The best of 3 countries, including the best trail of the year

Major and minor hits around the greater Mont Blanc region of Aosta Italy, Valais Switzerland and Savoie France. Tomorrow I head to the souther French Alps, and then onto Finale Ligure.

Swiss flow

I spent a few days ticking off classic trails in using the le Tour lifts before they closed. It's good to see tyre tracks on the descent into le Buet. And I even tried a descent I had previously not done above Chatelard. It was very Swiss, fun and fast. How do the Valaisan's cut such good footpaths?

Barage d'Emosson behind

Aosta delivered with more good's high up near the Beccca France. It took us about 5 hours to climb nearly 2000m. Luckily there was a refuge near the top for a drink break. The descent was worth every minute of suffering with views over the Grand Paradiso Parc, high singletrack lead into almost never ending larch needle covered singletrack that begged you to go fast and then gripped you round every tight corner. We of course finished with delicious pizza, despite getting ripped off for drinks in Courmayeur.

Grippy needles?

BEST TRAIL OF THE YEAR?

I don't actually have any photo's of what are possibly my two favourite trails of the year, but let me tell you; Somewhere in the beech and spruce tree's above Pussy(!)/Moutiers lays untouched footpaths with a magic carpet surface of fallen leaves, that are slowly getting shaped into perfect berms and fast straights. Sessoning down these trails with fast riders was such a blast, bwaaaaaap! trailAddiction Ali, Lapierre mechanic Fred, chømage Max and Scottish Nash, thank you!

Not in the woods, but heading to them from the back of Val Morel

Winter then tried to stop us in Switzerland but Cross Road Cycles' Mael kept us going, and it was well worth the cold winds for spectacular views and nice singletrack from the Col du Grand Saint Bernard down to Osierers.

STUNNING CONTRASTS!

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Aosta-venturing

Everything a good day should have: Thanks to Mael for most of the photo's Not too early a start Bread (French) Coffee (Italian) Road climb to gain some height efficiently Trail riding in a super scenic valley Hike a bike Lunch stop with a view Snow crossing River crossing A high altitude hamlet Alpine flowers bursting with colour Near death, non riding related A Virgin Mary statue A puncture with jizzing tyre sealant (not a good day for 27.5 PLUS tyres) Incredibly tight switchbacks Pine needle smooth singletrack (One of the best sections I've ever ridden this year!) A snake on the trail Sitting in a beautiful old town square by an old church Gelato More coffee More tasty snacks Cold beer Supermarket shop for local goodies A German lady expressing her desire for queuing efficiency at the Mont Blanc Tunnel Can you spot team green?

What guides do between work in the peak of July

Summer is here, and after fantastic spring riding in Southern France and then all over Valais, Aosta and Haute Savoie with good friends it's been time to get back to summer guiding, taking hikers around the Tour du Mont Blanc circuit. There's much worse things to do, but with three weeks off the bike I was itching to get back on some trails. With a carefully planned week between tours I was excited and made some plans to hit up some classic lines, and some new stuff too. It's mid July now, so in Chamonix valley you have to think carefully about where to go to miss the crowds, and to avoid going on the bike ban trails (July & August). Luckily it's still easy to find quiet trails in nearby resorts, or to simply drop round the back of a hill away from the frontside lifts. It went a little like this: Day 1- La Thuile with Wayne of newly qualified French legal mountain bike guiding service Chamonixmtb.com . Enduro race venue at it's best, rough and raw. ...

Tour du Mont Blanc: Voie Toller- INTRO

Introduction: Jo Toller is my skiing touring partner. He has been cycle touring for many years all over Europe, and last Autumn he cycled across America aboard is "ultimate touring setup" with 700cc wheels, Rholoff internal gear hub, Ortleib panniers and silly shaped handlebars. He also climbs and walks alot around Cham valley during the summers. For a couple of years now he has had this hybrid TMB route in mind. Last year when I went to watch the Downhill World Cup in Val d'Isere I picked him up from Courmayeur on my return over the Petit St Bernard. He'd left Cham and in 7 hours had reached Courmayeur. He hadn't gone the road cycling route via the Grand St.B & Aosta, no, near Verbier he'd headed up the Swiss Val Ferret Valley as far as the road went past La Fouly and then pushed his bike over the Grand Col de Ferret and descended all the Italian Val Ferret Valley to Courmayeur town. Having walked the TMB in the same, non classical, c...

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