Chamonix Bike Blog

Category: Trail conditions

Lift openings 2026. Schrodinger’s lift

You’ve heard of Schrodinger’s cat right?

It’s April and the late entrance of the sun into the battle of the seasons is starting to tip the fight in favour of dirt over snow. Time for the annual where can I bike and when post.

Which is where the Schrodinger’s lift comes in. A lift that simultaneously exists in the state of open and closed for the summer season, and we won’t know which it is until we open the box in June and see which Compagnie du Mont Blanc source is right.

And get mauled by an angry cat.

Chamonix

Bellevue: 6th June – 13th September (same as 2025)

Flegere: 20th June – 13th September (open a week later, closing a week earlier than 2025, but really just swapped positions with Brevent)

Le Tour: 20th June – 20th September (opening and closing 1 week later than 2025, which was a week later than 2024. So at this rate it’ll be open for the whole autumn soon)

Planpraz/Brevent: 13th June – 20th September. Then 17th October to 1st November, so same as 2025 at Flegere really

Tramway du Mont Blanc: tbc, mibbies closed, mibbies the same as last year 13th June – 27th September

Vallorcine: 4th July – 13th September (opening 1 week later, closing 2 weeks later than 2025)

Prarion: 27th June to 6th September. Plus the 2 weekends before that. Or… closed? TBC, but back in March 15m€ of works were announced for Les Houches ski area, including refurbishing the Prarion for winter 2026/27 and some CdMB media has the lift down as closed all summer. Hence an excuse to crowbar in a physics reference to the intro.

Grands Montets: Closed. They’re (yup, still) building a new lift.

Chamonix is Chamonix, elsewhere is elsewhere. Both have grand riding, so here’s some of the nearby elsewhere’s:

La Thuile: 6th July- 13th September. Home of the best open to the public DH track in the world? Prove me wrong… Also, for reasons unknown the La Thuile website now includes lift info for La Rosiere so mibbies a more formalised link between the 2 is coming?

Courmayeur: 27th June – 30th August. It’s not just super secret tree skiing. They got a bike park now!

Megeve: 20th June – 6th September. For the Mont Blanc Natural Resort bits. Jaillet side will remain a mystery until nearer the time…

St Gervais: 25th June – 4th September. Odd dates, but that’s what’s up on their site for 2026. Valleen goes 365 from Le Fayet to St Gervais and all.

Les Contamines: 27th June – 30th August. How the mighty have fallen. From consistently the first area up with the summer dates to last 2 years in a row so these dates are TBC. Still, don’t let that put you off, the 20€ day pass covering here, St Gervais and Megeve is one of the best value in the y’aute.

Grand Massif: 20th June – 8th September. TBC. Assorted start and finish times across the area, and each area has a different approach to communicating these. Full marks to Les Carroz, it’s go from the 20th June to 6th September. Guesswork and rumour gives Samoens Flaine and Morillon 4th July to 30th August (mibbies take your EDR pace notes for the Morillon visit).

Pila: 13th June – 13th September. New bigger lifts and new longer opening dates, Pila just keeps getting better.

Portes du Soleil: 22nd May – 21st September. It’s a big area, and stuff happens at different times, but it all roughly breaks down as: Les Gets Chavannes side open weekends only from 22nd May then, Les Gets, Pleny, Super Morzine all open from 12th June to 13th September, Chatel is 27th June to 31st August, Morgins 26th June to 21st September and Champery 26th June to 31st August. Bernex, July to mid September based on their advert for more shapers… For better details, ask Atlasrideco

Verbier: 4th June – 25th October. For the limited area of park off Ruinettes at weekends at least. From 27th June for all the days and 4th July to 21st September for all the lifts, all the days, all the funs. 4th July – 30th August for Bruson.

Les Arcs: TBC 12th June – 13th September. Weekends only at start and end of that, but now the VeloVert festival is opening the season at Les Arcs maybe we can expect full opening and great condition trails from the get go. And rain. All the rain. Also, the lobster pots are getting replaced this summer. End of an era and all that. Am actually quite sad about this, despite the years of cursing them as you try and get a team of riders to fit into a single rotation. IYKYK

La Clusaz: 13th June to 20th September, which looks grand but is the weekend dates, open 7/7 between 1st July and 30th August.

