Trails...
Dark Trails.
Fun...
When Shared.
Nice!
Getting into it.
Tweaks.
Cheecks.
Gareth gets arty by mistake...
Choo Choo.
Thanks G Man.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Just in Pictures...
Trails...
Dark Trails.
Fun...
When Shared.
Nice!
Getting into it.
Tweaks.
Cheecks.
Gareth gets arty by mistake...
Choo Choo.
Thanks G Man.
Thursday, July 09, 2009
Verbal Dia....Diaorh...Diaora..and a spelling problem
Evenin' all
Have started a new blog on wordpress to complement our website, fresh content, pics and all that. Still gonna post in IBFC of course but writing style is a bit more subdued, no swearing on our blog etc, but not here, arse feck, see.
link to new blog http://mountainspaces.wordpress.com/
Also getting ready to launch activity stylee holidays, these pages aren't linked to owt yet as we've not launched them but feedback welcome from anyone who fancies a gander, follow this link, not all of it works and it's a bit kooky at the mo bu the gist of it is right. Gay cheesy picture of us may change or not depending on the level of abuse recieved.
http://www.mountainspaces.co.uk/summer/Adventure_Weeks.html
Posting on our blog in full, really was a good walk and was some of the best single track I've ever ridden, just endless fun, techincal, fast, flowy, roots, had it all.
About a week or so ago I rode a route with Jamie from All Mountain Rental from Morzine up to Avoriaz, down to the Mossettes lift, down into Champery, up to the col de Coux and then down some of the most technical single track I've ever ridden in the Valley de la Manche.
The last part from the col back to Morzine was really spectacular. I didn't have the soul stealer with me so it seemed like the ideal place to go back to for a walk to take a bit more time to take the scenery in and take some pictures.
We drove up the valley and parked up past the Nyon cable car so we could walk the route I'd ridden down. We stumbled on the wooded section which, on a bike, is on a par with the old Super Morzine run under the Super Morzine bubble. Super steep technical root garden down big muddy chutes. Look for this sign on the way down.
From the wooded section we carried on up the road to the refuge at the Lac de Mine D'Or
From the Lac it's a short climb up a fire road to the start of the single track running up the valley, there's a couple of different routes to the top, we chose to walk up the exposed grassy slope to get the most of the views.
From the col itself you can make out the single track running up from Switzerland and Champery, the route we came from by bike.
Sat right on the border. One leg in Switzerland one leg in France, mon dieu!
On the way back down we chose to follow part of the GR5 route that runs from Belgium to Nice, the alpine part of the route is something we'd really like to do from start to finish.
Final river crossing at the bottom before we re-joined the path back to the refuge at the Lac.
Definately one of the better walks we've been on, lots to see, varied terrain and gaining the climbing split into sections rather than one big slog.
+ excellent walk, awesome views
- quite busy in parts
= One of the best half day walks we've been on 9/10
Have started a new blog on wordpress to complement our website, fresh content, pics and all that. Still gonna post in IBFC of course but writing style is a bit more subdued, no swearing on our blog etc, but not here, arse feck, see.
link to new blog http://mountainspaces.wordpress.com/
Also getting ready to launch activity stylee holidays, these pages aren't linked to owt yet as we've not launched them but feedback welcome from anyone who fancies a gander, follow this link, not all of it works and it's a bit kooky at the mo bu the gist of it is right. Gay cheesy picture of us may change or not depending on the level of abuse recieved.
http://www.mountainspaces.co.uk/summer/Adventure_Weeks.html
Posting on our blog in full, really was a good walk and was some of the best single track I've ever ridden, just endless fun, techincal, fast, flowy, roots, had it all.
About a week or so ago I rode a route with Jamie from All Mountain Rental from Morzine up to Avoriaz, down to the Mossettes lift, down into Champery, up to the col de Coux and then down some of the most technical single track I've ever ridden in the Valley de la Manche.
The last part from the col back to Morzine was really spectacular. I didn't have the soul stealer with me so it seemed like the ideal place to go back to for a walk to take a bit more time to take the scenery in and take some pictures.
We drove up the valley and parked up past the Nyon cable car so we could walk the route I'd ridden down. We stumbled on the wooded section which, on a bike, is on a par with the old Super Morzine run under the Super Morzine bubble. Super steep technical root garden down big muddy chutes. Look for this sign on the way down.
From the wooded section we carried on up the road to the refuge at the Lac de Mine D'Or
From the Lac it's a short climb up a fire road to the start of the single track running up the valley, there's a couple of different routes to the top, we chose to walk up the exposed grassy slope to get the most of the views.
From the col itself you can make out the single track running up from Switzerland and Champery, the route we came from by bike.
Sat right on the border. One leg in Switzerland one leg in France, mon dieu!
On the way back down we chose to follow part of the GR5 route that runs from Belgium to Nice, the alpine part of the route is something we'd really like to do from start to finish.
Final river crossing at the bottom before we re-joined the path back to the refuge at the Lac.
