We can alter this itinerary to suit novice mountain bikers. Email us for an itinerary specific to your group.
Day 0
Arrive Geneva airport and take a transfer to the chalet where Jamie will give you a briefing about the trip. Time to assemble the bikes for the week of riding ahead.
Day 1
After a good breakfast, we have either a big road climb or van uplift up to the Col de Joux Plane (of Tour de France fame) where we can indulge in a spot of Mont Blanc gazing from the small café by the lake. We climb a little more to a cross on a hilltop with yet more spectacular panoramic views. From here a fantastic single track trail snakes its way down a cool 1,200m to the very bottom of the Giffre valley far below. This descent is rarely used as there are no chair lifts to bring you back to the top again. We make the most of a seemingly never ending descent of narrow trails, switch back turns and the jewel in the crown – an amazing swooping roller coaster ride at the end of the trail which brings us out at the picture-perfect village of Samoens.
After lunch in the old square there are several options. We can either ride up to the head of the valley for a fun riverside single track descent or get another uplift, followed by a bit of leg power to the top of one of the most fun descents in the area – a swooping, varied singletrack trail through woodland, small hamlets and rocky terrain back down to Samoens centre.
Day 2
Today we head off down the valley in the van to La Vallee du Risse for some superb little known singletrack riding. From the pretty village of Onnion we climb steadily on road and dirt track to the top of Plaine Joux – a high alpine plateau at 1,200m. After following a varied route across the plateau with smooth flowing trails and rocky and rooty singletrack, we then drop off the plateau for a cracking descent on singletrack back to Onnion.
After lunch we continue on secret trails through pretty alpine hamlets, which bring us to the top of a fast-flowing wooded singletrack descent all the way down to the village of St Jeoire. Depending on time and energy levels there’s the options of a climb (or uplift) on a mixture of trails and road to the top of another of our favourite descents on Le Mole. Swooping down on pitch-perfect singletrack with a few tight switchbacks and tricky rooty sections, we pop out again in the village of St Jeoire. A classic finish to a day of great riding in this area.
Day 3
Today we sample some of the best trails the area has to offer. We spend the day in the Grand Massif and visit Flaine ski station. Using a mixture of cable cars, chair lifts and leg power we ascend to the very top of the Flaine massif. We arrive at a point from which we have a staggering 1,800m of descent ahead of us! Setting out on the biggest rideable descent in this area we “drop off” the peak along easy trails before coming to some steeper, twisting single track trails which bring us out at the beautiful Lac des Gers. A fast double track takes us to one of the best sections of single track in the entire region – a swooping, curving, testing descent which seems to go down and down for ever. Ducking through trees and leaping over roots we cross several other tracks and still head down, with grins wider than the helmets on our heads we finally pop out next to the Giffre river on very edge of Samoens.
Day 4
We head back down the valley in the van again today for a classic mountain bike route – the Tour du Mole. We circumnavigate this unique mountain, which stands alone as the gateway to the Alps. There is a lot of climbing today – around 1,500m – but it’s spread throughout the day and the single track descents are well worth the effort. This is a “proper” day of riding on varied terrain: smooth trails across alpine pasture, twisting pine needle forest single track with rocks and roots along the way.
Day 5
Depending on the season we’ll use the Grand Massif’s network of cable cars and chair lifts to get over to the mountain bikers playground that is Les Carroz, riding some fun single track en route. So much work has been done in Les Carroz recently to make this one of the best places to ride prepared trails in the region. After thoroughly exploring the riding in Les Carroz we‘ll use the lifts once again to return to the top of Morillon and finish the day with an awesome singletrack descent back down to Morillon village on the valley floor – 1,100m of singletrack winding and weaving through high alpine pasture and forest.
Day 6
The Grand Finale. We take a van transfer in the morning to Plateau d’Assy. From here it’s a tough climb on double track to our high mountain lunch spot at the refuge Moede d’Anterne. You feel like you could reach out and touch Mont Blanc from this stunning location. A short section of hike-a-bike takes you to the Col D’Anterne at 2257m where the view just gets better. A breathtaking single track descent takes us down past the shimmering Lac d’Anterne which nestles in the middle of a lush alpine meadow.
A short single track climb up to the Petit Col D’Anterne at 2038m takes us to the top of our awesome final descent. 1,200m switch backing down the mountain to the valley floor. An epic finish to a fantastic week of riding.
Day 7
Departure with the transfer company to Geneva airport.
