# Les Arcs - French Alps



## MarkFu (Jul 29, 2008)

Has anyone been here before? Any must do trails? Any good bars with regular bands on? Nice places to eat out?

I am going there for a week in the first week of August. I've not done any proper Alpine riding before, so i may struggle with the steeps at first. I think that i am fairly well prepared, i've researched the area quite a bit, have maps of official and unofficial trails, i will still probably get 2 days of guiding when i get there though. I am also driving there, so will be able to drive to anything outside the area that is a must see?

Cheers :thumbsup:


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## Zagremel (Apr 14, 2009)

You can buy hiking maps. And use them for riding, it's not forbidden 

Check vttour.fr and utagawavtt.com there are some tracks to ride.

But i think it's better to drive to high mountains!


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## Franz (Jan 30, 2004)

Just got back from a week's riding there with this lot: http://www.trailaddiction.com/mountain-biking-holidays.php
Can't recommend them enough, for quantity & quality of singletrack, guiding, and any other aspects of the holiday - we had an absolutely awesome time. Many of the very best trails are impossible to find without a guide so it's well worth hooking up with them - their knowledge of the area is unbelievable.
In terms of preparation, you'll be fine with some strong reliable brakes, a good stiff fork and a set of soft dual-ply tyres with DH tubes. 
The area is quiet in summer, so if you're after crazy nightlife and live music you might want to look elsewhere. Lots of good Savoyard food though.


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## MarkFu (Jul 29, 2008)

That's who i've got my guiding booked with Franz :thumbsup: . Everyone that i know who has any experience of trail addiction has nothing but good things to say about them. We are staying at the valley floor though in Bourg St Maurice, so i'll be driving up to meet them each morning. I was a bit worried that my wife would get bored in one of the smaller villages, at least in town she has a pool, somewhere to do a bit of shopping and a bit of lounging around in cafes people watching.

How did you find the steepness and technical nature of the riding?


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## Franz (Jan 30, 2004)

Bourg is a nice town. Make sure you have a crack at Black 8, from near the top of the funicular - it takes you back down into town so it's a good one to end on, although it's a bit more heavily used & rutted than 90% of the trails.

The steepness of big-mountain riding always takes me a day or two to get used to after UK stuff, which is why I mentioned good brakes - it helped my hands loads when I moved my levers inboard about 2" further than I usually run them... 
So much of the riding there is rocky, switchbacky singletrack so it's not all about blazing speed, which I liked. The more riding there you can do, the more you'll appreciate it - it's the closest thing to perfect mountainbiking I can imagine. I'm already planning next year's trip - 2 weeks this time I think.

This isn't my photo, I nicked it from another thread, but it should give you an idea:










Have a great trip!


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## Nsynk (Sep 30, 2008)

nice!


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## MarkFu (Jul 29, 2008)

Yes, i've seen that picture before. Is that part of the La Varda trail? I've seen a lot of trail videos too where the trails still look steep, even with the flattening that the video causes. It will definitely be a baptism of fire for me. I used to ride a lot of UK trail centres, but haven't done much since moving out to Germany, just the occasional trips to the bikeparks at Willingen & Winterberg.


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## Braids (Jan 12, 2004)

Franz said:


> This isn't my photo, I nicked it from another thread, but it should give you an idea:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I thought that photo was from a German trail if I remember that other thread correctly. Somebody posted the GPS coordinates of that photo in that thread. I'd look for that thread again, but I'm a bit pressed for time right now.


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## MarkFu (Jul 29, 2008)

Braids said:


> I thought that photo was from a German trail if I remember that other thread correctly. Somebody posted the GPS coordinates of that photo in that thread. I'd look for that thread again, but I'm a bit pressed for time right now.


I've just seen it on a Les Arcs thread on Singletrackworld - http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/les-arcs-anyone-been-mtbing-there/page/2 It is credited to a forum member from there too.


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