Definately one of the better walks we've been on, lots to see, varied terrain and gaining the climbing split into sections rather than one big slog.
+ excellent walk, awesome views
- quite busy in parts
= One of the best half day walks we've been on 9/10
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
What's that coming over the hill?
Spent all winter season looking out of the chalet balcony over to the right and the untracked snow on the Pointe de Ressachaux, with the weather muchos sunny and clear we decided it was time to get up it.
pointe de Ressachaux
Drove partly up the road to the Prodain lift to the bottom of the trail, by this time the peak was out of sight behind a blind summit and the tree line.
All I can say about the trail is I have never walked up such an unrelenting gradient, literally from the foot of the road at 1050m the trail rose to 1800m and the tiny refuges at Le Creux without any let up. It was difficult to even find somewhere to put your bag and get a drink.
looking down back into the valley
you can't see where the trail goes, because it goes DOWN
catered and self catered holidays in the french alps
pointe de Ressachaux
Drove partly up the road to the Prodain lift to the bottom of the trail, by this time the peak was out of sight behind a blind summit and the tree line.
All I can say about the trail is I have never walked up such an unrelenting gradient, literally from the foot of the road at 1050m the trail rose to 1800m and the tiny refuges at Le Creux without any let up. It was difficult to even find somewhere to put your bag and get a drink.
looking down back into the valley
you can't see where the trail goes, because it goes DOWN
Just waiting to tackle Pointe de Nantaux as you look out of the chalet and look left, looks like there's a pretty fearsome ridge to contend with in addition to 3 hours of gruelling uphill slog, sweet!
www.mountainspaces.com
catered and self catered holidays in the french alps
It's Alive!!
Having ridden with Dave and John over the previous week, this weekend was the Pass Portes du Soliel and the whole area has literally exploded in life. Walked past the Super Morzine queue, must have been at least 3/4hour long!!
Didn't get a chance to ride becuase of the lift queues and having to get over to Samoens, but nice to see everything come to life at last. All hte big names had tents and stands set out in front of the tourist office.
Gateway to bike central
mmm shiny new bits I can't afford!!
Yikes a trike? nay, a quike!?! Actually for Yohan our next door neighbour, handicaped downhill a go go!
www.mountainspaces.com
catered and self catered holidays in the french alps
Didn't get a chance to ride becuase of the lift queues and having to get over to Samoens, but nice to see everything come to life at last. All hte big names had tents and stands set out in front of the tourist office.
Gateway to bike central
mmm shiny new bits I can't afford!!
Yikes a trike? nay, a quike!?! Actually for Yohan our next door neighbour, handicaped downhill a go go!
www.mountainspaces.com
catered and self catered holidays in the french alps
Monday, June 29, 2009
Bored.
After a weeks riding, you soon want to be back on it, so we were supposed to meet Mr Bowles at Chicksands, but he couldn't make it, so we sweated it out instead...
Great stuff all round except for the absolute lunatic who roped off a trail to dig a jump. The problem was that he literally just roped it off between two trees with a very non visable brown rope and a few dangly bits on it. A guy who'd been running the trail all day hit it airbourne at full tilt and could have actually decapitated himself - he was really lucky not to be seriously hurt. Keep it safe out there.
Jon wasn't feeling it at first as he doesn't like to session stuff too much, but he was soon grinning and we had a good ride. I got the one hander out again and would like to point out that I did about 20 in a row and lots bigger than the shot below, but Jon couldn't force the fuji's slow assed shutter to coincide. Heres a small one anyway...
\
Freeride light.
Great stuff all round except for the absolute lunatic who roped off a trail to dig a jump. The problem was that he literally just roped it off between two trees with a very non visable brown rope and a few dangly bits on it. A guy who'd been running the trail all day hit it airbourne at full tilt and could have actually decapitated himself - he was really lucky not to be seriously hurt. Keep it safe out there.
Jon wasn't feeling it at first as he doesn't like to session stuff too much, but he was soon grinning and we had a good ride. I got the one hander out again and would like to point out that I did about 20 in a row and lots bigger than the shot below, but Jon couldn't force the fuji's slow assed shutter to coincide. Heres a small one anyway...
\Freeride light.
Morzine and Les Gets 09
Our mini trip out to see Chris and take some shots was, quite frankly, awesome!
Our flight out was early and after several hours packing up my new ride the night before, I was impressed with just how tidily Jon had managed to pack his - Marzocchi fork bag helps here, no doubt.
Anyway, bleary eyed, we took off giving me that early morning adrenaline kick, as I'm becoming a worse flyer... Touch down was sweet and soon I was embarrassing us by getting the trolley stuck in the arrivals door exit whilst people openly laughed at me, great what a start. We were sped up the hill by Skiidy Gonzales transfers, nice, and soon rebuilding our bikes at the chalet garage at Chalet Claire Matin (Chris and Kate's awesome chalet - www.mountainspaces.com)
We got straight into it and not knowing exactly what was open in terms of lifts, got straight up Pleney and rode down it a few times!
