Downhilling in Europe?

[nickmann]

Hey All,
I'm lucky enough to be heading overseas late march for about 2 months. It is a family holiday but I would love to squeeze in some time for downhill bike riding. The places where I think riding would be best: Germany, France, Switzerland.

I have been browsing on the internet to find out more about these places but it is tricky to find opening dates for the summer season and bike hire info.
We are staying at Interlaken, Switzerland at some point.. and my uncle who lives in Germany told me they run XC tours around that area.
I have sussed out Champery a bit and obviously it looks sweet! But, has anyone been here before, can you tell me when it is open for riding and what kind of hire is available etc.

Also I have checked out Morzine, France, has anyone been here before?

Any other places that you've ridden or know about I'd be keen to hear from you.

Thanks heaps!

 

[ElectroFunkster]

Probably the best bike park in Germany. Its a real pain in the butt to find. The have a DH track Alot of north shore stuff, Anice Road gap. a 6 cross track, a slopstyle corse. more and more and more. its a real blast got myself a nice concusion there.but is all good. nothing realy for XC though.if you like to DH or Freeride this is a place to check out if ever in Germany. Intermediate and up will have a blast here.here is the website http://www.bikepark-winterberg.de/

http://trails.mtbr.com/cat/trails-a...-europe-germany/trail/PRD_368571_4537crx.aspx

and check youtube for winterberg .. millions of vids there

 

[haydo]

I stayed in Morzine for a week last year. From there you can ride (i mean ride) to Champery, Chatel, Les Gets, Les Crosets, Morgins. THeres heaps of riding, both on designated tracks and 'off-piste' (new side lines)
Otherwise head to Schaldming and stay in the youth hostel (look for the the big trumpet just on the planai side of the mall). Its about $50-60 a night including breakfast and a 'SommerCard' which gets you access onto the chairlift.

 

[tumble]

Dude it's gonna be still very cold then. April daytime temps in Switzerland are around 10deg I think.
Anyway if you can get from Interlaken to Lauterbrunnen (about 10klms) there's no bike park there but there is a bike shop in the town there which hire out Konas stabs (may be different now) & all safety gear. They'll give you a map to a few DH runs on the mountain beside the town which there is a massive gondolla. Buy a 6 hour pass to the gondolla & Bobs your uncle. I did this in 2007 & it's still the single most memorable day of riding I've ever had. Runs are over 10 minutes long, making arm pump inevitable & If you're going alone be sure to tell the bike shop exactly where you're heading just in case. I had an incident which saw me a foot away from falling off a sheer cliff.

 

[NoogiE]

Hey mate,

get yourself a copy of dirt magazine issue 96 (I think). They list 100 bike parks in Europe, detail them and the times they're open etc. It may be issue 95, I can check tonight for ya.

 

[nickmann]

Dude it's gonna be still very cold then. April daytime temps in Switzerland are around 10deg I think.
Anyway if you can get from Interlaken to Lauterbrunnen (about 10klms) there's no bike park there but there is a bike shop in the town there which hire out Konas stabs (may be different now) & all safety gear. They'll give you a map to a few DH runs on the mountain beside the town which there is a massive gondolla. Buy a 6 hour pass to the gondolla & Bobs your uncle. I did this in 2007 & it's still the single most memorable day of riding I've ever had. Runs are over 10 minutes long, making arm pump inevitable & If you're going alone be sure to tell the bike shop exactly where you're heading just in case. I had an incident which saw me a foot away from falling off a sheer cliff.

haha i know it will be cold but I am keen to ride no matter what the conditions! Sounds like you had a great time, despite almost falling to your death.

 

[nickmann]

Hey mate,

get yourself a copy of dirt magazine issue 96 (I think). They list 100 bike parks in Europe, detail them and the times they're open etc. It may be issue 95, I can check tonight for ya.

Okay sweet, that would be great if you could thanks.

 

[Barnsy]

Take it from a frenchman, best french bike park is Les 2 Alpes. Very english-friendly, and if you want to you can avoid going down the same track twice for a week, though some are so much fun you'll want to spend a day doing it over and over... Next best french place would be Les Gets/Morzine, but I really recommend Les 2 Alpes.

 

[nickmann]

Take it from a frenchman, best french bike park is Les 2 Alpes. Very english-friendly, and if you want to you can avoid going down the same track twice for a week, though some are so much fun you'll want to spend a day doing it over and over... Next best french place would be Les Gets/Morzine, but I really recommend Les 2 Alpes.

Wow, Les 2 Alpes looks amazing. I'm having trouble working out when the lifts run for mtb? Is it an all year round thing or restricted seasons.

 

[Sethimus]

in march/april you won't find any big ressort open, as the ski season is still on...

most big ressorts in the alps open around june/july, most german parks open early may, only some open earlier (when there is no more snow)

 

[sich nich]

in march/april you won't find any big ressort open, as the ski season is still on...

most big ressorts in the alps open around june/july, most german parks open early may, only some open earlier (when there is no more snow)

My experience exactly.
I went on a family holiday last year to europe for all of May and the first half of June.
You will be lucky to find anything chairlifted that you can do on bikes open.
I did get to race at Andorra, which was amazing, and rode/helped dig a nationals race track in Norway.
You may get lucky with some southern France tracks, around Nice.

Good luck dude!

 

[Pete J]

Late March will still be cold dude, most of Europe has had stacks of snow this winter and it won't have gone anywhere by that time.
I live in Northern Europe and i reckon we will still have some snow on the ground until well into May!
Forget the DH stuff at that time, this ski season will be going for a long while yet.

 

[Yeti UK]

Guys,

go onto www.southerndownhill.com... I used to use that forum all the time in the UK.

The UK boys do europe ALOT, so they'll be able to give good advice. I stopped riding DH a while ago so can really advise on exact locations.