Mountain Biking at Mont Blanc in the Alps

“At that point we knew that, thanks to the crafty use of a cog railway, we only had another 250 metres to climb but 2,700 metres of descent! Now that is the way to finish.”

The European Alps offer amazing opportunities for self supported mountain bike tours as Steve Taylor discovers. The heat was the one thing we hadn’t factored into our plans. Long climbs, challenging singletrack descents, good food and wine—all this we had expected from mountains of France, Switzerland and Italy. Climbing tough ascents with temperatures in the low to mid thirties every day however, was more than we had bargained for. Still, no one would complain about the sunshine, especially in the midst of such spectacular scenery and our decision to stay in hotels was to be vindicated by the prospect of cool showers and cold beers at the end of each strenuous day.

 

 

The ‘Tour du Mont Blanc’ has for many years been regarded as one of the finest, and probably the most famous, long-distance walking routes in Europe. Traditionally a 10 or eleven day walk, the circuit of about 190km is generally started in or near Chamonix in France. It loops around the Mont Blanc massif, passing through some of the finest scenery that France, Switzerland and Italy have to offer. In recent years the Tour has come to the attention of European mountain bikers, keen to combine the multi-day itinerary with big ascents and choice legal singletrack back into the valleys.

 

When looking around for summer holiday ride ideas, it was these qualities that attracted my long-term biking buddy Rob and me to the ‘Tour’. One of the key drawcards for mountain bikers is the long established tradition of mountain huts, offering accommodation and serving food in the European Alps. Coupled with the number of villages on the Tour, it means that the route can be undertaken with just the bare necessities required for five days biking—a change of clothes, a few tools and plenty of sunscreen. Being able to rip it up without a heavy pack threatening to throw you into the undergrowth is an important consideration when trying to act like hard men of the mountains as everyone else plods along in their Scarpa’s. Only I would appreciate the extra effort that Rob would have to put in to drag his 16kg steel hardtail up the climbs—a behemoth that has subsequently been retired and was last seen on the Antiques Roadshow…

 

It quickly became apparent that, as bikers, we were somewhat of a novelty on this route. Continental Europeans are known for being enthusiastic cyclists, and even though we didn’t understand much of what they said, it was clear that we were ‘the right stuff’. And there were certainly plenty of walkers on the trails—not too many to spoil our fun but enough to appreciate our finely honed down hilling prowess. I quickly forgot the jibes of an Irish lass who thought it hilarious that I had two punctures in quick succession on one descent. Her mocking laughter was left in a storm of dust as we flew onwards. In fact the only mountain bikers we saw on the Tour were a party of UK bikers on a guided trip.

 

It was through a guiding company that we first learned about the Tour. A host of different tour operators offer guided and fully supported trips, but we wanted to do this by ourselves. We both preferred cycling in small groups and relished the challenge of navigating our own way round and completing the route without someone carrying our bags for us.

 

Of course, knowing someone who had extensive knowledge of the area helped greatly with planning and logistics. A productive evening with my mate Ted was to yield valuable information in terms of refining our route, identifying the tracks that made for better biking and as well as accommodation ideas. We knew there were going to be some sweaty days ahead when the car’s temperature gauge showed 36 degrees on the journey through France. As we sat outside the restaurant near Chamonix that evening we contemplated the six days ahead—5,400 metres of ascent awaited us and 7,250 metres of descent. More descending than climbing… how did we figure that? The European Alps is blessed with a network of chair lifts and cog railways that operate throughout the year. Fantastic for a helping hand up some of the big mountain passes towards the bottom of the chair lift at Le Tour!

 

The first day began with an easy road ride out of Chamonix. A rapid road descent saw us miss a singletrack shortcut, but the gravity assisted chair lift ascent from Le Tour and lunch at a mountain hut was calling—we were also hungry for the 900 metre descent into Switzerland! The tight singletrack hairpins slowed our progress before we rode into the picturesque Swiss village of Trient—our stop for the night. Our chosen hostel was unremarkable except for our genial host who insisted on sharing his impressive cheese board with us and encouraged us to drink digestifs from his tasteless collection of home blown glasses.That night an incredible thunderstorm engulfed our lodging as we ate. The following day we found that it had washed out a footbridge on our route, forcing us into a minor detour. That was soon forgotten as we began the 12 kilometre, 1,200 metre on-road ascent to the beautiful lakeside town of Champex. The sun was reaching its zenith as we rolled into town for a well-deserved and leisurely lunch by the lake.

 

After lunch we took to a singletrack forest descent followed by a climb to the ski area of La Fouly—the baking afternoon sun beat down upon us as we recouped all of our lost height and arrived, exhausted but elated, at our hotel.

 

It was here that we met a party of mountain biking Brits on a guided tour. Rob was grateful for the expert attention of their guide in trying to determine the source of the infuriating squeak from his bottom bracket that had heralded our approach to all and sundry ever since our departure from Chamonix—a noise that eluded our best efforts to trace it and then mysteriously vanished. With the toughest day done and dusted, we looked forward to the next day over a well deserved three course dinner. Crossing over into Italy a 1,300 metre descent awaited with the prospect of the best scenery of the holiday. It didn’t disappoint; the dirt track and singletrack climb began almost straight from the hotel and even at an early hour the heat was intense. We were grateful for the now familiar mountain hut halfway up the 800 metre climb.

 

The view alone from the top of the Grand Col de Ferret made the effort worthwhile. Gazing upon the beautiful Val Veni and down to the ski resort of Courmayeur with the huge descent to come was breathtaking. Even the large crowd of walkers at the Col couldn’t spoil it. The descent was more technical than we anticipated, with thirty or so water-bars that required bunny hopping—concentration on the steep mountain was vital. There was plenty of time for appreciating the scenery at the now ubiquitous mountain hut, over a huge plate of pasta. Courmayeur proved to be a great place for a rest day. It is a beautiful village nestled at the foot of Mont Blanc; the highest mountain in Western Europe. This town is also the Italian base station for the Aiguille du Midi cable car; climbing to 3,842 metres it was once the highest cable car station in the world. The weather gods weren’t playing ball for the only day of the trip and the visibility on the mountain was next to zero. The alternate plan of a leisurely lunch and wander around Courmayeur, bathed in sunshine below, seemed like a good idea.

 

The fourth day of riding was the best of the lot. As we cruised past a multitude of walkers on the dead end road, we could see the dirt track ahead climbing 1,000 metres to the French border. Hairpins took the sting out of the climb and only had to push the last few hundred metres up the rutted singletrack to the col.

 

The 1,050 metre descent that followed was the riding highlight of the trip, sweet singletrack winding down the mountain, followed by an on-road blast down to the pretty village of Les Chapieux for an afternoon nap. The road climb to the Cormet de Roselend had featured in the Tour de France a few weeks earlier and the chalk ‘Tour graffiti’ offered a visual reminder. Our lodgings that night were in the only ‘dortoir’ (dormitory) of the week, and the constant snoring through the night reminded us why hotels were such a good bet.

 

The final day of our circumnavigation of Mont Blanc started with a screaming four kilometre descent to a placid mountain lake, but the toughest climb of the week was to follow. Coined the 20/10 on a biking website, it was a 600 metre dirt track ascent including, surprisingly, 30 hairpins, followed by a steep push up a grassy knoll. Climbed in the full glare of the morning sun, it was as tough as its reputation and we were relieved to top out and take in the high alpine views. At that point we knew, thanks to the crafty use of a cog railway, we only had another 250 metres to climb but 2,700 metres of descent—now that is the way to finish!