End of the alpine season

A bivouac trip, a Valais loam fest and a Loriaz descent in one go...

During my last week in the Chamonix valley the weather was really good, so between airport runs I ticked off some really fast and dry trail rides.

Starting with an overnight mission to a Bivouac hut on a remote old farm in the Passy Parc Regional on the boarder of the Aiguilles Rouges. It felt so far from civilisation, despite the chaos of Chamonix being just one valley away. The most incredible part of the trip, bar Ben nailing some mega tech sections, was the location of the farm being where the sun first hits the valley in the morning.

I had been wanting to re-visit this descent for a long time and never quite got round to it. With a new and keen riding buddy we got even higher than before for some extremely steep footpath riding before hitting the loamiest descent in the area. A trail only ridden by highly skilled Martigny riders, and us... The lines are superb. One of the most grin inducing trails of the year!

We only had the afternoon due to work commitments, but Loriaz has to be ridden at the end of every season (like the start of every season). With light running out we made good time up the climb. I took some photo's at the top and the boys disappeared. I chased them down as they slowed at a junction to allow me to catch, and boom, Rich engaged his turbo. We briefly (10 seconds? 20 max?) stopped where there was a viewpoint before Rich was off again all the way to the bottom, shouting and hollering the whole way down.

"If that was my last descent of the season that was an amazing in-one descent to finish on" I said to the boys as we caught our breath, shared tales of near misses, amazing line choices and stretched out our braking fingers.

Bye Bye to Alps for 2016 (?)

Comments

Being shown around my classic stomping ground

Another chance to be shown around trails. Not as glamorous as Switzerland, but just as good! Mortimers Forest and Bringewood, Ludlow, Shropshire, England The woods of Mortimers Forest and Bringewood are where I grew up mountain biking so I always love going back. A few years ago I built a long section of singletrack trail to link in above a much loved piece of trail that had been a staple of rides for many years. It was my way of giving back to the forest riders and builders. Over the last few years whilst I've been away riding 1000m+ descents my Dad has still been out exploring every corner of these forests. Sometimes walking with my Mother, other times out on road rides with his Wednesday night Pub Ride group or usually with his main Sunday morning off road group. They are trail connoisseurs, though they might not look it. They are the type of group that make up every British Forestry carpark on a Sunday morning...

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. ...

Changing times

Being show around Valais trails for a change People I've been riding with recently have been talking about the Emosson to Martigny trail and how good it is. Me and Tom had been up there in June to ride the first half of the trail and loved it. blogged here . So I was keen to get back. I wasn't keen to get up after a late night in Amnesia, but knew that the road climb from Finahut would sort me and Jarno out. 1 1/2 hours spinning wasn't too bad. Luckily the trail is great form the beginning, even if it undulates and you often have to get off your bike for a quick push up. It still kind of flows, in a 'flow-tech' kind of way. The views looking down towards Martigny and Sion were still great. The trail really gets going after about 3 kilometres. Basically from the Emosson the trail traverses North-Eastwards constantly hugging the mountainside to your left, and always with a big drop down to your right. It's another one ...

Search This Blog