All you could hear for the last month or so in Chamonix was the background whine of folks complaining about the never ending winter and how wet and cold it was, then, without warning, BAM, summer’s here and now everyone’s complaining it’s too hot.
Still, at least the lifts have opened so we can get a bit higher, into fresher air and keen (foehn) winds. An added advantage for us bikers is that you don’t get half as sweaty when you let Compagnie du Mont Blanc drag you to the top of the hill, and the breeze helps cool you on the way down.
The heat, sun and foehn, and a little bit of warm rain added in for good measure, have also made a huge difference to the amount of snow up high. Where last week we were struggling to get down some trails off Brevent and Flegere, or not even bothering to try, now pretty much everything’s on. So with Friday being the summer solstice we headed to the sunny side of the valley to make the most of the longest day of the year (not that the lifts were open any longer than usual mind) and work up a thirst for the Fete de la Musique.
Starting from Brevent, the super technical trail that goes from just above the parapente launch site is now clear of snow, so we pushed up and dropped in with views of Chamonix and the Bossons glacier below. This trail eventually joins the 4x4 track through the main Brevent couloir, which has seen lots of traffic since the lifts opened and a path through the rubble has cleared.
Instead of heading back into the trees under the Brevent gondola we climbed up for 10 minutes on the Sentier des Gardes track, hoping to be rewarded for our effort with the long flowy descent to Gaillands. It was not to be though as the winter has been hard on the trees and quite a few have fallen across the track. It’s not as bad as last year, but probably worth leaving alone until the path maintenance crews have got in and cleared the debris.
Back up for another lap, we looked at our descent options. There’s so many trails here, at all levels of difficulty, but time was pressing and there were trails at Flegere with our name on them so heading out of the Brevent gondola we followed the winter piste round to the main face and traversed across towards the top of the Sources chairlift. From here one of the best trails in the valley works its way across the mountain towards the Flegere lift, just remember that like all the other trails here it’s a walkers path so don’t take the blind corners and rises too quickly….
Once at Flegere we managed to avoid stopping for refreshments at the all too conveniently located Rhododendrons and got straight onto the lift. The Flegere lift is one of the older bits of lift infrastructure in the valley and, whilst the frequency it closes when it’s windy can be frustrating, it’s got a certain charm about it that the newer, slicker lifts can’t match. The only other lift to compare it to would be the Bellevue in Les Houches which regrettably will be closed for the rest of the summer due to damage sustained in the Kitch-Inn fire.
Reaching the top we went to have a look down the now abandoned “Elfe Secret” run. All the north shore sections have been semi-dismantled and an entire section of trail about a third of the way down is missing. Despite this, if you combine the bike trail and the nearby walking trail you can get an excellent descent.
For the last run we headed straight out of the lift station onto the flat-out blast under the Trappe chair, feeling for the runners who’ll be slogging up here in a week’s time, then entered the trees for yet another incredible singletrack descent.
The July and August bike ban includes almost all the trails accessed by the Brevent and Flegere lifts, and the new “Bike Pass” from Compagnie du Mont Blanc doesn’t include these lifts either, so if you want to get on these excellent, if generally very technical, trails then best do it now and make sure you buy the right pass.. check out which lifts you can use here.
