Mountain biking in France
Chamonix
Our first stop in
France was in
Chamonix. The weather remained as dull as in
Scotland. Nevertheless, we had a lovely ride along a trail know as
Petite Balcon Nord. It is a singletrack traversing the eastern slopes
of the Chamonix valley from Argentiere to Le Tour. Great riding, with
pleasant views of the Chamonix valley.
Beginning of the singletrack
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High traverse
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Switchbacks
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Gnarly roots
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Clear morning
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Morzine
Our next stop was Morzine in the middle of Port du
Soleil a vaste
skiing area. It may not be top of the line as far as ski areas
go, as most of it is a bit too low there will be winters with very
little snow. However, Port du Soleil has bet hard on lift supported
mountain biking. Presently, it is easily the best downhill area in the
Alps, with no less than 660 kilometres signposted mountaing bike
trails, ten permanent downhill runs, bike support and wash spots, etc.
In July Morzine is teeming with people on heavy downhill rigs.
Our first ride we took the lifts up to Montagne
de
Séraussaix. Then, we went along a fire road to Avoriaz, a ski
resort that was like a ghost town in late July. Returning to Morzine we
followed a fine singletrack traversing the slopes of a side
valley via Col de la Croix des Combes. Approaching the main valley it
turned into a steep switchbacked fire road.
Telésiège de Zore to Montagne de Séraussaix |
Fine singletrack
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Alpine meadows
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Switchbacks down to Morzine
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Our second day in Morzine we headed up to Le Plénay on the other
side of Morzine. Then, we kept on relatively high altitude close to the
watershed to Les Chavannes. There we went down to Les Gets on a really
scary dowhill trail, took lift back up to Les Chavannes, and continued
on a long winding singletrack to Lairon and Le Sinceneret and down to
Les Gets again. Then, we took another lift up the north slope from Les
Gets and returned via Le Mont Caly. It was a splendid day.
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Téléphérique du Plénay
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On the crest of Le Plénay
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Mount Blanc
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High riding
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Down to Les Gets
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Sospel
After a long drive from Morzine crossing inumeralbe
passes on the Route
des Grandes Alpes we arrived in Sospel in Les Alpes Maritime.
Sospel turend out to be a small medieval town. We chose to stay
in a camping place above. If there were good bike shops we did
not find them. However, the local tourist office supplied
us with a decent map.
One day we did the Circuit du Pape. It is some 22
kilometres and has a
total acent of 730 metre. The Circuit de Pape begins with a long climb
on fire road to Col de Braus, followed by sweet singletrack on or close
to the ridgeline to Baisse du Pappe, and then a long decent on
singletrack with some really technical sections, rock gardens,
switchbacks and baby heads, down to Sospel. Coming back down to Sospel
we rounded off the day by going down to Menton by car for a swim.
Sweet singletrack
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On the ridge towards Cold de Braus
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Pure rock
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Gnarly trail
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Another day we did a trail known as Circuit des Maquisards. It is
a 20 km trail that goes around a Mont Razet climbing some 800 metres.
Most of the ascent is made on fire road that one climbs to a spot
called Baisse de Scuvion, close to the summit of Mont Razet. Then one
continues on rather technical singletrack, short stretches of
hike-a-bike, rounding the southern spurs of Mont Razet to Pierre
Pointue. There are some staggering views of the Mediterranean. Turning
north again one passes some ancient fortifications. Then the trails
heads down through the forest passing Col de Roulabre and Col du Razet.
Great fun, with some really technical bits.
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Pierre Pointue
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Heading down through the woods
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Technical section
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This page was mounted by
Per
Löwdin 2006-03 28.
