[bigtuboflard]

Just booked for a long weekend in Les Deux Alpes at the end of June. Stopping in Venosc which looks a little more laid back than the main resort but hopefully a good location non the less and still accessible to the main riding.

Questions then, any advice on the riding there? is the stuff starting right at the very top near the glacier worth doing? or is the lower stuff better? and what about the stuff on the vallee blanche side?

Was thinking of flight to Geneva then car hire but if there are better ways of getting there I'd be interested to know.

Tim

[bigtuboflard]

Sorry, just realised i've posted in completely the wrong place  if a mod could move to two wheel spiel that would be great

[Fadanoid]

I seem to recall all the better runs for a snowboarder being up the top. There are a few runs back into town that get quite narrow and flat and you get skiers turning into you and you stop.

http://winter.les2alpes.com/images/info_pages/plan-des-pistes-des-2-alpes-hiver-2013-2014-170.pdf

As you can see you might end up on the greens which in a couple of spots are probably as wide as a narrow single country lane. I went there on my first or second trip and I managed to get down the blacks taking it easy (I was never that good anyway) and It stopped me having to carry my board on flat parts!

But from memory our best days were when we went right to the very top. The vallee blanche side was busier from memory, but it was still ok.

[fatdoc]

Ian spoke to me about this place many many times... I'm gonna go next year. Ranges from mellow to massive, near no tree cover, not tech, fast, flow jumpy and bermy..

Yep, stay in Venosc. The run home is one of th best red bike park runs in Europe.

The place is so big carry a sack and just randomly take the lifts and see where u end up.

[bigtuboflard]

Cheers both. Fatdoc, sounds ideal and yeah that run down to Venosc looks like a great home run to finish the day. I am pretty sure too i read online that the lifts run quite late too in the summer so can bike until my legs stop working! When you thinking of going?

[SA Chris]

I seem to recall all the better runs for a snowboarder being up the top.

I think he's got more biking in mind in June?

[bigtuboflard]

I seem to recall all the better runs for a snowboarder being up the top.

I think he's got more biking in mind in June?

I did you're right but always good to get some snowboarding feedback too! 

[fatdoc]

I'm not going to the alps this year dude.

I've got a trip of a lifetime to whislter.

Next year I'll b Mtb in the alps is the first week of July, I can be so accurate as I go the week before Bastille day,as the French are not all on holiday, but the weather is about as stable as it ever will be.

I rent a chalet, usually a massive one, then spend 4 months trying to find people to fill it!

[bigtuboflard]

I'm not going to the alps this year dude.

I've got a trip of a lifetime to whislter.

Next year I'll b Mtb in the alps is the first week of July, I can be so accurate as I go the week before Bastille day,as the French are not all on holiday, but the weather is about as stable as it ever will be.

I rent a chalet, usually a massive one, then spend 4 months trying to find people to fill it!

Sorry yes just re-read your post. Whilster will be a trip of a lifetime as you say. i'm heading to Vancouver in April for my birthday but it'll be towards the end of the winter season and too early for biking. Half considering some spring skiing but will see; plan includes heading to Vancouver island too; hear there is some great biking on there as well.

Be sure to put a post on here for 2015 then as i am sure i'd be keen to meet up if you can put up with a middle ageing slow biker to wait for at the base of each lift. there are a few of us from Sheffield and north wales too who try and head out each year.

[SA Chris]

Depends what the season is like, they're having poor snow at the moment.

[fatdoc]

I'm not going to the alps this year dude.

I've got a trip of a lifetime to whislter.

Next year I'll b Mtb in the alps is the first week of July, I can be so accurate as I go the week before Bastille day,as the French are not all on holiday, but the weather is about as stable as it ever will be.

I rent a chalet, usually a massive one, then spend 4 months trying to find people to fill it!

