Best Of: Chamonix Singletrack (Part 1)
Mini-guide to some of the best lift served Mountain Bike trails in the Chamonix area
Chamonix is a well known destination for alpinists, skiers and walkers – it is not so well known for mountain biking. Surrounded by other ski areas and alpine towns like the Portes du Soleil, Verbier and Pila, where great emphasis is put on biking as a primary summer time sport, Chamonix town council and the lift operating company, on the other hand have no real need to diversify, due to the large influx of people coming to the area anyway in the summer months to enjoy the trails. Consequently, the sport can often feel like a bit of a second class citizen in the valley’s sporting world, lacking the infrastructure of the aforementioned other resorts and the manmade flow trails and other commodities alpine resorts can offer – not to mention the Bike Ban that is in effect on a lot of the valley’s trails in July and August when the trails are busiest. Despite this, in recent years there has been a lot of new development at both Les Houches (thanks to Les Houches Bike Club) and Le Tour/Vallorcine with both lift areas making moves to be more bike friendly and provide quality man-made (but still quite rugged) trails. Much of the charm and character of Chamonix biking comes from it’s high levels of tech, rocks, exposure and switchbacks that come from trails and terrain that wasn’t designed to be biked down (but actually is pretty good!) all set against the stunning backdrops of the Mont Blanc Massif, Aiguilles Rouges and Fiz.
As a caveat for these two articles, as a biker, I’m mediocre at best and generally get out on days between climbing and work, often by myself or with a small group of friends. Over the past 6 years of living here I’ve spent a lot of time exploring the trails from Passy to Martigny, trying to scrape information from where I can (Strava Heatmaps, Chamonix Bike Blog, Singletrack.fr, VTTTour.fr, Trailforks, looking at Maps etc.). Unlike climbing and skiing, the sport and trails are a lot less documented and finding good info can be a struggle. The aim of these two articles is to show some of the trails I think are best around the area and best showcase what the valley has to offer – divided into two articles; the first article showcasing 10 lift served trails, and the second, showing 10 others that require pedaling. Hopefully it will prove useful for people exploring the area and not upset anyone…
Lift Served Trails
From mid-June until mid-September, Compagnie du Mont Blanc run their summer openings of the lifts in the valley and bikes can be taken on certain lifts, which in general follow a pattern (no Midi, no Montenvers, Flegere, Brevent and GM only outside bike ban, Les Houches and La Tour mostly ok) but sometimes on certain lifts, change year in year out. This allows easy access to a lot of high quality single track generally focused around the Les Houches, Le Tour/Vallorcine, Brevent and Flegere lifts. As mentioned in the intro, there is also the Bike Ban to contend with that means only marked bike trails can be ridden into the Chamonix valley in the months of July and August which means some of these trails can only be ridden in late June and early September (unless you ride up). With all that being said, this still leaves plenty of great trails to ride.
Brevent
Brevent is the lift which gives Chamonix it’s reputation as being a centre of techy riding. There are no easy trails here and in general, the trails are rocky and exposed with a healthy dose of switchbacks. With this said, some of the big trails here are some of the best adventures on a bike you can have in Chamonix and definitely some of the more challenging.
Charlanon
- Rideable during Bike Ban: Yes, it’s a marked bike trail but bikes only allowed on the lift after 3:45.
- Difficulty: 3.5/5
The Planpraz lift (mid-station) has a handful of trails you can ride from it, however, most start by going down the big comb below the Parapente field and feature some unpleasant loose 4×4 and some techy switchbacks that aren’t great. The Charlanon trail is the only marked bike trail off the lift (meaning it’s rideable during the bike ban – but only after 3.45 when they let bikes up the lift) and heads in the opposite direction down the ski bowl. You can either approach by following the pistes and cycling 100m or so up the hill or via a long traverse round from above the parapente field that gets a bit techy at the end. The trail is varied featuring exposed technical riding, typical of Brevent, that gives way to fast, flowing woodland singletrack that eventually spits you out either in Le Praz or Les Nants depending which way you go to finish. A great route to do late afternoon!
Aiguillette de Houches
- Rideable during Bike Ban: No. Also, requires it to be snow free which can sometimes mean only possible during September.
