Chamonix Bike Blog

Tag: valley trails

Known knowns, known unknowns and unknown unknowns

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 for an unknown descent. Or by unknown, I mean you’ve seen the trace on the map so you know roughly where it goes, and you know it’ll be muddy because it’s almost winter, but more than that, no idea!

That the weather is pretty Scottish right now probably helped, but the trails above Servoz are about as close as I have found to the Scottish ethic. With skiing still not quite there in the valley, Jan and I headed out to beast the legs one last time (probably…) before the snow properly arrives.

Heading up from the town to the Trois Gouilles carpark on the road is pretty easy, and gets you the first 300m climbed without too much effort. The next 200m up to the Lac Vert parking are on gravel road and definitely take it out of you a bit more. From there, it’s a mix of easier fire road and occasional singletrack (which is great in the other direction) to the Chalets du Souey, about 770m above Servoz.

So far, so Scottish. A long climb, grey skies, intermittent drizzle and heathery moorland above the treeline. The only clue we weren’t just outside Oban was the occasional break in the cloud giving views of the Domes du Miage. This much of the trail I knew, but from here down all we had was a line on the map and some optimism.

Setting off down the trail we made it about 20meters before spying a natural rock wall ride.

Another aspect of biking back home I really miss is the stopping to play on cool features on the trail and making the most of what you see, rather than riding hundreds of vertical meters in a single go. We played for a while, until my imagination exceeded the level of grip available on the wet rock and I limped off with ripped shorts and a hole in my leg.

Back off down the trail and we were impressed. It’s perhaps not the most flowing or consistent track in town, but you get plenty value for money. Fast bits, slow bits, tech, tight, open, simple. It all seemed to be in there. Normally I try and let some photos do the talking (it saves over a 1000 words each time) but a combination of poor light and having more fun playing on the trail slightly scuppered that. Suffice to say, if you’re riding something between a cyclocross bike and a twin crown freeride rig, you’ll have fun and be challenged but in a good way!

Two hours after leaving town, we rolled back into Servoz, muddier than when we left. At which point Jan, who is already in training for the 2013 Marmotte, suggested another lap.

Merde.

Filling our bottles from the fountain just past the Gorges de Diosaz hotel, we started pedalling up, noticeably slower than the first time! We still managed to stay on the bikes until the Trois Gouilles carpark, pushed up a wee bit further, then headed down.

The hillside here is littered with bike trails, natural and purpose built. Several of the Servoz youth used to build freeride trails here which have been gradually getting rediscovered and reworked. It’s not Whistler, but it’s a good sign of a healthy local scene.

All too soon we were back onto the old Servoz – Passy road, saddles back up and spinning round to town. With a little over 1100meters climbed on our enduro bikes, the legs were for sure feeling the burn. After a days “Scottish” riding, a raid of the fridge gave me only one option for lunch. Porridge and a mug of tea. Braw.

Looking outside the snow’s on the ground and the buzz about town is definitely for winter, not summer. Guess it’s now time to go skiing to give the legs a rest.

28/11/2012
Telepherique des Glaciers. Uplift of a sort.

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 someone else there to wheelie on command.

The Telepherique des Glaciers is the original version of the Midi lift, only it was never completed and, in 1955, was abandoned for the better line of the current lift. Most folk know the lift buildings from descending to the Mont Blanc Tunnel after skiing some of the classic Chamonix lines such as Rond Glacier or the North face of Mont Blanc, but with a bike the push up to the middle station with a bike is pretty easy, and you can knock another 200m vertical off if you drive up to the tunnel entrance.

This wasn’t an option for Jan & I as the traffic was backed up for several km from the tunnel, so we just rode up the edge of the road past the static traffic. After negotiating our way through the tunnel entrance area we started the push up, following the same route as you descend.

The station sits at 1688m, about 600m above Chamonix and 400m above the tunnel. It’s north facing and a bit chillier than down in town, but you can’t visit any of these places and not take some time to explore. If you’ve got the skills of Danny Macaskill you could have an amazing time here. Jan and I had to make do with wheelies and skids, but that was fun enough for us!

