Slop fest in one of the quietest corners of the Rhone Alps With no guiding work in Beaufort this summer a plan was made for the some of the previous years guides to meet up for an early season blast on some of favourite trails. For the Beaufortain Enduro the lift in Areches was open for the whole weekend and there were two bus uplift options to help gain some height to the downhill stages (not timed). June had been a pretty poor month for weather with storms rolling in and out and only a few dry days.  I decided to put a bigger tyre on the front of my bike to try and gain some more grip in the impending mud of the Beaufortain forests. It did help a little, but really it was a slip and slide approach to riding for the whole weekend.   For those of us that knew the lines it made life a little easier, but sometimes due to wet roots you couldn't get to where you wanted to and you had hope you could slow down and make the next corner. Everyone was still grinning, and ...

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?

Boarder shred fest in the steeps A bit close for comforts, the story of the day for not just Shane, all of us! Normaly my posts mention International boarders and the trails that take me between these lines.  Today was slightly different.  Everyone knows that the Swiss Canton of Valais is full of great trails, and until today I thought that it's neighbouring Canton of Vaud was full of bad drivers, Freddie Mercury statues (Montreux), vineyards and a whole heap of money! However right on the boarder of Valais/Vaud is Bex.  That's pronounced 'bay' in French, not Becks like Posh n Becks for you vrai Anglais. It doesn't matter what Canton your in, in Switzerland public transport is top notch, and seeing as this place is near a ski town, the all-day travel card for mountain bikers is not actually too expensive at 28chf (€25).  A little research revealed a whole host of trails, but luckily Timmy was on hand to guide us today which was really ...

Exploring Aosta for the first time in 2016 Thats kind of a lie, we had a few experimental, yeah, experimental is a good word to describe the ski tour's that took place in Aosta Valley this winter. It was about time to get back there on two wheels and try out some new trails. Me and Wayne, my boss, didn't have any work so we journey'd over to search for more Aosta goodness.  The first objective of the day was achieved quite easily, cappuccino, at which time we also found our gelato stop for post ride refreshment. So it began as most Aosta rides seem to with a big climb on a quiet road that slowly makes it's way upwards through tiny hamlets, usually a mix of beautiful alpine houses and run down old sheds. Wayne was telling me how it was a burden to sit in an Aosta Valley Freeride minibus for 45 minutes-a-time when doing shuttle days. Didn't sound too bad to me... Lunch stop one was followed by snack stop 2, 3, 4 and 5 and then after a good few hours ...

A breakdown of early season riding conditions in the steeps  and deeps of the Northern French Alps Good! At the beginning of May there was still snow on the Peit Blacon Nord between le Planet and le Tour. Me and my Chamvan boss Wayne also found above Servoz and Chalet Ayeres that there was too much snow to be able to drop in from the normal trail head.  Once we were on the trail it super dry, leafy and fresh!  You couldn’t carry too much speed into corners as there wasn’t the grip for late braking manoeuvres. Cutting through the snow I was then lucky enough to spend the whole weekend riding at Saleve.  On Saturday morning whilst my friend did some extra University studies in Geneva I took the opportunity to check out some new trails.  What I found was deep leaf cover over cruisey trails, but with some nasty climbs out of them.  One might be worth a repeat with some enduro boys as it finishes in Esserts-Saleve... In the afternoon I...

Southern Roadtripping I’d just come off the top of Europe, Mont Blanc with a 2000 metre powder skiing descent, but Wouter was still after final plan ideas for meeting him, my Dutch guiding buddy somewhere in Provence. GAP was of course at the top of the list, being the most northernly town in the Provence Region, and having some very tasty dry and dusty trails! Read here about last years southern trip that put Finale Ligure to shame. Even though there is more than 6 days worth of riding in the Gapencais, we wanted to taste something else and I’d seen a nice instagram photo from the VTopo Crew riding on this weird “terre noire” (black earth) stuff earlier in the year that looked very inticing. The first day down south, my first major bike riding day of 2016 and I thought we’d get everyone going on some trails that I knew from previous trips over by the stunning Lac Serre Poncon.  Sitting having lunch in t-shirt and shorts at the end of April was a great feel...

Accompagnateur en Montagne After many years of training, I am now a fully qualified International Mountain Leader (IML) which opens up a whole new world of work opportunities. I am now able to lead hiking tours all over the world, but more importantly I have an outdoor qualification that is recognised and highly regarded by the French for hiking and mountain biking. The final assessment took place in the Pyrennees Orientales where we found great snowshoeing terrain.  We were tested on micro navigation every day during which we had to talk about various environmental subjects.  Animal tracks, tree's, geology, local area geography and other general nuggets of information.  Other area's covered included emergency rope work in snow covered terrain and multi burial avalanche transceiver searches (find and probe 2 units in 8 minutes, I averaged 4 minutes). Snowshoe assessment in the Pyrenees 2016