I read all I could, histories from many countries, long dead webpages from the wayback vaults, and still the true way remained elusive. My dream seemed just that, something that would exist in my head only.

Then in 2024 Chamonix mairie did all the work for me. Found it, fixed it and opened a signposted track.

Shouldn’t have bothered. Wait long enough and anything is ridable, guided vallee blanche bike descents available from 2099…

102 years ago Chamonix hosted the first ever winter Olympics and, in what would become the one true enduring legacy of all Olympics, spent big on creating infrastructure of use only to a small number of rich white men.

Infrastructure like a bobsleigh track.

The 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics has just kicked off, simultaneously providing Cortina with the excuse to drop €132 million on refurbishing the original 1923 bobsleigh track and me the excuse to spend €13 on Moodys coffee beans to fuel writing a blog.

Much like room 101, the Chamonix bobsleigh track of 101 (+1) years ago contained only terror. Of the 13 teams that entered, 4 withdrew after just looking at the track. Only 6 of the teams managed all 4 of their runs. 26 years after its creation the track got dropped from the bobsleigh circuit when 5 died in a series of accidents at the 1950 French National Championships.

The track fell slowly into disrepair, then; with the construction of the Mont Blanc Tunnel and it’s access road in the 1960’s, fell rapidly. After the upper turns were demolished to make way for the tunnel road, the lower part of the track which returned to the old Pelerin Telepherique station was absorbed by the sprawl of Chamonix as the town swallowed Pelerin.

The middle part just got grown over.

Which is where I joined the story and decided that riding the track would be cool and started poking about to find where it had gone.

This took a while. There’s a lot of forest and not much track. I’d just been starting to pick up the clues when along comes the Mairie and they do a proper job of it. For which I’m both very grateful and exceptionally pissed off. A reminder that sometimes inspiration instagram posts are right and you need to seize the day, act now, etc. Anyways, it’s not a complete unearthing as there’s still a few chunks that haven’t been renovated so mibbies it’s the best of both worlds?

It needed ridden.

Actually, that wasn’t so so hard to manage. The hard bit was, to make for semi interesting content, it needed ridden AND photos of said riddening taken. Only between me finally riding and deciding that I actually wanted to write something about it, winter came.

Which is in it’s own way fitting. It is a bobsleigh track after all. It was made with the express intention of being descended whilst the snow lay thick and even all around. Does make it harder to convince all but the most committed of riders that going and riding ice and snow covered granite is a good idea.

Fiona didn’t take much convincing, although I suspect she was wishing she’d not been so keen to keep getting the winter biking in as we struggled our way up the section of the trail that bypasses the incursion of the tunnel autoroute. I suppose it would be possible to descend on the true line of the track then hop the barriers and cross the road, which was semi closed for the annual tunnel refurbishment anyways. But you’re not allowed to do that so obviously there’s no way that’s what we did…

Without winter’s layer of compacted snow and ice the track is a way less intimidating prospect than in the 1920’s, a mix of loam and walked in firmer dirt makes up the majority of the descent at reasonable speed in normal weather. Except it’s now late November and winter. The granite walls look pretty damn terrifying with a few cm of snow on them and, much like the tobbonganists of years gone, a couple runs was enough. Dry and grippy in the height of summer will be a different story but. They might not be quite Morgins, but even the worst brake dragger in the PDS is going to struggle to put braking bumps in them.

It’s a fun wee trail, but it’s only that. Wee. Fortunately if you want to make more of a historic meal of it, you could tag it on to a visit to the lift that was meant to be opened for the games. A mere 450m hike-a-bike above the bobsleigh track. Alas, that lift also turned out to be a fine example of how future Olympic infrastructure would work, it’s much advertised opening for 1924 being a bit of sham as only 1 cable had been installed and the lift could only really turn to look impressive rather than carry the great and good who’d turned up to be booed for their association with ICE.

The ancient Gare de la Para was abandoned in 1958 but the building, and even the cable cars, still sit below the north face of the midi. If you can be having with the ascent, it’s a pretty sick descent.

And photogenic.