All that’s grand and great for the summer. But it’s not summer yet. So, if you too have a sweet new bike needing dialed in and pedalling up the hill is getting too tiring, try this larger radius and non exhaustive list of options:

Bourg Saint Maurice: The Bourg – Les Arcs Funicular. After last years unpleasantness, the Funi is back to being where to go for spring lift laps up to the end of April. Quite important you stay on the marked trails but. Turns out freeride actually IS a crime, and punishable by fines.

Le Fayet Saint Gervais: The new Valleen telecabine gets you from Le Fayet train station to St Gervais with way less effort than pedalling, quicker than shuttling, is open year round and is free on the Chamonix Unlimited pass.

Pila: Until 3rd May. Which will be way the latest the lift has been open, and I’m kinda skeptical given the resort will be long out of snow by then, but that’s what their website says and the internet. never. lies.

Les Haberes: April 18th-19th then most weekends in May.

Verbier: Always! Kinda… The Le Chable – Verbier telepherique runs for bikes from 11am during the winter and all day the rest of the year. Except random closed days when they do repairs, but there’s usually a replacement bus, so should be reet.

Metabief: Friday to Sunday from the 1st May until 27th September. Plus a wheen of other days, easiest to check their calendar

Sept Laux. Probably weekends only from 1st May to mid June when it’ll open 7/7. Opening info is a better kept secret than when the US airforce would strike Yemen, so keep an eye on the socials. Sept Laux’s not Pete Hegseths.

La Saleve: Open all the time, the trail building association is doing their best to make the trails all time too

St Luc: 30th May to 1st Nov, Another FuniFun venue, one of the longest seasons in bikeparkland

Trail Taxi Are delivering you to the top of Valais and Aosta’s finest singletrack as of already, give Jarno and team a shout for more

You know when the lifts are open, do you know what trails to ride? Have to find the best backdrop ever to give your socials the boost they need? A.I. can probably sort you out with all of this but if you prefer the human touch, here’s the staple plug for my guiding work. alpineflowmtb.com Go have a look. Please. Otherwise I’ll cancel the domain subscription. Although also as like most years I’m pretty much fully booked already, so check out bikevillage endlesstrailsmtb emilyhorridgemtb and MIAS for spaces on their tours and maybe I’ll see you there.

Also, I’ve got a new bike. And its sick! Thanks Raaw 🙂

What more info do you need? See yous out on the trails.

Or after. Cheers

07/04/2026
Lift openings 2024: Up, and not crying

Hey hi!

Yeah, I know, I know.

Long time indeed.

How’re you?

Oh, you know, oppe, og ikke gråter / 你吃了吗 / meshe lhal / could be worse….

Lets ignore a lost year and start where we left off. When do the lifts open for summer?

Chamonix

Bellevue: 8th June – 15th September (opening and closing 1 week later than 2023)

Flegere: 8th June – 22nd September (open 1 week longer than 2023) then 19th October – 3rd November

Le Tour: 8th June – 8th September (same as 2023)

Planpraz/Brevent: 15th June – 15th September (opening 1 week later than 2023)

Tramway du Mont Blanc: 15th June – 29th September (open same as 2023)

Vallorcine: 22nd June – 8th September (opening 2 weeks later than 2023)

Prarion: 22nd June – 8th September + the weekend 15/16 June (opening 1 week earlier than 2023)

Grand Montets: Closed. They’re building a new lift.

As ever, Chamonix probably isn’t the single greatest place to go play bikes, but once you put a 1 hour radius on it…. Different story.

So when does everywhere that’s not Chamonix open?

La Thuile: 22nd June- 8th September A week longer than 2023, just as brutal on the arms.

Megeve: 22nd June – 8th September. Megeve is really 2 resorts, so the Mont Blanc natural resort bit is staggered between 22nd June and 8th September (same periods as 2023) and the Jaillet side is….still unknown. Big Megeve news is that the EDR (EWS for old people) is in town 28-30 June, which might mean more lifts and resurrected bikepark in the future. Or might not.

St Gervais: Probably closed. Another of those new lift things.

Les Contamines: 29th June – 1st September. Two lifts, more than two trails, rarely more than two other riders.

