Chamonix Activity Report: 3rd October 2005
This weekend it was time to oil up the bikes again for a well overdue mountain biking trip up to the tracks at Les Houches before the lifts close for the summer season. This area always looks tempting from down in the valley as a place to take the bikes, as it has more gradual slopes back to the valley floor than some of the other areas around and also because the bulk of the tracks seem to be within the tree line
We took the Bellevue cable car (€9.20 for a return trip) up to La Chalette and were greeted with a fresh viewpoint of both the valley and surrounding mountains. The area at the top of the lift plateaus out a bit and there is a neat circuit built for cyclists to test their skill. It's a pretty small route and along the way you'll find various wood and rock structures, each one offering a variety of grades of difficulty (of course, we headed straight for the black route just to help muddy up our clothes and test our padding)
There are plenty of track options from the top of this area, but you should be aware that if you head over the back toward St Gervais, it is necessary to cycle all the way back up or opt to catch the Mont Blanc Tram. The train ride is a bit sketchy in that bikes are only allowed on board at certain times and sometimes you will have to wait until the last trip of the day before they'll give you the ok, so don't rely on it when planning your day. Should you wish to use this facility, you pick it up at St Gervais, Motivon or Col de Vosa and it will cost you around €16
After we had tested our skills on the park at the top we headed off up toward Col de Vosa. As with all the marked mountain bike trails at Les Houches, this is a long, fast and fairly wide track with varying types of surface from fairly easy going, hard packed gravel to larger looser stones, but as a general rule, the riding here is much easier going than say the Brevent area in Chamonix
Sunday was in fact the last day of the summer season for the lift system and as if on cue, the snow fell overnight to about 1600m giving the whole valley an early feel of winter. Perhaps it was nature's way of reminding us that after every summer mountain biking season comes the excitement of a winter ski season; lets hope it's a sign of a great winter with tons of snow
Piste Maps for Chamonix (pdf format), Les Houches (jpg format), Cross-country skiing (pdf format), and Mountain-bike trails (pdf format)
Current status for opening of Pistes & Lifts
Chamonix Webcam Index
Useful Links
Swiss Federal Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research
French Avalanche Research Institute
Meteo France - Mountain weather and avalanche conditions bulletins (in French)
Henry's Avalanche Talk - popular avalanche training sessions based in French Alps as well as translation of current avalanche conditions
PisteHors.com - Backcountry Skiing and Snowboarding News in English for the French Alps. Excellent coverage of avalanche safety and advice
Additional snow and weather information provided, with thanks, by meteo.chamonix.com and the Tourist Office