Or, if you’re feeling a bit more gallus, the aptly named Gare des Glaciers sits in proto brutalist splendour 750m higher at 2400m, usually prime position to gaze back up at the Midi after a lap of Cosmiques, and ideally whilst drinking a Cosmiques (if your friends run a brewery and name an IPA after the run, you’ve kinda got to give them a shout out) but in summer that can of Cosmiques helps you pretend to be Kilian Bron with a play on the structure followed by some of the best ‘oh my gosh what a backdrop’ singletrack you’ll ever ride ever. Getting Lost in the Woods after is optional…

Last autumn’s perma-summer saw me up there with both Fiona and Sapaudia Tim. Which is convenient as there’s only so much content you can get out of a few hundred meters of semi derelict bobsleigh track, so we get to use those photos too.

If you’re not aware of the trail, it’s one of the triptych of big hike-a-bikes on the north facing side of the valley, the Signal Forbes above Montenvers and the Grands Bois side of the mid station of the midi being your other targets. Which also both got ridden in the last year, but that’s stories (and videos…) for another time. The trail in question, the ancient Gare des Glaciers trail, is about as easy as it gets navigationally. From the footbridge at the tunnel carpark, follow the signs for “ancient gare du midi”. Keep climbing until the top/exhaustion. Turn around and head back down.

Simple really.

The trail isn’t exactly simple all the way down, but there is a fair bit of flow between the challenges. If you like riding Brevent / Flegere then you’ll probably enjoy it, if you don’t then it’s a good chance to improve on stuff that might be useful somewhere else in your biking life. Or go ride the refurbished La Wizz at St Gervais, which is about as opposite as it gets, and also a cracking trail.

So what have we learned at the end of all this? Probably that if you try to do something improbable and hard, there’s a reasonably chance you’ll fail. And people will then judge you for failing. So there’s no point really, don’t bother dreaming, don’t bother trying, the Olympic spirit never did anything for anyone. Who’d want to try create an unutterably improbable lift that was almost 50 years ahead of it’s time and without which the lessons wouldn’t have been learned to make that 50 years later Aiguille du Midi lift possible. Who’d want to make a society defying return to competition, prove the naysayers wrong, then risk it all again for the naysayers to get the chance to say they’re right whilst every single one of your peers is in awe of you staying true to your inner belief and doing the hard thing again? Would it be better if the new Olympic motto was “I failed, but did so much more than everyone who never even tried” instead of “Faster, Higher, Stronger – Together”?

You’ve probably noticed that there’s not been much content on here lately. Lately being near 4 years. The blog almost got deleted to save some admin fees. Fortunately my guiding website (the point of which is also increasingly negligible given how many folks find stuff from websites now) apparently needs to be kept running so the blog tags on the back of it. There’s not much point to it, this is never going to be NSMB, but it does keep me amused on the once in a 42 month period I feel like writing something. Mibbies I’ll make a substack instead. Whilst you’re waiting for that to not happen, try this: https://www.remontees-mecaniques.net/bdd/reportage-tph18-de-l-aiguille-du-midi-les-glaciers-ceretti-tanfani-dyle-bacalan-3869.html which is where most of the historical info came for this. It’s very detailed…

14/02/2026
Lift openings 2023: General Artificial Untelligence

A new summer of lift riding sprawls before us…

What lifts will open? When will they open? How long will you keep reading my tenuously connected intro before scrolling down to the actual info?

Still reading I see.

The big buzz in writing write now is a.i. If you’re in any way stuck for content, just fire a question into ChatGPT, let it write the article for you and then at the end of your piece SURPRISE! drop the bomb that the algorithm wrote it…

So I tried that and it was pretty disappointing. Which possibly sums up your experience of reading the human generated version of this too. No matter, it’s still been declared the future of journalism. Who’s going to get paid to write generic un-referenced copy when a bot will do it for free in seconds?

Turns out it’s the past of job replacement too. In the 1960’s an early go at a Chatbot, ELIZA, basically repeated the users question back at them with a different phrasing.

And so got reputation as a psychiatrist.

But I’m not a journalist. Or a psychiatrist. I’m a bike guide. Surely my jobs safe….

I mean, how could a machine learning tool possibly calculate what terrain a rider prefers based on their whoops and holla’s reaction to the trail they’re on, then pick the next from its database of routes linked to all other A.I. mtb guide-bots?

How would it read who’s getting tired, without maybe analysing the bluetooth synced client heart rate data to know that one more lap is a great idea?

No way it could utilise the 5g chips in our blood (what, you thought that went away with the vaccines…) to project a virtual rider in front of you if you want to follow a line, or whisper left or right in your virtual ear as you approach a junction. Or mibbies just a giant arrow if you’re as bad as me with left and right.