After a few runs and a bit of thought, we popped over to Les Gets, knowing that its down hill on the road, if Chevannes wasn't open, but it was, so a quick introductory before cruising home on the crappy inter resort trail and into Monty's for a beer, before C&K arrived early, from work.
The next few days saw a bit if rain and then scorchio sun, so we had the full range of trail conditions from sopping and greasy to dusty on the last two days. Chris was able to get out every day in the mornings and we had all of Tuesday riding and Kate made an appearance too!
Mt Chery, Pleney and Chevannes were all that were running , but that really didn't hinder things as we had an absolute blast and would have to say, rode reasonably quickly, not being overtaken by anyone. How Chris manages to ride his hardtail with dj forks and still be reasonably quick is beyond me, he's going to have arthritis.
Dave about to use up the suspension on Mt Chery.
Jon and Chris on the 4x.
Little wall ride on the green run back into Les Gets.
The trails were excellent this year and didn't suffer too badly from braking bumps, due to the early season, which was great! Some really nice additions to the Chevannes run made it the most fun for me, whilst Jon was digging the steep shoots of Mt Chery and riding them fast - I couldn't keep up and was permanently in his dust cloud...
We stopped off a few times for some filming and photos and generally had an excellent time. The only problem was that I kept on destroying bits to do with my rear mech and really noticed how vulnerable the long cage version that came fitted to the Remedy is - new short cage will be fitted. Apart from that, the odd puncture and breaking a spoke on a particularly large step down, we were pretty good and the Remedy proved that its not only light but a real propper all mountain bike.
Chris in the park on Chevannes.
This hip would be awesome if it had a lip...
Sunset over St Jean d"Aulpes.
www.mountainspaces.com
catered and self catered holidays in the french alps
Our flight out was early and after several hours packing up my new ride the night before, I was impressed with just how tidily Jon had managed to pack his - Marzocchi fork bag helps here, no doubt.
Anyway, bleary eyed, we took off giving me that early morning adrenaline kick, as I'm becoming a worse flyer... Touch down was sweet and soon I was embarrassing us by getting the trolley stuck in the arrivals door exit whilst people openly laughed at me, great what a start. We were sped up the hill by Skiidy Gonzales transfers, nice, and soon rebuilding our bikes at the chalet garage at Chalet Claire Matin (Chris and Kate's awesome chalet - www.mountainspaces.com)
We got straight into it and not knowing exactly what was open in terms of lifts, got straight up Pleney and rode down it a few times!
After a few runs and a bit of thought, we popped over to Les Gets, knowing that its down hill on the road, if Chevannes wasn't open, but it was, so a quick introductory before cruising home on the crappy inter resort trail and into Monty's for a beer, before C&K arrived early, from work.
The next few days saw a bit if rain and then scorchio sun, so we had the full range of trail conditions from sopping and greasy to dusty on the last two days. Chris was able to get out every day in the mornings and we had all of Tuesday riding and Kate made an appearance too!
Mt Chery, Pleney and Chevannes were all that were running , but that really didn't hinder things as we had an absolute blast and would have to say, rode reasonably quickly, not being overtaken by anyone. How Chris manages to ride his hardtail with dj forks and still be reasonably quick is beyond me, he's going to have arthritis.
Dave about to use up the suspension on Mt Chery.
Jon and Chris on the 4x.
Little wall ride on the green run back into Les Gets.
The trails were excellent this year and didn't suffer too badly from braking bumps, due to the early season, which was great! Some really nice additions to the Chevannes run made it the most fun for me, whilst Jon was digging the steep shoots of Mt Chery and riding them fast - I couldn't keep up and was permanently in his dust cloud...
We stopped off a few times for some filming and photos and generally had an excellent time. The only problem was that I kept on destroying bits to do with my rear mech and really noticed how vulnerable the long cage version that came fitted to the Remedy is - new short cage will be fitted. Apart from that, the odd puncture and breaking a spoke on a particularly large step down, we were pretty good and the Remedy proved that its not only light but a real propper all mountain bike.
Chris in the park on Chevannes.
This hip would be awesome if it had a lip...
Sunset over St Jean d"Aulpes.
www.mountainspaces.com
catered and self catered holidays in the french alps
Friday, June 26, 2009
3 lift wonder.
Just got back last night from our little sojourn in St Jean d'Aulpes with Chris and Kate, so here are some atmos shots before I do a post with all the rad pics on it!
HOT HOT HOT!
Nice view from the top of Mt Chery.
Lift gurning.
Chris and Kate's seriously nice pad.
Amour.
Gritty hard tail action.
www.mountainspaces.com
catered and self catered holidays in the french alps
HOT HOT HOT!
Nice view from the top of Mt Chery.
Lift gurning.
Chris and Kate's seriously nice pad.
Amour.
Gritty hard tail action.
www.mountainspaces.com
catered and self catered holidays in the french alps
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