Europe Trails

L

Langers81

Squid
G'day guys,

im just wondering if any one has rode over in Germany & Switzerland - im heading over there in June/July and was keen to try and get a few rides in. I will be based in Berlin for the Germany leg and then in Basel in Switzerland

has anyone ever rode over there?? i wont have gear with me so if you know any good contacts about hiring gear it would be greatly appreciated

Cheers

Lucas
 
N

NetBiker

Likes Bikes
I am pretty interested to hear some answers for this, Europe looks wicked.

I will be hopefully be riding France for a day (was thinking Les Gets bikepark) would be keen if anyone had any info to add about hiring, travel to get there etc. for stuff in France. Staying in Anneacy and only have 1 day.
 
condog

condog

Likes Dirt
NetBiker said:
I am pretty interested to hear some answers for this, Europe looks wicked.

I will be hopefully be riding France for a day (was thinking Les Gets bikepark) would be keen if anyone had any info to add about hiring, travel to get there etc. for stuff in France. Staying in Anneacy and only have 1 day.
Click to expand...
I rode in Les Gets/Morzine last year tbh i was really dissapointed in the tracks there. Not sure if i was there at a bad time but the tracks werent maintaned at all and were all rutted out and had pot holes everywhere... My favourite place to ride in europe was Pila, Italy and would recommend that bike park to anybody.
 
whitey89

whitey89

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Hey Mate,

Check out my thread about riding Europe, its got a few photos.

Last year I rode Leogang and Morzine. I agree with Condog, the Porte du soleil region (Morzine, Champery, Les Gets, Chatel, Morgins, etc) are not the best maintained trails in the world (compared with Whistler at least) HOWEVER I do give credit for the sheer size, variety, steepness and multitude of trails over there. Morzine itself (sometimes refered to as Manzine) is a French town just out of Geneva full of English mountain bikers, from here you have access to 12 mtb parks across Switzerland and France which is refered to as the Porte du soleil region.

I would highly recomend that you visit the Porte du soleil region, it is SUPER CHEAP at 100euro for a weeks lift pass which gives you access to all 12 mountain bike parks which are all connected via the lift network - its incredible!!!! There are pleanty of places to stay and people to ride with, i stayed with a place called Riders Refuge which was food+accomodation all inclusive.

If I havent sold you on Morzine visit Gravity Mountain Bike website is great to give you an idea of what else is around in Europe.

Let me know if you need help with anything.

Whitey

Watch my video from 2:45 onwards to give you an idea
[video=youtube;B5StETCu5k8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5StETCu5k8&feature=plcp[/video]
 
G

Genius Josh

Likes Dirt
whitey89 said:
Hey Mate,

Check out my thread about riding Europe, its got a few photos.

Last year I rode Leogang and Morzine. I agree with Condog, the Porte du soleil region (Morzine, Champery, Les Gets, Chatel, Morgins, etc) are not the best maintained trails in the world (compared with Whistler at least) HOWEVER I do give credit for the sheer size, variety, steepness and multitude of trails over there. Morzine itself (sometimes refered to as Manzine) is a French town just out of Geneva full of English mountain bikers, from here you have access to 12 mtb parks across Switzerland and France which is refered to as the Porte du soleil region.

I would highly recomend that you visit the Porte du soleil region, it is SUPER CHEAP at 100euro for a weeks lift pass which gives you access to all 12 mountain bike parks which are all connected via the lift network - its incredible!!!! There are pleanty of places to stay and people to ride with, i stayed with a place called Riders Refuge which was food+accomodation all inclusive.

If I havent sold you on Morzine visit Gravity Mountain Bike website is great to give you an idea of what else is around in Europe.

Let me know if you need help with anything.

Whitey

Watch my video from 2:45 onwards to give you an idea
[video=youtube;B5StETCu5k8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5StETCu5k8&feature=plcp[/video]
Click to expand...
Looks like an awesome holiday Whitey. How long did you spend at each place?
 
D

dain2772

Likes Bikes and Dirt
I did two days in Les Gets which was great fun, but can definitely agree with comments regarding track conditions, I went in September which is end of season so may have been worse,but still quite rutted.

The advice given to me at the time on rb about hiring etc, was that if there is a good mtb scene (ie you have heard of the riding in an area), that there will be hire places once you get there. they aren't all online.
 
L

Langers81

Squid
cheers heaps for that info Whitey89, your thread is farken awesome!!!! hell frothing to get over there now. the gravity mountain bike website is wicked, im going to try and sort some rides out in Spain as well now - STOKED!!!!

good point Dain2772, i should have no problem hiring some gear over there especially from the look of the website, all the bike parks will surely have a heap of options for me - YEW!!! bring it on!!!

will let you guys know where i end up riding and what they were like - let the count down begin!!!
 
M

morgs

morgs
condog said:
I rode in Les Gets/Morzine last year tbh i was really dissapointed in the tracks there. Not sure if i was there at a bad time but the tracks werent maintaned at all and were all rutted out and had pot holes everywhere... My favourite place to ride in europe was Pila, Italy and would recommend that bike park to anybody.
Click to expand...
Second for Pila/Aosta, great riding. There's no lack of choice, you could start in Morzine and spend a half day driving from each place to work your way over to Germany via the alps no probs at all. Close to the Morzine, Port du Solei region is Verbier in Switzerland, Crans Montana, a little further on to Flims, Schuol, Davos/Klosters. the Davos site reckons you can do 20,000m descending there by linking up with the mountain railways.
If you head over to Pila then the Mont Blanc region is on the way and there's plenty of gondola accessed riding there.