Sorry yes just re-read your post. Whilster will be a trip of a lifetime as you say. i'm heading to Vancouver in April for my birthday but it'll be towards the end of the winter season and too early for biking. Half considering some spring skiing but will see; plan includes heading to Vancouver island too; hear there is some great biking on there as well.

Be sure to put a post on here for 2015 then as i am sure i'd be keen to meet up if you can put up with a middle ageing slow biker to wait for at the base of each lift. there are a few of us from Sheffield and north wales too who try and head out each year.

Mate, I think I own the title of middle aged slow biker! Yes I'll sort a thread on here when the time comes, but it will be the first week in July. Ian would be proud!!

[Fj]

sorry to say after you've booked it, but we went 2 years ago and thought it was the worst place we'd ridden in the alps out of Verbier, Morzine, les Arc and Chatel. Perhaps we had a bad experience but we even packed up and left a day early.
On the positive side, everything is worth riding once, including the stuff near the glacier and the blues on the other side of the valley, but there's not a huge amount of variety.
As fatdoc says the red run to Venosc is the best thing there, but the monotony of braking bump berms really gets to you after a couple of days. The absence of trees or roots, the jumps aren't great and there's not much technical riding either.   
The stuff near the glacier has some good alpine rocky descent but can be harsh for punctures. Keep an eye open on the lift for cheeky cut lines through corners for variety.
Further down the hill integrale and satan were my favourite trails and towards the village there's a red which drops down the hill the opposite way from Venosc.

hopefully thats helpful and not totally negative, you may well love the place.

oh and fatdoc you lucky bugger!! we went 3 years ago and would love to get back. 

[fatdoc]

If you stay in venosc cant you can get over to some area I've just totally forgotten on the other side of the valley??

There has been a Crankworx there since... 2 years, often improves an area.. The trail map I saw last year was a lot more extensive than the ones I've seen previously.

FJ,u are obviously way more travelled than I, I'm still not bored of the PDS, just an oppertunity came up as a once in a lifetime trip to whistler for 2 weeks.. just need to get them skills up now!

It's all about expectations.. I  Could spend a month in Chatel, and it's my least fav bit of the PDS.

Chairlift, good weather ( more likely in LDA than morzine), long tracks... Reasonable cost of beer, good mates.. = great times!

[bigtuboflard]

sorry to say after you've booked it, but we went 2 years ago and thought it was the worst place we'd ridden in the alps out of Verbier, Morzine, les Arc and Chatel. Perhaps we had a bad experience but we even packed up and left a day early.
On the positive side, everything is worth riding once, including the stuff near the glacier and the blues on the other side of the valley, but there's not a huge amount of variety.
As fatdoc says the red run to Venosc is the best thing there, but the monotony of braking bump berms really gets to you after a couple of days. The absence of trees or roots, the jumps aren't great and there's not much technical riding either.   
The stuff near the glacier has some good alpine rocky descent but can be harsh for punctures. Keep an eye open on the lift for cheeky cut lines through corners for variety.
Further down the hill integrale and satan were my favourite trails and towards the village there's a red which drops down the hill the opposite way from Venosc.

hopefully thats helpful and not totally negative, you may well love the place.

Cheers FJ, well i guess if its no good i'll know not to go back. i found the brake bumps in Les Gets and Morzine pretty tough, is it worse than there? I often find that its the weather that makes the riding, nowhere is much fun in horizontal rain i guess. And  either way it beats sitting at a desk at work! 

[bigtuboflard]

Chairlift, good weather ( more likely in LDA than morzine), long tracks... Reasonable cost of beer, good mates.. = great times!

Spot on!!