- Difficulty: 4.5/5
Riding from the Brevent top station towards Aiguillette des Houches is probably one of the bigger lift served bike adventures you can have in Chamonix, providing 2000m of varied descent with amazing 360 views. It is also probably one of the hardest, with the initial ride down to the Col du Bellachat pushing the limits of what you can rollover with a mountain bike – it’s not a problem to go slow here with the fantastic vistas and luna-landscape riding. From here, a short ride and push up hill takes you to the top of the Aiguillette where there are several options available – either ride the technical, but particularly aesthetic ridgeline on the right or drop into the bowl on the left via some switchbacks. Both options are good and eventually take you down past the Chalets du Cailloux via flowy terrain to Merlet or to the Grosses Pierres, both of which make elegant finishes via their classic trails to Gaillands or Servoz respectively. Overall, an amazing alpine mountain biking trail with a whole host of different riding styles that is a good test for riders in the area at the right time.
(note: in the past two summers bikes haven’t been allowed on the top lift so anyone wishing to do it has to push up from Planpraz)
Flegere
The Flegere lift is one of the less used lifts for bikes in the valley but outside the ban, does have a handful of nice, albeit pretty techy, trails that can be ridden back to Le Praz or further up the valley.
Tre-le-champ trail
- Rideable during Bike Ban: No.
- Difficulty: 3.5/5
The start point for a lot of the Flegere trails is at the base of the ski bowl where a trail heads out traversing towards La Joux/Argentiere/Tre-Le-Champ. This traversing trail is followed in a techy fashion and at each junction, when a trail heads downhill, can be followed to one of the respective destinations. The best trail (maybe if you are fantastic at technical switchbacks you might disagree) is staying on the traverse until Tre-Le-Champ, the village below Col des Montets, where the highlight (after a brief push uphill) is the flowy finale through an open forest above Argentiere, crossing the main road and heading down to the village to visit one of the valley’s better bakeries. A good techy combo is to do the Charlanon to Le Praz and then this trail, allowing a completely traverse of the Brevent-Flegere hillside at a similar difficulty.
Le Tour / Vallorcine
Le Tour is the home of big scenery riding, with it’s head of the valley position and (for Chamonix) flowy trails, it is one of the best places to sample biking in the area with countless classic trails that feel like mini journeys despite the lifts and a bike park that is developing each year.
Vallorcine DH Trails
- Rideable during Bike Ban: Yes.
- Difficulty: 3-4/5
Going to cheat a bit here and put one entry for all the trails on this side of the hill as they are all really fun. The two recently opened man made downhill trails are both great – the Le Loup red trail cutting across the hillside in quite an exposed fashion (and requiring a short pedal at the end back to the lift) and the Grand Ours black trail taking a more direct line between the 4×4 trails. I also like riding a non-manmade trail on this side by following the black trail initially down the berms and then heading down and left along a footpath where it goes right along the 4×4. This gives way to a scenic flowy trail that spits you out somewhere between Buet and Vallorcine depending which way you go – sort of like an unofficial blue trail…
Aiguillette des Posettes
- Rideable during Bike Ban: Sort of. Traditionally no but they have put a marked bike path in but it misses all the best bits.
- Difficulty: 3/5
One of the most iconic rides in Chamonix the Aiguillettes des Posettes provides amazing flowy single track with one of the best backdrops, sitting at the head of the valley. It is gained by traversing in from the Col de Balme or from a short ride up from the Vallorcine lift and has several variations to finish that spits you out anywhere from Le Tour to Col des Montets depending how techy you want it (it gets progressively harder the further you finish from Le Tour). The riding is hard to beat and features a minimal number of techy switchbacks that plague the flow of some of the other trails on this list. Unfortunately, being on the Tour du Mont Blanc means it can be busy with walkers so time of day can make a big effect (it is a great end to a day riding some of the backside trails).
Trient Trail
- Rideable during Bike Ban: Yes.
- Difficulty: 2.5/5
One of the two classic ‘backside’ trails of the Le Tour area, this trail goes from the top of the lifts round to the Col du Balme and the Croix de Fer before dropping down to Trient via flowy trails through the Alpages. The starting bowl is unfortunately beset with drainage rocks but features some fantastic exposed riding on shaley rock which can be covered in snow in early season. From Trient, the road needs to be ridden back to the border and then a bit of a grind uphill to regain the lift system in Vallorcine. This is a fantastic trail that features classic Le Tour big scenery-style riding at a modest level of difficulty.
