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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    Switzerland
    Posts
    7,578

    Switzerland/France 2009 Season

    Weird. I just found an old text file dated Nov 2009 on my work laptop that I was preparing for posting but I guess I forgot about it. There a few broken pic links but I don't have time to go over it and fix right now.

    So here it is...

    Here are a few pics from my 2009 bike season here in Switzerland and France. Props to my buds Gregor and Tom for all the stoke!

    We started biking the week after our season ski passes expire, in May. One weekend we are skiing at 3000m, the next we are biking at 1000m. The first resort to open is Metabief in the french Jura mountains. Small but a great spot for early season warm ups.

    Metabief, FR












    Another nice option for the early season is a funiculaire train in Neuchatel, in the swiss Jura mountains. Chaumont has 3 excellent trails with tons of north shore jumps and ramps. Most of it is well out of my skill level, pics are of my buddy Tom and local David who helped build it. That guys shreds!

    Chaumont, CH












    Next up is the ski resort of Crans Montana, in the swiss Valais region. It opens in mid June and runs thru October. We went up for opening day in mid June, halfprice and pretty empty. Best DH courses in Switzerland IMHO. And great views across the Valais towards the south.

    Crans Montana, CH

















    Also in mid June, les Portes du Soleil begins to open. This is a huge lift linked ski area connecting about 10 villages together. They start opening one by one in June, then the liason lifts start running in late June such that you can bike from one end of the region to the other, starting in Champery, Switzerland and spanning to the far end of Les Gets, France.

    Les Gets, FR (PDS)










    Avoriaz sits in the middle of les Portes du Soleil. We do a lot of riding here coming from the Chatel or Les Crosets side of the mountain. There are 4 or 5 nice trails, depending how you count 'em.

    Avoriaz, FR (PDS)






    To mix things up, we went to Verbier a couple of times. All I can say is that it's rough. Tons of rocks and rooty sections. A real knuckle banger and murderface trails. Not my favorite but some of the best alpine scenery around.

    Verbier, CH












    A summer isn't complete without a road trip, so we head south to l'Espace Killy region in France and the mega ski resort of Tignes, next door to Val d'Isere. This is now one of my favorite places to ride. Huge! Really good flowy trails with some uber steep stuff. Biking on a glacier is a bit sketchy tho without proper directions down. We got lucky and went during a wine festival. Highly recommended.

    Tignes, FR












  2. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    Switzerland
    Posts
    7,578
    Val d'Isere

    Unfortunately, we drove around to VD from Tignes one day to find the main part of the mountain closed. I think they were doing maintenance on the lift. So rather than turn around and go back, we went up the only open side, which didn't have any biking courses so we poached the hiking trail. No one seemed to mind.









    Back to les Portes du Soleil and traverse across the region from Switz to Morzine, France. It's a bit of a crawl to get there but it beats driving there. Worth it for the great DH course tho. Unfortunately, we were too busy riding to stop and take many pics.

    Morzine, FR (PDS)




    Chatel sits near the middle of les Portes du Soleil, just over the swiss/french border. This is probably our favorite spot of PDS. They have really done a LOT of work in recent years and the trails are amazing.

    Chatel, FR (PDS)













    Les Crosets sits on the Swiss side of les Portes du Soleil, just on the border with France. A drop off the other side lands you in Avoriaz. Les Crosets has a big gnarly DH course and a smaller not-so-gnarly course. Both are uber-fun.

    Les Crosets, CH (PDS)





    ANd finally, there's Champery, again on the Swiss side of les Portes du Soleil.

    Champery, CH (PDS)



    Last edited by Ripzalot; 06-24-2010 at 03:41 AM.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    Carbondale
    Posts
    12,479
    sick stoke!
    www.dpsskis.com
    www.point6.com
    formerly an ambassador for a few others, but the ski industry is... interesting.
    Fukt: a very small amount of snow.

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