Tag Archives: valley trails

Just…a….bit….longer…..to…wait

Posted on 24th June 2013

Lifts open next weekend. Which is nice. There seems to be a bit more of a buzz about town than usual for mountain biking this year. I don’t know if it’s the long winter making everyone over eager for summer activities, the rise of “enduro” racing in magazines and websites making everyone excited about shiny new toys or what, but basically, we’re looking forward to the lifts opening. A lot.

Of course, folk haven’t stopped riding just because they have to get up the hill themselves. The snow lines been slowly working its way up the hill and the trails … [Read full post]

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Forever delayed…

Posted on 28th May 2013
Jumping for joy at dusty trails

I’m beginning to sound like a stuck record (or best-of album), but this blog’s here to give y’all an idea of riding conditions and trails around Chamonix, so I can only say what I see!

Yes, winter is STILL in force in the Chamonix valley.

I’ve been back in Scotland for a wee visit (where I got to ride the excellent new Commonwealth Games track at Cathkin Braes, good work guys. Almost made me wish I was back working in Glasgow. Almost) and had expected that upon return to Chamonix the sun would be shining, the air warm and the … [Read full post]

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Back out

Posted on 13th May 2013

The last of the piste skiing in Chamonix has closed for the winter and town is now definitely in interseason mode. That means empty bars, closed hotels and quiet trails, though no uplift alas. Normally the train takes the strain at this time of year, however the entire line is closed for renovation until the 28th June. Everything has a silver lining and it helps move from ski legs to bike legs if you have to get up everything under your own steam.

It got sunny again today so with Sandy, Spencer and Nina we headed out for a … [Read full post]

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Winter in ‘fat lady still not singing’ shocker

Posted on 30th April 2013

It might be the end of April, but winter still refuses to loosen it’s grip on the Chamonix valley. Fortunately May looks like it’s going to start with higher freezing levels, some fohen wind and a bit of sunshine which will hopefully help shift the snow from lower down, whilst sorting out the higher mountains for some spring ski touring!

It’s not stopped folk getting out on the bike though, so below’s some shots from some recent rides around the valley with Sandy and also Spencer from Chamonix Bike Rental who has some great plans for the biking community in … [Read full post]

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Melt. Freeze. Cycle.

Posted on 6th April 2013

Ah, the birds are singing, flowers poking through the grass. It must be spring, and so the bike has been dragged out of the cave it’s languished in for the last 4 months of winter and I’ve been back in the saddle.

Of course, this being the mountains, no sooner had the sun come out and the snow melted then it started to dump with snow in the valley and the big skis came back out of the locker again. This pattern will be set to continue for the next month or so, but at least it means we get … [Read full post]

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Known knowns, known unknowns and unknown unknowns

Posted on 28th November 2012

I grew up riding in Scotland and sometimes, just sometimes, I can really miss the riding there. Don’t get me wrong, Chamonix trails are ridiculously good, who wouldn’t want to be quickly whisked up 1000m to ride off on trails, almost every one looking and feeling like it’s from a movie, all in great weather. Or at least great if you’re Scottish.

But despite this, or perhaps because of this, I miss having to ride up singletrack roads, fire roads, push up muddy sheep tracks and, when all else fails, just sprachel straight up the hill with the bike all … [Read full post]

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Telepherique des Glaciers. Uplift of a sort.

Posted on 24th November 2012

Jan’s starting to get a bit fed up. For a month now every time he’s been out he’s called last ride, cleaned his bike and put it away for the winter, only to be persuaded to get it covered in mud again the next weekend. Sure enough as we were packing the bikes away at La Saleve he was sure that was it for the autumn. Then I suggested we ride the trail down from ye olde abandonned “Telepherique des Glaciers“….

Just as well he did, I’d have gone up solo, but it’s much easier to take photos when there’s … [Read full post]

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Mixed conditions

Posted on 28th October 2012

It’s not been a great few days on the bike, but what’s the saying, “a bad day on the bike is better than a good day in the office”? Something like that.

First off, Robbie, Lorne & I headed up to the Chalet du Glacier des Bossons for one of my favourite wee tracks in the valley which, for one reason and another, I’d not had a chance to ride this year.

Arriving at the top of the chairlift, having been enthusing about the descent all way up the road and firetrack climb, there was a “Danger” sign and a … [Read full post]

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Loriaz

Posted on 1st October 2012

It’s inter-season now in Chamonix, which means as well as the lifts closing, the shops are starting to cut back their opening hours, and town empties as everyone heads off on holiday. Wanting to get a classic ride in before packing the bike up for my holidays, I thought the Loriaz chalets loop would do the job nicely.

It’s one of the absolute best non-lift accessed loops in and around Chamonix, but being a little out of the valley doesn’t see quite as much traffic as some of the other non-lift accessed loops.

Most years the train can make life … [Read full post]

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2 shades of grey

Posted on 28th July 2012

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 … [Read full post]

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