If you use an app like EchoSOS to call for help, is it just one step easier for the algorithm to call the helicopter directly to deal with any injuries?

Can it download diagnostic data from your electronic brakes and fix them before you even know you’ve cooked the pads by using them too much on the last descent?

Most importantly, could it translate the insults of the (likely also automated) barista when you order cappuccino after 11am…?

Hmm, yes. Yes it probably can.

And I, for one, welcome our robot overlords, plus I’ll have plenty time to ride the chairlifts in my beckoning unemployment, so when are they lifts open?

Chamonix, from CdMB, but provisional dependent on evolution of… well this year probably strikes rather than pandemic, but let’s see what surprises ’23 has up its sleeve.

Bellevue: 3rd June – 10th September (opening and closing 1 week earlier than 2022)

Flegere: 10th June – 17th September (open 1 week longer than 2022)

Planpraz: 10th June – 17th September (open 1 week longer than 2022) then 21st October – 5th November

Brevent: 10th June – 17th September (open 1 week longer than 2022)

Tramway du Mont Blanc: 10th June – 1st October (open 2 weeks later than 2022)

Le Tour: 10th June – 10th September (was closed in 2022 for a new lift to be installed, still to find out whether bikes will be welcomed in the shiny new telecabines…)

Vallorcine: 10th June – 10th September (same as 2022, hopefully the new normal)

Prarion: 1st July – 10th September + the 2 weekends either side of that (opening 2 weeks later than 2022)

Grand Montets: 1st July – 3rd September (same dates as 2022)

And all those other conveniently nearby places for your spotify trail playlist to suggest:

La Thuile: 24th June- 3rd September Same as 2022, and again no EWS this year to clutter up the season.

Megeve: 24th June – 10th September. Megeve is really 2 resorts, so the Mont Blanc natural resort bit is staggered between 24th June and 10th September (same periods as 2022) and the Jaillet side is….still unknown.

St Gervais: Probably 24th June – 3rd September TBC

Les Contamines: 1st July – 3rd September. Same dates as last year, and same as last year, one of the first to publish dates and easiest website to navigate. Cheers Les Contamines

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 24th June to 10th September, Samoens is hosting the Velo Vert festival again 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 24th June. Flaine is 1st July to 27th August

Pila: 24th June – 10th September. Still the best bike park in all of the world, still not that quick at getting opening dates up online. Looks like the Couis 1 chair for accessing the ridge and other “if you know, you know” trails ISN’T open this summer, but the Gorraz Grand Grimond lift will be. Whether this opens to bikes, and what it means for the trails I dunno.

Portes du Soleil: 26th May – 29th October. The entire world cup circus comes to town 7th to 17th September, so who knows how that’ll pan out, but for the rest of the time: Les Gets Chavannes side open weekends only from 26th May and everything open from 16th June to 17th September. Chatel is weekends from the 9th June and all the time from 23rd June to 3rd September. Avoriaz, all the days from 16th June to 17th September. Morzine probably 16th June to 17th September but dates not finalised yet. Morgins and Champery 18th May to 29th October… Except it kinda looks like Morgins is closed this summer whilst they replace the chairlift, so that’s potentially a bit rubbish. The old lift has already been demolished, so maybe the works will be done in time, we’ll see….

Verbier: 3rd June – 29th October. Weekends only from 3rd June all the days from 17th June. Le Chable to Verbier is open from 05h15 to 23h50 every. damn. day. 1st July – 27th August for Bruson. Or of course, the Trail Taxi runs from April through until the snow comes back!

Les Arcs: 17th June – 10th September. A way longer season than usual! But with some caveats, so easiest just to look at their website

La Clusaz: 1st July to 3rd September, and 3 weekends either side of that too, which is nice if you have weekends off…

That should be enough to go at for another year, even if lift access season started back in February for most Chamonix locals, hence the photos which are mostly riding Pila from the lifts, and a shot of my shiny (no, sparkly…) new bike from Meyrieu bikepark. Many, many thanks to SCOR for dragging me into the current with my first ever big wheeled bike.

Oh yeah, and the obligatory snow picture to show the winter’s not been anything like as bad as tabloid editors have made out.

(So whaddaya reckon, did I write this, or was it a.i….?)