Chatelard Trail
- Rideable during Bike Ban: Yes.
- Difficulty: 3/5
The other ‘backside’ classic, this trail features some really varied terrain with an amazing shaley ridgeline near the start and some fast flowing single track through the alpages before dropping into the forests near Les Jeurs for some classic Chamonix switchbacks. This takes you to just below the border at Chatelard, where a cycle up the road regains the Vallorcine lift. This is a fantastic trail that has all the recipes of a classic Chamonix ride from great views, varied terrain and plenty of flow. A great Le Tour day out is to ride the Trient Trail, then the Chatelard Trail before finishing off with a Posettes – a full day of riding!
Les Houches
The undeniable hub of biking in the Chamonix valley, the Les Houches biking scene is a growing phenomenon and new trails here are growing quicker than anywhere else. Sitting at the foot of Mont Blanc, the small hill has a range of trails in the forests dropping in all directions and a good bike park. Unlike a lot of Chamonix riding where the difficulty increases with the number of rocks, Les Houches riding can get steep, loose and muddy.
Les Houches DH Trails
- Rideable during Bike Ban: Yes.
- Difficulty: 2-3.5/5
The downhill trails in Les Houches have undergone quite a lot of work since I’ve been living here with more and more developing – some more official than others. The Prarion lift is the start point for most of the riding such as the marked trails Sauce Myrtille, Sherwood, Alpage Respect etc. but there are many unsigned variants that provide some of the best riding such as Mojito, the Ecole du Physics trails and the right hand variants past the buvette. Exploring the hillside here you are bound to find some good riding. Beyond this, there are also the trails off Bellevue such as the GR5 and others centred around the old DH trails there that are in semi disrepair but can provide some slightly less developed but quality riding.
Prarion to Fayet
- Rideable during Bike Ban: Yes.
- Difficulty: 3.5/5
One of the bigger rides you can do off the Les Houches lifts (without uphill) is riding down the backside trails from Prarion down to Le Fayet (with a brief cycle up the road to St. Gervais in between). This trail has been straighten out in recent years where previously it would take more natural footpaths contouring round the hillside, it now takes a more direct manmade trail that shares the same ending (at a bit more difficulty). It starts with flowy riding through the forest behind Prarion (watch out for recent deforestation work that has disrupted the trail a bit) before gaining a tight ridgeline below some pylons and some steep and loose ground. After this a 4×4 trail takes you to a small village where a trail with some great flowy switchbacks spit you out in a village between Fayet and St. Gervais. From here, a short road ride gets you to the top of the gorge above the thermal baths where a cool trail following a pipeline provides a good ending before the train ride back. Overall, a good 2000m of quality steep woodland riding.
Prarion to Chatelard
- Rideable during Bike Ban: Yes.
- Difficulty: 3/5
Another quality longer ride from Prarion is to take the trail off the backside (the same start as the last trail) but followed round to Col du Forclaz from which hidden single track in the woods is gained that leads down to Mont Borel and some of the most flowy singletrack in the Chamonix area where its hard not to drift. This spits you out above the motorway at Chatelard where a quick cycle into Servoz allows a train to be caught back up to Les Houches. This is a brilliant trail that has some of the nicest woodland riding around. For those wanting to more difficulty, cycling up above Col du Forclaz allows a higher entry into the line that is pretty steep and loose. A great ride to do in Autumn as well, where the lower part of the trail from Mont Borel can be gained by cycling up from Vaudagne.
Bonus
Whizz Trail
- Rideable during Bike Ban: Yes.
- Difficulty: 1/5
Whilst not actually in the Chamonix valley, I have included this because it is the only truly easy flow trail in the vague area and you are unlikely to go biking in St.Gervais as a destination in it’s own right and it’s included on the lift pass. The Whizz trail is a marked blue piste off the St. Gervais lift system and provides a pleasant smooth trail through the forests. It is a nice cruisy addition to the Prarion to Fayet trail when in St. Gervais…
More information on these trails can be found on Fatmap, Trailforks, Strava.