The Road to PBP (and other stuff)

MTB in the Alps

Hi folks! For this post we’re going back to our blogging roots and rating MTB trails. But first (for our moms) a few pictures from the trip:

Now for the important bit: MTBing in the Alps!  Starting with a shout out to the guys at Zero G in Chamonix where we rented our bikes.  The staff is super nice with lots of tips on where to ride (they also rent road bikes if that’s your thing).  The shop is run by Australians which makes it feel like Whistler, and English is fine if your French is not up-to-snuff.  We bought a small Mountain Bike Guide to Chamonix Mont Blanc which turned out to be worth it for the tip about the 20 euro all-day MTB pass which gives you access to many of the bike accessible lifts.  This is a new pass so not all of the lifties know about it; they tried to sell us the normal day-pass for 50 euros but after showing them the book, they sorted it out and found the cheap MTB pass that we wanted.  The book also gives tips on where to ride (and where the cops might be waiting to bust MTBers) and handy French words like “pedallier” (crank arm) and “patte” (derailleur hanger).

Zero G carries mostly Specialized so I rented a Stumpjumper which was great for most of the trails we were on except that I would’ve liked a beefier front fork (I was riding a Fox Float 32 but a Talas 36 would’ve been nicer on the Bellevue run).  Justin was riding a Specialized Switch with some kind of Rockshox and his fork was pretty much bottomed out on most of the downhill (he decided not to go with a real downhill bike since we’d be riding together and they didn’t have a downhiller small enough for me). We picked up the bikes the evening before and pedaled back to Les Houches to hit the Prarion lift in the morning!

Hugh’s Way.  Hugh’s Way is described in the guide as “alpine pastures, woodland single-track and great views” and delivers on all three. The trail descends from the top of the Prarion Lift to St. Gervais.  The directions in the guide are quite good but it’s easy to forget the book when you’re swooping down the single-track so we went off course a couple of times and had to hike back up to get back on track.  The three tricky spots that threw us off were:

1. “Pass in front of a brown and white chalet”. You’ll want to stay close to the house for this bit.  You’ll feel like you’re riding through someone’s front yard but that really is where the trail goes.
2. We also managed to miss the second and third yellow ski gates which are located quite close to a farm house (again you’ll feel like you’re riding through someone’s yard).
3. The third place we went off-track was after we passed over the tracks of the cog railway.  Do NOT take the immediate left 4×4 trail; instead you take the trail to the left a few seconds down after the railway.

Other than that we managed to stay on track (Hugh’s Way is not labeled so you pretty much have to follow the directions in the guide book).  All of it is very ridable with gorgeous views and fun, fast, well-maintained tails.

Overall I give Hugh’s Way four squid bikes.  The single-track and views get five but, unlike Government or Rim Trail in Aspen, there’s a significant amount of 4×4 riding connecting the fantastic single-track.

Pipeline. Once we got down to St. Gervais (which is an adorable town), we continued down the mountain on the pipeline trail to Le Fayet.  The guide warns that this ride is “not for those with vertigo” but I thought is was not nearly as intimidating as, e.g. Rim Trail at Snowmass.  I didn’t ride down the “fairly steep steps” at the top (not sure if I would’ve done it even with a beefier fork), but the rest of it was fun, steep, tight switchbacks.

It’s not a very long trail (we were easily down in about 30 minutes) but the switchbacks are fun.  I give it 3.5 quid bikes.

North Shore Run at the Bellevue Lift. After Le Layet, we took the tram up to the top of the Bellevue lift and ate at the little cafe at the top.  (Either we were really hungry or those guys make the Best. Quiche. Ever.)  The run down from Belleue turned out to be the gem of the day. It’s relatively new, so it wasn’t in our guidebook.

At the very top, there’s a little North Shore practice park with obstacles that are small enough so that even I could ride them with my little 32 fork.  Then, at the bottom of the practice park, the trail winds down to the real North Shore riding.  This trail is FANTASTIC! It has black and red obstacles built into the trail at the top (but there’s always a blue trail that you can take instead) and then drops into a fabulous, twisty section with beautiful berms all the way down.  Also, no hikers allowed!  So you if you’ve got the guts, you can cut loose a little more than on the hiking trails.

We loved this run. Parts of it are still under construction so it looks like it’ll just get better and better.  The North Shore bits we rode were fabulous, flow-y and well-constructed (and there were lots of drops that were way too big for me so I have something to look forward to next time).  Five squid bikes!