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CdMB press release (and some Les Houches riding)

Read it here last! A little off the pace (I’ve been on holiday) and some time after everyone else has put it up, here’s an interesting press release from Compagnie du Mont Blanc about their commitment to biking:

Mountain biking in the Chamonix valley

Chamonix, August 3rd, 2012For three years now the Compagnie du Mont Blanc, aware of the ever increasing demand from mountain bikers, have made great efforts and significant improvements on the sites in the valley to offer mountain bikers more tracks to practice their favourite sport.The Balme area is particularly suited to this sport, so this year we have focused efforts on the creation of a new track off the Autannes chairlift.Here is up to date information on bike trails and areas in the valley:Balme : 3 tracks.
Piste de l’Ours Black track : from the top of the Vallorcine gondola down to Vallorcine.
Piste Océane Blue track : from the top of the Charamillon gondola back down to Le Tour. (Currently closed due to bad track conditions, a shaper will be called in next week)
Piste des Marmottes Green track : a new track from the top of the Autannes chairlift down to Charamillon (opening in August)
Bike patrol is on site from June to mid September.Flégère : 1 tracks not currently maintained but with open access.
Red track : which descends down to Le Praz.
The Compagnie du Mont Blanc has invested more than € 80 000 in recent years on the creation of mountain bike trails but it is clear that despite the massive investment, our company is not able to offer a suitable mountain bike area on this site. The decision has been made to waive any further investment on this site for mountain biking and focus our work on sites of Balme and Les Houches.Les Houches : No specific mountain bike tracks but a number of mountain bike trails are accessible.Brévent : No specific mountain bike tracks but a number of mountain bike trails are accessible.The work ahead is substantial, the Compagnie du Mont Blanc in partnership with the LH-SG (Prarion – Bellevue / Les Houches – St-Gervais) are currently working on the new plans for 2013.Rest assured that the Compagnie du Mont Blanc and the LH-SG are investing in the Balme and Les Houches sites to make the two sites dedicated to both amateur and professional mountain bikers.We hope, via this announcement, to prove that the Compagnie du Mont Blanc and the LH-SG Les Houches Saint Gervais, consider mountain biking as an activity with a future in the valley and that the two lift companies are currently working together on the development and preparation for 2013.The Compagnie du Mont Blanc’s operational team,will continue to communicate information on ongoing projects for 2013.We hope you enjoy your summer!

Perhaps more positively, CdMB have approached various folk in the valley to get their involvement and opinion on how to best work with mountain biking. Slightly worrying is the lack of comment on Grand Montets which currently has one of the best (and quietest) “natural” tracks accessible during the bike ban. Whilst the Flegere track is not going to get any more investment, CdMB seem happy for riders to maintain the track, and apparently tools will be lent out for anyone wanting to put in a bit of work. A word of caution from a few folk involved with CdMB at Le Tour and Les Houches is that negotiations for summer VTT tracks at both these areas is ongoing with land owners and new tracks getting built probably won’t help, so best keep to just track maintenance there!

Anyway, excited by the prospect of 2 VTT friendly hills on the Chamonix annual pass next year, Lorne & I headed down to the Bellevue lift at Les Houches and discovered that whilst CdMB can give, they can also taketh away…

Or “MTB track permanently closed summer 2012. We’re looking at maybe making a MTB track from the Prarion telecabine for summer 2013”

Anyway, the old trails from the Bellevue are still in pretty good condition, though as ever they take a long, long time to dry. Three days after the last rain and still we were dodging puddles. The boardwalk sections are in poor nick (one section collapsed on us as we rode along!) and most, though not all, of the wooden features have been removed. An added wooden feature is the large tree from the April storms which is still blocking a fast lower section of the main blue trail.

The best riding is probably on the assorted “black” sections which cut through the trees and have seen more maintenance from locals. Some of these sections can be pretty full on, so if it’s your first time through, there’s no shame in stopping to scope…..

After a few laps of the front we went for a run down to Les Houches. Tom (author of the Chamonix Bike Books) has raved about “Hugh’s way” for long enough, so having never ridden it, it seemed a good choice.

Unfortunately I was going off my memory and a pencil line amongst other pencil lines on my old map. As a result we had a few variations but, judging by the tyre tracks through the meadows, we weren’t the first, and probably won’t be the last. Suffice to say when Tom describes the “easy to miss” singletrack after the #8 piste marker pole, he’s being very accurate!

A great track nonetheless with lots of variety all 1175m of the way down, combined with a nice touristy train back up. If you’re looking to finish off your day at Les Houches with a run down to St Gervais bear in mind that the Tramway ISN’T included in the normal Chamonix biking lift pass, though is on your summer or annual pass. When you get to either the St Gervais or Le Fayet stations you’ll need to hand over your pass at the ticket desk to get a paper ticket for the train. Finally, it’s only the last 2 trams of the day that take bikes (although if they’re not busy you can usually get on trams earlier in the day) If all this seems to complicated, there’s always the normal train which runs from Le Fayet to Chamonix for about 5euro.