Grand Massif: 31st May – 8th September. Assorted start and finish times across the area, with a usual caveat that these are the website gets updated late, so it’s off of rumours and guesswork. Les Carroz is go from the 22nd June to 8th September, Samoens is hosting the Velo Vert festival again over the first weekend of June, so expect opening weekend to be busier than a usual chilled out grand massif day. Flaine is maybe 29th June to 28th August.

Pila: 22nd June – 8th September. Still the best bike park in all of the world, or at least Aosta. Again it’s the Gorraz Grand Grimond lift and a long, hot push instead of Coulis 1 if you want to do any of the more, hmm, scenic, options.

Portes du Soleil: 24th May – 29th October. The dates include a fair bit of limited area opening at start and end of season, and there’s world cup racing in there too, but it all roughly breaks down as: Les Gets Chavannes side open weekends only from 24th May and everything open from 15th June to 17th September. Chatel is 9th June to 7th September. Avoriaz, all the days from 15th June to 15th September. Morzine 31st May to 15th September. Morgins 28th June to 27th October, Champery 30th May to 27th October. Bernex 29th June to 1st September.

Verbier: 1st June – 27th October. For the limited area of park at least. 29th June to 16th September for all the funs.

Les Arcs: 15th June – 8th September. Weekends only at start and end of that, but take what you can.

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

But what even is summer? Bike park season started when it ended. Every month since October we’ve been playing bikes off the lifts in the alps (the images need to come from somewhere.) Which is good in some ways and very bad in others. Glossing over the bit where we’re more than a year deep into being plus 1.5 degrees above pre industrial averages, where can we go play bikes now. Now. NOW!

Or if not now, soon. (usual 1h radius from Chamonix a wee bit stretched)

Bourg Saint Maurice: Funicular fun is there up to 28th April. Except Saturdays. Sorry weekend types.

Pila: Until 7th April. Think you’re Sam Hill? You’re not. But you can ride the freeride trail none the less. Or 21b. We’ve been doing it most of winter.

Les Haberes: May 11th-12th and 19th-20th, then June 29th-30th. Opened their bike park in winter when the snow failed. Fun. Romain “Loudenvielle” Paulhan designed. Finn Illes approved. So a thumbs up all round. Full opening 6th July to 18th Aug.

Verbier: Always! Except 29th April – 26th May when it’s closed for repairs. Plenty enduro action from the now (almost) always running Le Chable-Verbier telepherique.

Metabief: 1st -12th May. Wednesday to Sunday, then weekends, except when there’s a monday. It’s complicated… Anyways, the world Championships were there in 1993. Mountain biking hasn’t changed since then, so it’s still good.

Flegere: 13th – 20th May. Trail bike tech bliss. A brief time window to ride, easily scuppered by bad weather, so if you’re looking for late season storm skiing I suspect this week is when to head to Chamonix.

Sept Laux. Initially weekends only, 8th to 12th May to start, “ou pourquoi pas avant…si les conditions meteo le permettent”. Have you seen the Amaury Pierron Supreme MX launch edit? 2.02mins of why you should ride at Sept Laux.

La Saleve: Is open again, all the time. Yay. And with more local built trails than before. Yay. And several times more expensive. Boo. Wednesdays to Sundays just now.

Monts Jura: 18th May to summer. A wee bit above Geneva, a wee bit more choice than Saleve, a wee bit of a guess at the dates.

Chaumont: 5th April onwards. My bikes from there, might as well take it to it’s home.

Gampel: Always open. More Swiss uplift masquerading as public transport.

Trail Taxi have already fired up the shuttles for 2024, trips to all the trails you can shake a stick at in Valais and Aosta on their website, give Jarno a shout now!

Cheers, merci and thanks to the folk who got in touch with updates to all the above.

This might be the start of semi more regular content, or it might not. It’s the first effort made for phones instead of laptops, it might be the last.

Summer looks pretty busy now with lots of great trips with Bike Village, Endless trails and a few bits with my own clients (obviously, if you’re looking for the best biking holiday of your summer, I’d get clicking on the links above) so maybe I won’t have time to write anything interesting. Then again, there’s a few cool trips planned, so maybe the muse will strike.

Whatever happens, have fun out there y’all, mibbies see yous on the trails.

Ape. The ultimate Italian shuttle vehicle. I just wish they’d swapped the red and orange ones round.

03/04/2024
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
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
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