07/04/2023
Pumptracks

How hard is it to write an article about pumptracks without mining the “pump it up” tropes?

Hard. Very hard indeed. I’ll try avoid it, but can’t promise anything.

If you remember 2020 when the biggest thing we had to worry about was global pandemic and not global war (another opportunity to say go fuck yourself Putin and leave the world, in peace) the pumptrack bike became the overnight coolest must have you must have.

I got one too, cheers Airdrop!

Of course, pumptrack bikes aint nothing new, a hardtail playbike has been a staple of riders sheds since I was wee. I mind selling my battered DMR sidekick about 5 years ago and being told just how much I’d regret it.

You were right Rob, I regretted it.

But the Fade is way better. I can lift it with one hand for a start…

Anyways, pumptrack bikes are great for kicking about and playing in the street, but they’re also pretty good at pumptracks. And skate parks and dirt jumps, which will be called “trails” for the rest of this article because that’s what they’re called.

But where are these fabled pumptracks, and how fun are they?

It’s a good question dear reader, and one I set off to answer last winter and spring. Or at least I did until I had a skiing disagreement with a tree which put things a bit behind schedule.

About 12 months late, here we are.

Sallanches.

Biggest track in my arbitrarily applied 45 minute radius of Chamonix selection process. Not sure if I’d go as far as to say the best, but it’s pretty fun, and handily has a great skatepark and bowl next to it too. And the hospital, which hopefully isn’t handy.

The track features four distinct lines, an independent green, a mixed blue and red, and a separate black jump line and there’s a fair few extra lines to unlock and keep you coming back for more. And there’s even lights for evening sessions!

Combloux

Undoubtably the best backdrop of any pumptrack built to date. Ever. Ok, I’ve got some history with this track, a moment of inattention here in 2016 was what resulted in me putting my arm bones through my wrist bones and leaving them in the palm of my hand along with the majority of my wrist in an unmade jigsaw of bone. Still, all better now. Kinda.

The tracks great, a bit tighter and more technical than a lot of riders would like, but I suspect this makes it better for skateboarders. I can’t skate, so I’m guessing. A couple of mini ramps and modules help keep interest away from the blue and red loops of the track, which also has a couple of extra curricular lines to find. It also melts out way quicker than you’d think in the winter.

I’ve also so far failed to visit with the camera.

Les Contamines

Hidden away at the end of a valley, and conveniently next to the trail outta town, sits the wee Les Contamines pumptrack. A bit different locally in having some copings and park features, but otherwise, a pretty standard pumptrack that runs fast and has lots of gaps slightly too big and intimidating for a usually injured and always feart rider like myself.

There’s also a mini-ramp half pipe, which is pretty tight on a 26”, and weeeellllllll slidey. But at least that means it doesn’t hurt as much when the inevitable happens.

St Gervais

If you can find it, it’s there. Behind the swimming pool. And it’s really good. Ok, if you’re any good at pumptracks it’s probably too small and easy for you, but for the rest of us it’s grand! Separate green loop for the balance biking weans, interwoven blue and red lines with nice whippy but short jumps, pretty much all with very forgiving landings. All this AND a really nice bowl just behind it, what more could you ask for?

Well there is a bonus “bikepark” about a km away in the woods, but I’d just stay at the pumptrack if I were you.

Servoz

Try to find something nice to say about the Servoz track. It’s very convenient if you live in Servoz and is good for the weans to play on. Not really worth the trip, just go ride the freeride lines in the woods instead.

Chamonix

Oh Chamonix, how you’ve fallen behind. There used to be a wee dirt track next to the skatepark, but it got flattened and replaced with…. a flat pile of dirt. The skatepark’s ok, but really better for skating, it’s a bit tight with big wheels. There are a couple of trails that go well on a DJ/pumptrack bike, but trail rules apply so they shouldn’t appear on the internet unless the builder wants them to.

Les Houches

Coming soon…..(ok, maybe not soon. But coming. Or at least, it was in early 2022)

Megeve

Exists. Allegedly. I’ve not been yet, despite it being at least 5 years old, however our roving reporter Matei aged 5 has and tells me “it’s a bit clumsy made, I don’t think they knew how to make a pumptrack.” He does however like the adjacent bowl. And Combloux pumptrack.

Flaine

Apparently there’s one in Flaine. Very close to Chamonix in a straight line, pushing it to get there in under an hour but.