But if you just wanted to stay close to Morzine then there's a heap of variety. The tracks do cop a flogging though as has been said, so places like Les Gets get pretty rutted out, but there's some super trails. Chatel, a couple of lifts away, is probably the most progressive riding spot, but can get crowded as well, the riding there is a step up from the other places I reckon, lots of steep fast lines, gaps, woodwork and a big freeride festival every year. A smaller place so not quite as much happening in town, but if you're there for the riding it's all good.

Morgins is literally just over the hill from Chatel, in Switzerland and the bike park is pretty cool as well, reminds me of Canada, most of the riding is in pine forests. But a more expensive place to stay, as with most of Switzerland. Dirt did an article on the best lifted riding in Europe if you have a look at their travel section. It's a couple of years old, but shows you the spread of riding available. http://dirt.mpora.com/destination-guide/
 
nexusfish

nexusfish

El Mariachi
whitey89 said:
Hey Mate,

Check out my thread about riding Europe, its got a few photos.

Last year I rode Leogang and Morzine. I agree with Condog, the Porte du soleil region (Morzine, Champery, Les Gets, Chatel, Morgins, etc) are not the best maintained trails in the world (compared with Whistler at least) HOWEVER I do give credit for the sheer size, variety, steepness and multitude of trails over there. Morzine itself (sometimes refered to as Manzine) is a French town just out of Geneva full of English mountain bikers, from here you have access to 12 mtb parks across Switzerland and France which is refered to as the Porte du soleil region.

I would highly recomend that you visit the Porte du soleil region, it is SUPER CHEAP at 100euro for a weeks lift pass which gives you access to all 12 mountain bike parks which are all connected via the lift network - its incredible!!!! There are pleanty of places to stay and people to ride with, i stayed with a place called Riders Refuge which was food+accomodation all inclusive.

If I havent sold you on Morzine visit Gravity Mountain Bike website is great to give you an idea of what else is around in Europe.

Let me know if you need help with anything.

Whitey

Watch my video from 2:45 onwards to give you an idea
[video=youtube;B5StETCu5k8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5StETCu5k8&feature=plcp[/video]
Click to expand...
Australia sucks! The rest of the world rules!
 
Topperharley

Topperharley

Likes Dirt
Langers81 said:
G'day guys,

im just wondering if any one has rode over in Germany & Switzerland - im heading over there in June/July and was keen to try and get a few rides in. I will be based in Berlin for the Germany leg and then in Basel in Switzerland

has anyone ever rode over there?? i wont have gear with me so if you know any good contacts about hiring gear it would be greatly appreciated

Cheers

Lucas
Click to expand...
G'day, i worked in Les Gets for 6 years, half of those as a guide in summers. If you hit Les Gets and Morzine's main trails, they will all be riddled with breaking bumps, ruts and be poorly maintained. They are, regardless of this, great fun to ride, just don't hit the bumps! Unfortunately, despite Les Gets having the jump on the majority of Europe on offering world class mountain bike tracks, with speedy lift access, they let it go by doing putting the effort and money behind a dedicated maintenance team, the trails suffered. The efforts of afew locals kept the scene vibrant, but it's not what it was. There is a large network of secret trails though. They are not really even secret, people are more than happy to share a spot over a beer. So you need to hit the former Boomerang Hotel, (now named Mama's, it's a bar/takeaway) or Bar Robinson in Morzine. Talk to the friendly locals, stay away from the Pleney and you'll have a blast. chatel really pulled it's finger out do if your after quick and rotations on some genuinely fun, fast tracks, i'd head there, but try and do afew days there so you can have a chat with some current locals to give you directions. If you would like me to give you some directions to some good spots around the Portes du Soleil i'd be happy to.

Have fun wherever you go!....
 
B

benmwatkins

Likes Dirt
europe

mate youd seriously wanna look into riding in Verbier in Switzerland. Its on my list of places to ride, and even though its not cheap, thats not why your going there. Its rated as one of the best places to ride in the world by magazines like MBUK and DIRT magazine, guys who know thier shit. You can descend 20,000 feet each day there no problem. You could also check out a web site www.ridebig.com they do tours (not that your gonna do one) but look at the places they list to go riding/take people on tours, that will give you a good idea on why they take people to those places and why its so good. also check out a company www.sacredride.com and see where they do tours. These are companies that make their living taking people to sick riding destinations. Do yourself a favour....
 
whitey89

whitey89

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Im flying to Vienna mid June, hit me up if you want to ride some Austrian bike parks! yeeooww
 
L

Langers81

Squid
Cheers heaps for the info guys, stoked!!!

looks like I will be heading to Grindelwald in Switzerland, Portes Du Soleil in France and La Molina in Spain if it all pans out (still planning the Germany section).

For any of the parks i do get to hit up I make a post with pics and more info

Whitey, as soon as I have finalised the dates etc I will flick you a pm with the details and hopefully can tag up for rides
 
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