10/08/2012
Half time analysis

It’s about ½ way through the bike season here in Chamonix, which means everyone’s discovering what that annoying squeak/rattle/creak has been for the last couple weeks as various parts give up or fall off after a few months abuse.

The trails are kinda the same with lots of bikes, but not much maintenance, going down. So how are things fairing around the valley?

Le Tour seems to be the in place to ride this season with the rarest of all things; occasional queues of bikes for the up lift! The front side is holding up well, the original DH track under the gondola is still the most accessible riding for all, being fun for beginner and faster riders alike. A few of the corners and braking areas are getting a little cut up, but nothing too bad. The new track that’s been cut under the chair is starting to ride in now and is a good introduction for folks new to bikes, but it’s not been designed to anything like the same standards as the other man made tracks up there. Still, it’s a new track and hopefully the first of a few up at Le Tour.

The natural trails are still excellent, though Posettes is VERY busy with walkers and definitely best left till after the bike ban ends to avoid any chance of the trail being completely lost for bikes. The new sign board at the refuge helpfully tells us that “walking trials (sic)… are for hikers only” and “in case of Mountain Bike accident, the authorities disclaim all responsibilities” as well as showing a picture of trail damage on the descent from the col towards Trient, all caused by bikes not weather and walkers apparently.

Either way, it’s not a legal notice, but the excellent Les Jeurs descent is possibly better if you plan to take any of the singletrack down to Chatelard, Vallorcine, etc and much less frequented by walkers.

And the Vallorcine track? It’s getting a bit rutted in a few places, but nothing anyone who can ride the rest of the track can’t handle! The severity of the course has probably been what’s saved it from the braking bumps and skid trenches that beset easier tracks. Once again, big thanks out to the Vallorcine Mairie for creating this awesome run.

Elsewhere the trails seem to be fairly quiet for bikes, and busy with walkers. Grand Montets has tyre tracks in the puddles, but I’ve not seen anyone up there, which is a shame as it’s the most “natural” of the official VTT trails during July & August. The track is in good condition, although there are still 2 trees down in the middle section. The 1^st is duckable for the VERY short, and the 2^nd now has a strategically place stone to let you ride over it.

Flegere is a bit lost without its upper trails. They’re still there, but it’s not worth the pedal up to ride them. The lower track is holding up ok, but the puddles are definitely getting deeper when it’s rained

Finally, hoping to find some nice steep riding away from the crowds, I took a look up the Prarion gondola at Les Houches. I certainly found the technical trails, though I also met a few walkers all of whom passed some form of “you’re mental” and “good luck” comment. Although this isn’t exempt from the bike ban, I don’t think it’ll ever suffer from excessive use. The trail is mostly very technical, with sections verging on pure trials, and others where, if you were very very lucky, a slip would only leave you very hurt and without a bike. It’s too tight to be able to just jump the hard sections on a big bike, so that option’s out as well. On the off chance then that Chris Akrigg (watch this if you’re not sure who or what I mean) reads this and needs a challenge…..

01/08/2012
2 shades of grey

There’s a few techniques used locally to deal with the bike ban. You can ignore it, you can give up on the mountain bike, you can stick to the man-made trails and you can go elsewhere. You can also have a look at the Arrete du Maire, try and find a loophole, and hope for the best.

The arrete lists 12 exceptions to the July & August bike ban, most of which are listed in the official Chamonix bike map (which you can also get a paper copy from the tourist info and bike shops around town) but there’s 2 in particular which aren’t.

So, armed with a paper print out of the arrete should I stumble across any gendarmes, I headed up Brevant and dropped into the “Couloir du Brevant”. There’s a few trails down from the Brevant lifts via the couloir, Sentier des Gardes probably being the best of the permitted ways (bikes are completely banned from the national park that the trails from the top lift pass) however the path leaves the couloir, so instead I stayed on the tech rocky singletrack all the way down. Verdict? A nice change from the man-made tracks in the valley, I didn’t get arrested and all the walkers I met were very friendly, but you do feel like you’re missing the best riding.

A couple of evenings later Rob & I headed up by the Montenvers railway to test the grey areas further. The arrete lists “sortie de la VALLEE BLANCHE” as a green light for bikes. The infamous James Bond track, a 4×4 path used both to access the Roches de Mottets buvette and as a descent into Chamonix from the Vallee Blanche ski in winter, is probably what was meant but I’ve sortied from the Vallee Blanche a lot of ways, so….