Les Carroz

Rumoured to be pretty good, and with a wee skatepark and bowl next to it. Again, one to be updated. Like life, it’s a work in progress this thing.

Morillon

A little off the beaten track, and none the worse for it. Next to a plan d’eau and a bar, there’s a lot going for the siting of this one, as we all know, location, location, location.

The track itself is a blue, red and black loop, with the blue and red being fairly standard affairs and the black being a bit odd as you need to transition in and out of the other lines to get it, and there’s some consequence to the gaps on it. And it has a wall ride, which is good to see.

Martigny

The best pumptrack in the (not actually) y’aute? Mibbies. The nearest Velosolutions pumptrack to Chamonix? Almost definitely. I wonder if there’s a link there…

Anyways, a central 4 bowl thing is encircled by a longer pumptrack which DEFINITELY wants you to leave the ground, it’s pretty hard to make it round without getting your wheels in the air. Runs very very fast too. Loads of fun and loads of opportunity for weird lines. And can be quiet.

Plateau d’Assy

Fresh in late 2022, the tarmac is still warm. Perhaps the only track to give Combloux a bit of competition in the best backdrop eva stakes, another Bikesolutions green-blue-red-deeper shade of red, with a bit of coping and module action thrown in for luck too.

With a fairly big area to work with and a slight amount of gradient, the PdA track is maybe the best in the Arve valley for the less brave and competent of us. Some nicely case-able step ups, a few good transition lines, super deep berms. Yeah, lot of fun. Should stay fairly snow free too being south facing and at about 1000m altitude.

To be updated as I get round to it, but if that infodump hasn’t got you pumped to ride in the winter, I dunno what will. (d’oh)

07/12/2022
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
Stealing Autumn.

Back in 2016, I imagined what would happen if the then president elect went biking in Chamonix. Four years later, leaving office with the legacy of being the first president to be impeached twice, he’s here in his own words again*; A timeline of how autumn was stolen.

04/11/2020 Election night speech: “I want to thank the first lady, my entire family….for being with us all through this. And we were getting ready for a big ride. We were riding everything and all of a sudden it was just called off. The rides have been phenomenal and we are getting ready… I mean, literally we were just all set to get outside and just ride something that was so beautiful, so good. Such a trail, such a success for riders of Chamonix to have come out in record numbers. This is a trail. There’s never been anything like it to support our incredible riding. We rode trails that we weren’t expected to ride. Flatiere, we didn’t ride it. We rode it a lot.

And all of a sudden everything just stopped.

This is a fraud on the Chamonix public. This is an embarrassment to our country. We were getting ready to ride this trail when it was stolen by the snow. Frankly, we did ride this trail. We did ride this trail. So our goal now is to ensure the weather for the good of this nation. This is a very big moment. This is a major fraud in our nation. We want the law to be used in a proper manner. So we’ll be going to the Supreme Court. We want all weather to stop. We don’t want them to find any snow at four o’clock in the morning and add it to the trail. Okay? It’s a very sad moment. To me this is a very sad moment and we will ride this. And as far as I’m concerned, we already have ridden it. “

Tweet 04/11/2020 How come every time they count snow falls they are so devastating in their percentage and power of destruction? WHAT IS THIS ALL ABOUT?

Tweet 04/11/20 We have claimed, for riding purposes, the Commonwealth of Flatiere (which won’t allow legal observers) the State of Servoz, and the State of Les Bois, each one of which has a BIG dry trail network. Additionally, we hereby claim the State of Les Houches if, in fact,..there was a large number of secretly dumped snow as has been widely reported! Our lawyers have asked for “meaningful access”, but what good does that do? The damage has already been done to the integrity of our trails, and to the riding itself. This is what should be discussed!

Tweet 05/11/20 STOP THE SNOW!

Tweet 07/11/20 09.41 Lawyers press conference at Four Seasons, Philadelphia 11.00 A.M.

Tweet 07/11/20 09.45 Big press conference in Philadelphia at Four Seasons Total Landscaping – 11.30 A.M.

Tweet 07/11/20 Four Seasons Hotel Philadelphia: To clarify, President Trump’s press conference will NOT be held at Four Seasons Hotel Philadelphia. It will be held at Four Seasons Total Landscaping— no relation with the hotel.

Tweet 07/11/20 Winter should not wrongfully claim the trails of Chamonix. I could make that claim also. Legal proceedings are just now beginning!