Eventually we figured we’d best head down the hill. I always take a bit more time to savour the descent if I’ve had to get myself to the top of it. The “need” to take some photos was a great excuse to session some of the amazing natural features on the trail. The trail flows so well though, it’s tempting to just keep blasting down. It’s not super steep and tech like you find on many of the valley side trails, but at the same time there’s so much going on on the trail that you aren’t tearing down too quickly.

Reaching the tunnel again we crossed over the concrete and dropped down towards the Cascades du Dards to ride that trail down to town. Another sweet little track, all the better for having no snow on it this time.

Getting to the back of the old Camping Les Molliasses we were still keen for more, so cut right and took the forestry roads up towards the path down from the Midi-Plan. These trails, particularly the Cascade du Dard and Midi paths, are very busy throughout the summer and early autumn with walkers so it was good to ride them without anyone else about.

The last section of this trail down to the ski jump was a fitting end to the ride. Having started at the Telepherique des Glaciers lift which opened in time for the first winter Olympics and hosted the bobsleigh, we finished at the ski jump which had been built and inauguriated for the same event. If only I’d planned it that way!

Is Jan going to get the bike out again? Is anyone? The weather watchers are getting excited about the prospect of some fairly serious snow next week, Verbier’s already open for skiing, Courmayeur opens on Friday and Grand Montets is scheduled to open the week after, so maybe the bikes are away for the winter now.

We’ll see.

24/11/2012
Mixed conditions

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 fence blocking the path, which didn’t bode well. After once again failing to ride the super-tech entrance we discovered why.

The track had been well and truly hammered by the spring Fohen storm and there were trees down all over. At first I thought it could make a nice project and a few days work with a saw could clear it into a cracking VTT track hidden from walkers, but by about 1/2 way down there’s just too much damage.

To finish it off, the final section now has logging work! The riding between fallen trees was still good, but not worth the hassle. to cap it off I had a comedy over the bars in thick leaves at the end of the trail which left me undamaged but with some expensive dings on the bike. Ho hum.

Brevent re-opened on Saturday, which is good news for encouraging laziness, unfortunately winter also made an appearance and by Saturday evening the snow was lying on the ground in town.

Still keen to get out and do something, I went for a short spin in the snow. The loop up on forestry roads by the Mont Blanc tunnel access road and down past the Cascade du Dard is one of the great little loops around Chamonix perfect for when you’ve only got an hour or so, or just don’t want your toes to get too cold (does anyone make a weatherproof pair of skate shoes?).

I always find the worst part of going riding in less than perfect weather is actually getting out the door, and sure enough 5 minutes in I’d got used to the temperature and was enjoying spinning along without overheating and looking about at the valley in it’s first snows for the winter.

The forestry roads which let you avoid the main road up to the Mont Blanc tunnel aren’t continuous but even with a few short sprachels between paths you can ride almost all the way up, keeping the feet out of the snow!

As for the descent, apart from one short section after the bridge at the top, it’s a pretty mellow bit of singletrack without too much rock or root tech. Helpful with an inch or 2 of snow on the ground. Bit of a lack of photos as it was a little chilly to be hanging using the self timer, and it was nice just to be out in the peace and quiet that comes with a covering of snow.

The forecast is for warmer temps during the week, so there should be a return to normal service soon.

28/10/2012
Loriaz

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 easier, getting you to Buet and from Vallorcine without any effort, but not this year. Despite this, it’s popularity is definitely increasing and there’s more tyre tracks on the route these days than when I was first shown the route a few years ago.

The ascent from Buet was as painful as ever, possibly more so with Paul “the machine” tearing up ahead of us, despite just finishing a quick 3 day Tour du Mont Blanc (check out his write up here for inspiration) but a little over an hour after leaving Buet we were at the cross, looking at the falling snowline and dropping our saddles.

If the climb was as painful as normal, the descent was as good as normal, starting above the trees in surprisingly Scottish terrain before dropping into the forest.

All too soon you’re back in Vallorcine for a short pedal back to Buet, or back over the Col du Montets if you’ve got the legs for it.

01/10/2012
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