Chamonix Video: 24th March 2014
Down the Vallée Blanche on mountain bikes
This may not be a first, but the descent of the Vallee Blanche on mountain bikes is so rare it's epic!
The first descent of the Vallée Blanche on mountain bikes happened in 1990 by Mariano Pettavino and now Mariano,along with Andrea Arena and Monica Specogna felt it was time for an encore.
Setting off from Courmayeur on March 21st the MTB trio made their way up to the Punta Helbronner at 3462 meters, before covering 17 km of snow, ice and rock on some specially equipped mountain bikes.
The group were accompanied by two guides on skis to ensure the safety of the riders. The Vallée Blanche is one of the most famous off-piste itineraries in the world, however the glacier nature of the route means it can be extremely dangerous with creavsses hidden from sight.
During the first descent in 1990 one of the riders fell into a crevasse but managed to hold onto his bike, which formed a bridge over the crevasse, and was rescued. Fortunately this second descent was without incident.
See equipment details and pictures here.