Tweet 07/11/20 I had such a big ride on all of these trails late into November 4th, only to see the trails miraculously disappear under snow as the days went by. Perhaps these trails will return as our legal proceedings move forward!

Tweet 09/11/20 Chamonix meteo, meteo france, meteoblue were so inaccurate with their forecasts, that it really is tampering with the weather. They were so far off in their forecast and in their attempt to suppress – that they should be called out for weather interference…

This claim about weather fraud is disputed

Trump and Brad Raffensperger, Georgia’s Republican secretary of state, phonecall 02/01/2021: “So look. All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 dry trails, which is one more than we have. Because we won the season. The people of Chamonix are angry, the people in the country are angry” “And there’s nothing wrong with saying, you know, um, that you’ve recalculated.” “So what are we going to do here folks? I only need 11,000 dry trails. Fellas, I need 11,000 dry trails. Give me a break. There’s no way I lost Autumn. There’s no way. We won by hundreds of thousands of trails.” Brad Raffensperger: “Well, Mr President, the challenge that you have is, the data you have is wrong, winter always follows autumn.”

Tweet 12/12/2020 Big protest in DC on January 6th. Be there, will be wild!

06/01/2021 Address to rally near White House: “But our fight against the big winter, big snow, big ice, and others is just getting started. This is the greatest in history. There’s never been a movement like that…. And if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have dry trails anymore….Because you’ll never take back autumn with weakness. You have to show strength and you have to be strong…. And I had to beat Oprah, used to be a friend of mine. You know, I was on her last show, her last week, she picked the five outstanding people. I don’t think she thinks that any more.”

06/01/21 Pre recorded address to ask protesters to stop storming the Capitol: “I know your pain, I know your hurt. We had an autumn that was stolen from us. It was an endless season, and everyone knows it, especially the other side…. But you have to go home now. We have to have skis. We have to have ice and snow…. We can’t play into the hands of these people. We have to have winter. So go home. We love you; you’re very special.”

Tweet 06/01/2021 “These are the things and events that happen when a sacred season is so unceremoniously & viciously stripped away from great riders (on Orange Patriots presumably…) who have been badly & unfairly treated for so long. Go home with love & in peace. Remember this day forever!”

12/01/2021 Alamo Texas, Trump address to crowd: “Free trails are under assault like never before…. The 25th amendment is of zero risk to me but will come back to haunt the snow and the snow administration as they call, I call it winter”

13/01/2021: Congress voted to impeach D.J.T, Presidential pardons released: NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT KNOWN that I, D. J. T, President of the United States of America, in consideration of the premises, divers other good and sufficient reasons me thereunto moving, do hereby grant clemency to the said Autumn, and 70 others.

19/01/2021 Farewell address to the nation: “I did not seek the easiest course; by far, it was actually the most difficult. I did not seek the path that would get the least airtime. I took on the tough rock slabs, the hardest corners, the most difficult line choices – because that’s what you elected me to do.”

“I go from this majestic season with a loyal and joyful heart, an optimistic spirit, and a supreme confidence that for our bikes and for our trails, the best is yet to come. Thank you, and farewell. God bless you. God bless the United States of Flatiere.”

20/01/2021 Final public words as President: “So, have a good life. We will see you soon.”

Once again, all of the above is basically his own words, this time culled from tweets and press conferences and public addresses since he lost both the popular and electoral college vote.

The last go at this, back in November 12th 2016, saw an interesting anomaly this site’s analytics. The number 1 and 2 countries for the most hits are always the UK and France. They swap places, but it’s always one or the other. For the month after I posted Post Truth Biking, Russia rushed the number one spot, being responsible for 32.3% of all traffic to the blog between 12th November and 11th December 2016. Anyone care to hazard a guess at why that happened?

*So I had been chipping away at this post for a while, with a nice document listing tweets that I might use and with simple to follow hyperlinks to show that yes, Trump really did say that, when he staged a rally on the same day that congress was certifying the election of Joe Biden. At the rally, Trump encouraged his supporters to “walk down to the Capitol” and you know the rest. Alas this also led to Trump being permanently removed from twitter and all his old tweets disappearing. Along with my links. So if you want to check, the date and shape of each tweet is there, I’m sure your favourite conspiracy theory approved search engine can do the rest.

21/01/2021