We headed up to Chalet Caillet at a relaxed pace, passing a few walkers in the opposite direction and hoping to let the last few descend the path before we started. Whilst the climb up to the chalet is mostly on 4×4 track, the descent is pure singletrack, and one of the best circular loops in the valley.

If you want to give the Caillet a go, and it’s completely at your own risk if you do, definitely go either before the Montenvers railway opens or leave it till the evening. The descent track isn’t wide and much better if you’re not stopping every 20 meters. It’s a popular walk and in the middle of the day that’s also what you’ll be doing.

And if you get caught and the “but officer, this IS a descent from the Vallee Blanche” argument doesn’t work, don’t blame me!

28/07/2012
First chair, last col – Les Portes du Mont Blanc

Tuesday seemed to be a popular day for getting out of Chamonix. Groups were heading to Pila, La Thuile and the road cols of the Aravais. True to our Scottish roots, Lorne & I chose to make the 45 minute drive to the area with the cheapest lift pass, the Portes du Mont Blanc. 12.50euro for a day pass still represents a fair outlay in Irn Bru mind, so we were there for the 1^st bin and rode till they closed the lifts on us.

So what was the riding like? Very different to Chamonix. A break down of the riding around each lift is below, but the need to knows are: if you’ve got a DH or Freeride bike, head to Megeve and play under the Pres chair and Jaillet gondola. If you’ve got an everyday MTB, head where ever you feel like, you’ll not be over or under biked.

The trail map is available online here: http://www.combloux.com/images/stories/decouvrir/plans/plan-vtt-2.pdf or you can pick up a copy at the ticket offices or tourist info, having it open in another tab will make the descriptions below easier! There are bike maintenance and washing points dotted around the bases of the lifts and a fair few of the mountain restaurants are open if you forgot your baguettes. Again, all of these are marked on the map

Lifts open from a civilised 1000 and close at 1700 with a break from 1300 to 1400. We used the lunch break to ride over the non lift accessed trails from Ball Trap to Praz-sur-Arly and, preferring the trails off the Pres chair to the slopes above Megeve, we rode there for last chair before descending directly to Megeve from the Col du Jaillet side via the base of TS Pres.

The whole area is much quieter than the Chamonix valley, both with walkers and cyclists. Away from the Pres & Jaillet lifts we didn’t see any bikes, though there was a good mix of families on hire bikes and top end DH machinery out. Walkers were all very friendly, but remember the trails are shared so control your inner Danny Hart.

Ball Trap / TS Pres

I could have happily lapped red 8 & 17 for most of the day. 17 is the faster and more man-made of the two, with smooth running berms and small but well formed doubles and step-ups that look pretty forgiving if you come up short.

8 is more natural, more roots and some loam, but with the deft touch of a good trail builder enhancing what nature came up with. If you really want a break from the steep tech of Chamonix, this is a great tonic. There’s also a cruisier blue snaking down with less incline and some fire road for less confident riders

Combloux / TS Pertuis

We didn’t ride any of the lower trails, accessed by the free bike bus shuttle, partly because the buses run on 30 minute rotations and we didn’t want to lose any time, but mostly as we were pretty disappointed by the trails under the chair. Red 12 starts out promisingly enough on some playful singletrack shared with a blue run, then turns to fire road for most of its 4.5km. Red 16 just starts on fire road. The blue 11 looked like it had promise from sections glanced at, but we were already moving on (EDIT! Lorne went back a week later, and said…“checked out blue 11 down towards Combloux, really nice high swooping berms at the top, some BMXy whoops in the middle then mellow turns through the forest onto the road” so there you go, our top tip for that side of the hill!). Descents from the summit all the way down to the lake at Passy are possible from here, and 1300m of DH to end in a swim would be worth a go, but overall, we were fairly underwhelmed.

Megeve / TC Jaillet

For the uplift, the bikes are hung by the rear wheel from the gondola, if you’re of a nervous disposition about your stanchions then you might want to lag them, though no one was and I didn’t feel the bike was going to get trashed. The marked red 13 isn’t particularly memorable, however the unmarked freeride/northshore trail that runs next to it is much more interesting.

Now that the features at Les Houches and in the woods above Les Praz are no more, this is probably the nearest place to Chamonix if that’s your bag

Le Plan / TS Torraz

Tricky one as the lift is closed for the whole summer, so several black and red runs which go to its base are closed for the year, unless you fancy a real slog back. This is a real shame as there looks to be the best potential for natural trails and some big enduro days in the area from here, ho hum. You can loop round to the top of the Christomet chair which accesses most of the trails from the top of the Pres & Pertuis chairs by following the signs for 6, 12 19, & 20 then, after the singletrack descent, contouring round on the fire road. The undulations look worse than they are and you’re quickly at the top of the (closed) chair where you can either follow the black 5 back to TS Pres (which we didn’t) or continue on to red 25 & 22 towards Praz-sur-Arly.