[Fj]

i found Morzine gets a lot more traffic, so the bumps are perhaps expected, but also has a variety of runs through trees etc so you can escape them.
2 years ago everything at LDA was man made which left us dreaming of natural singletrack with trees and roots. Crankworks was about 2 weeks after our visit and they'd built a new double black track and the slopestyle park which was all closed off. Having ridden everything else in the park without any issues, we tried the double black and walked down 70% of it, nuts!
here's a pink bike report of the run, lots of pro's had issues too - http://www.pinkbike.com/news/Crankworx-Les-Deux-Alpes-Polygon-Air-DH-Finals.html

as said good company,  and chairlifts make any holiday great so i'm sure you'll love it. we did a lot of chilling in the bars between runs too and Venosc is lovely with some great bars/restaurants and a much more rustic feel than LDA.
there's also the option to get the last lift up have beers in town and walk down to venosc which takes about 45 mins, or 30 if you get very drunk and straight line it, but watch out for the cliffs!!!

[bigtuboflard]

Cheers FJ, I quite like the man-made stuff though might get tired of it after a full week, and a bit of variety of roots and the like is always welcome.

I very much doubt i will be trying blacks/double blacks to be honest, went to ride the black under the Super Morzine lift last year and bailed after the first 500m or so, it was far too steep for me. Having said that, i rode the Mont Chery black at Les Gets a lot and really enjoyed it.

Venosc sounds ideal for what I was after then, not sure i will brave the walk down after some beers but who knows!

[bigtuboflard]

Have extended the trip to almost a week now (fly out Thursday and back late Wednesday) so looks like the trip will be at Les Deux Alpes for the weekend then considering Morillon/Samoens for the remainder of the time so as to maximise time on the last day before heading to Geneva. Quite psyched actually about getting a mini road trip done...

[cofe]

then considering Morillon/Samoens for the remainder of the time

Had a week there with BikeAlp last summer. Absolutely brilliant riding off the beaten track. Steep, slither, roots, not too much man-made stuff. Try dropping the guy (Steve) a line and you might be able to tag along with some guiding. I fancy going back this summer...

[bigtuboflard]

then considering Morillon/Samoens for the remainder of the time

Had a week there with BikeAlp last summer. Absolutely brilliant riding off the beaten track. Steep, slither, roots, not too much man-made stuff. Try dropping the guy (Steve) a line and you might be able to tag along with some guiding. I fancy going back this summer...

Cheers Cofe, will do, it  looks like a good place as a counter to the man made stuff at L2A, lots of natural trails, wooded rooty riding. We'll be on downhill bikes but so long as there isn't loads of climbing i dont mind flat pedally sections to link up the good bits

[cofe]

It's pretty much all lift assisted. Our guide was on a V10 most days. If you end up going round to Flaines to do the backcountry drop from about 2500m to 600m there's a bit of road climbing, but it's totally worth it. Good fast/steep DH runs at Les Carroz too, which is accessed over the back from Samoens:

http://dirtmag.co.uk/video-clips/alpine-awesome-the-hidden-gem-of-the-alps.html

[bigtuboflard]

It's pretty much all lift assisted. Our guide was on a V10 most days. If you end up going round to Flaines to do the backcountry drop from about 2500m to 600m there's a bit of road climbing, but it's totally worth it. Good fast/steep DH runs at Les Carroz too, which is accessed over the back from Samoens:

http://dirtmag.co.uk/video-clips/alpine-awesome-the-hidden-gem-of-the-alps.html

Perfect. I think I will plan to head to Haut Giffre, looks great.

[bigtuboflard]

On my way back from Les Deux Alpes biking trip. Deux Alpes was every bit as good as I expected, super long flowing runs, little in the way of brake bumps and one of the best runs I've done in long time down to Venosc. Helps that my accommodation in Venosc was about 20 metres from the trail too, highly recommended place to stay if anyone goes there in future.

Second part of the trip to Samoens was a disaster. I'm usually pretty good at planning stuff but turns out the lifts don't open for another week. So drove over to Les Gets and Morzine each day and rode there. In fact spent most time at Super Morzine and Chatel as way better than Les Gets in my opinion.

Few quick edits of the riding on my Vimeo account here





Definitely going back to Venosc.


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