2000 rewards closer to home

"My Swiss friends are riding in the dry today", said Mael as we stood outside a cafe in Chamonix underneath his umbrella.

A plan was made in my head. Let's use the Dorenaz lift to gain some height and hopefully find the driest trails in the area. Aosta Valley was full of snow, and the Haute Savoie was soaked through.

3 hours after leaving the carpark we made it to the top of our climb, 100 metres or so above Col du Demecre. However there was snow. Maybe there had been some preciptiation in Valais after all?

The snow needed some serious care due to the exposure of the slope that the trail traversed across. Luckily it was that grippy type of snow and below you could see glorious Swiss high alpine singletrack disappearing off into the larch tree's and joining the trail me, Bas & Jarno had done in spring. The one with a horrendous scree field down climb section that rendered the entrance to the descent pointless. New entrance found:

Lower down the grass was damp which led to some creative line taking but it really wasn't that muddy, just on the greasy side. We were soon on the trail I had done with the Dutchies and then across to a trail I had done with another Dutchy in August. In here we found lots of grip and corners begging for loose back wheel action. There are lots of fire road crossings which create great stopping points for re-grouping and talking about the speed, and the life or death moments that just took place.

2000 metres later, after about an hour of descending we made it to the village just down the road from Dorenaz. A short, flat pedal back to the car was the perfect wind down after a huge classically Valaisian descent. TIP TOP as they say!

Why did I bother going south last week? oh yeah, the snow and because I thought the there were better trails away from home.

Comments

Aiguille de la Grande Sassiere 3751m

One of those pure adventure days *warning mega photo post*Ali-venturing as it's been known by over the summer. When Ali from trailAddiction gets grand idea's in his head it always leads to hike-a-bike. Read here on DIRT Mag about a previous mission, its the highest rideable peak in the alps!
A special team was organised: A top ten finishing team from the Bivouac Enduro, Mael and Max, Ali, myself and Fred the mountain bike mechanic from Mavic. All keen, all stupid?
And then my alarm went off at 04:30. Time to eat and drink as much as possible. I hadn't been up this early since ski touring in refuges last winter. In my tired state I did subconsciously know how to load the bikes onto the trailer, it's easy after doing it everyday all summer. We drove up towards Val d'Isere, then turned left up a singletrack road. It was around 6am, and it was still pitch black. Slowly the sun began to rise: And the hike-a-bike continued and turned into carry-a-bike, but with the su…

Verb-yeah!

Verbier is a very mixed place. There is great piste skiing & free-riding and access to world class ski touring, but more often its known for it's decadence. Huge picture perfect chalets with wealthy families and their beaufituful/handsome ski instructors fill the resort. And if not that, the seedier side of ski resorts, the bankers with their paid for woman. . .

Talking of horrible, those exposed switchbacks half way down from the Chateau were bloody horrible, lucky the rest of the trail was very good fun.

Well of course, its Swiss Valais, the footpaths are "tip top" and the lift companies are bike friendly. There were still a lot of pistes open for skiing, but after 11am you can use the lower lift from Le Chable to Verbier to access the snow free trails that lead back into the valley floor. Time to explore:

Many thanks to Lorne for some of the cracking photos : http://www.lornecameron.com

Tour du Mont Blanc: Voie Toller- Italy

10:30- 6 hours riding- Val Ferret, Val d'Aoste, ItalyThis was our first off-road descent of the day and we both knew it was steep to begin with so took it easy. Jo with his slicks, and me with Euro brakes (front and back on the wrong side of handlebars) we rode a reasonable amount, hopped some drainage channels, and shouldered our bikes down the rocky steps.
We came out of the mist around the Elena Refuge and we joined the firetrack down. Big wheels, tyres and suspension allowed me to open it up a bit, however Jo took it cautiously with his rigid forks. In no time at all we were zooming down the road towards Courmayeur and FOOD!
11:30- Supermarcato, Courmayeur
With our bikes lent up outside we bought cans of drink, crisps, chocolate, cheese, sliced meat, bread rolls, focaccia and a giant slice of watermellon. €15 each and much to the dismay of the supermarket workers we stuffed our faces: 12:05- Ascent of Val Veny, Italy As we left Courmayeur we were now committed to getting to Cha…

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