After previous disappointment with red fire road, we were keen to avoid the same here and were considering using a single dashed black line on the IGN map. In the end we lost the track and ended up on a locals trail that took us on about 600m vert of loam (another rarely seen commodity in Chamonix) down to Villard.

I don’t know the local etiquette on hidden trails, so I’m not giving any more clues, but it’s not too hard to find from the walkers trail, just look out for the tyre tracks…

Praz-sur-Arly / TS Cret du Midi

First off, if you find yourself in Villard, Villaret or such whilst trying to get to Praz, don’t bother with the trails, just take the road! Moving on, there’s not been much effort put into the tracks here, some bike hangers for the chairs (from the front wheel this time, check that QR…) and a few signs. The lift is also closed on Mondays & Fridays.

The black 24 run follows a walkers trail complete with slippy log steps and rubble strewn double track. Despite this it’s a lot of fun, swoopy sections through meadows, fast leaf covered tracks through deciduous trees and some serious mud.

Last bit’s not so good admittedly, but we liked it despite this. There’s a long cruisy blue (21 & 39) that takes you downhill from the top into Megeve which looks like an easy way to get back, but with rotations on the looooong chair taking 25 minutes, and 1hr till last lift back at TS Pres, we skipped it to put the saddles up and heads down for a 10 minute blast up the road back to Megeve.

Definitely somewhere to head back to for more exploring, particularly once the Torraz chair re-opens. The potential for some really long rides here is great, and it’s refreshing to ride somewhere that bikes seem encouraged and welcomed….

The opening weekend for the area includes a series of XC and enduro races and a week long VTT festival. Dates aren’t up yet for next years, but the 1^st weekend in July would be a reasonable guess.

19/07/2012
Le VTT et les Vaches…

Whilst bikes seem to be getting discouraged in some areas of the valley, they’re looking more and more welcome up at Le Tour. There’s some sort of link in the alps where the more suitable the terrain is for cows, the more bikes are welcomed. After all, Morzine is known locally as the mountain for the cows.

As the trains aren’t running from Vallorcine this summer (more information here: http://www.thechamonixbikebook.com/news/2012-the-year-there-wasnt-a-train/ if you’ve not already heard)we had to wait for the Vallorcine gondola to finally open at the start of July before the full potential of Le Tour could be enjoyed (well, unless you’ve got the legs for cycling all the way back round).

To complement the fun but short DH track under the Charamillon gondola, work is almost finished on a new track from the top of the Autannes chairlift. Compagnie du Mont Blanc seem to be investing a fair bit of money on the track, with a large excavator being used to construct some large features and new bridges being built. The track is already getting ridden, despite being closed for construction (“Ferme” means “good riding” right?) and looks to be bedding in well, as for how well it actually rides, we’ll see.

Over on the other side of the hill, the Vallorcine DH track is open and has had some much needed maintenance. It’s now riding incredibly well, with good course markings out for anyone who’s not hit it before, unlike most of last year… This track is one of the best around, and almost good enough reason to own a big bike just to hit it. Don’t worry though, it’s still negotiable on a hardtail, just don’t expect to feel too fresh by the finish.

Locals have been busy building on the lower section. It’s not an official part of the track, but it’s definitely more fun than the fireroad to finish off the run back to the gondola, just watch out for some of the gaps!

The rest of the area serves up some of the best natural trails in the Chamonix valley, with tracks criss-crossing between Switzerland and France. A new info board was in the process of being erected at the Refuge de Col du Balme which designated the classic descent into Trient as a walkers trail, and the excellent Les Jeurs run to Chatelard as a bike trail. (If you’re not sure about these trails, and can’t work it out from the IGN map3630 OT, then these and more are in the new Chamonix Bike Guide http://www.thechamonixbikebook.com/the-book/ ). There didn’t seem to be any indication of how obligatory these designations were, I can’t see walkers being any happier about losing the Les Jeurs path than bikers about being banned from the Trient run, so I guess we just have to wait and see what develops.

The Trient run currently has a wee diversion above the village for forestry work, however the diversion trail is of good quality and the descent is still up there as one of the best enduro style runs about.

Finally, just to prove that we don’t need bikes worth more than cars to have fun, following an entertaining mornings climbing in the Aiguille Rouge, we descended on the Elfe Secret track at Flegere with a motley selection of pub bikes and decade old mountain bikes, complete with our climbing gear. It wasn’t the fastest the track’s ever been ridden, and certainly not the most competently, but there was way more laughter than you hear from many storm troopers on 8” play bikes.

11/07/2012