Mountain biking accessible from Chamonix

Verbier

When you mention “Verbier” to most riders, they think of the excellent bike park and DH trails, but there’s much more to Verbier than just 200mm travel freeride bikes. 

The area has some incredible singletrack trails for all abilities accessed from the Le Chable-Verbier-Ruinettes cable car. What’s more, the cable car runs for a longer period than most resorts, so you can ride lift-accessed trails from the start of June to the end of October if the weather allows, and all just one hour from Chamonix.

Pila

Pila used to host the UCI DH World Cup, currently hosts the IXS downhill cup and is one of the best bike parks around. Perfect berms (think Sam Hill corner-worthy), Italian coffee and the 21B trail. Pila is a must for any holiday to the Alps.

Portes du Soleil

Possibly the most famous bike area in the Alps, the Portes du Soleil and in particular Les Gets, Morzine and Chatel, have a reputation for the biggest linked riding areas and most extensive man made trails. 

At a little over one hour's drive from Chamonix, the area gives you the opportunity to ride somewhere set up for bikers, by bikers, on as many prepared jumps, berms and drops as you can manage. A very different feel from Chamonix, but a change can be as good as a rest.

Grand Massif

Situated between Chamonix and the Portes du Soleil, the Grand Massif stations of Flaine, Samoens and Les Carroz also have an ambience that sits between their two better known neighbours. 

Like the Portes du Soleil, there are some excellent bike parks and the network of lifts links you quickly and efficiently around a huge area with little need for pedalling, but like Chamonix you’ll miss out on the best riding if you don’t head off with a map and a bike you can take up as well as downhill. 

Mountain bikers are actively welcomed to the area, but you’ll still have the trails mostly to yourself if you leave the bike parks. For more details take a look at their website.

Saleve

If you’ve headed to the Haute Savoie ski areas from Geneva airport, then you’ve likely gone past the massive limestone cliffs of La Saleve and seen its cable car rising up above the motorway on the outskirts of Geneva. 

You may not realise though that the cable car takes bikes and a number of excellent DH trails wind their unlikely way down from the top. The trails are official and marked by small bike symbols, however it's not as easy to navigate as most ski station areas and you’ll need to be prepared to get a little lost and follow clues such as lots of tyre marks on the ground to find the best trails. What’s more, there are no green or blue options here, so novice riders will probably feel a little out of their depth. More advanced riders can bike here through the winter should another day of skiing not interest them.

Dorenaz

Hidden away just past Martigny, about one hour from Chamonix, is the small Swiss village of Dorenaz, and about 670m above it is the even smaller village of Champex. 

As it’s a long way up by road, a little cable car was installed to ferry passengers and goods between the two villages. Fortunately for us, it also carries mountain bikes - underneath! Local riders have built a DH track starting about 200m up the road from the cable car station which has a fearsome reputation and is used by several DH teams for their winter testing and training due to the lifts running all year. 

If you like the Vallorcine DH track, then you’ll like Dorenaz, but be warned, this is a track that takes no prisoners. 

La Thuile

In the winter, many Chamonix skiers head through the Mont Blanc tunnel to ski Courmayeur and enjoy fine Italian food and drink. 

Less common though is to make the one hour journey from Chamonix to La Thuile, just beyond Courmayeur, in the summer. This is a shame as La Thuile has built possibly the best network of natural feeling bike trails in the Alps from its two main chairlifts. 

If you're looking for well groomed jumps and berms then this may not be the place for you but if you like Chamonix’s natural trails and want something with a bit more flow, then you should definitely visit. What’s more, you can stop for an Italian coffee on every lap!