Accompanied mountain biking, French Alps

Due to the nature of alpine terrain, our mountain bike holidays are best suited to keen riders with a good level of fitness and experience. We have hundreds of kilometres of trails to choose from and we vary the riding each week. However, the best, sweetest trails tends to be less accessible, requiring either some climbing or some long, technical descents.

We use the network of ski lifts that operate during the Summer, but this doesn't cover every climb and undulation of our vast mountainous playground. Although these climbs are relatively small in Alpine terms (typically one kilometre in length gaining 100 metres of altitude), compared to the UK scale, they will seem epic. As long as you're up for the challenge, then the rewards make it all worthwhile!

If you enjoy epic, challenging days out, with good company and within an exceptional alpine setting, then you will be in good company. Although you will spend a majority of each day descending or contouring the mountain sides on varying trail types, with plenty of epic singletrack (some sections being many kilometres in length, descending literally kilometres in altitude), we do not classify our holidays as downhill, but rather 'all mountain' or 'Extreme XC'.

Who our holidays will not suit
If you prefer to spend all day riding purpose built trails on a heavy downhill bike, head to toe in protective gear, our holidays probably aren't for you. Having said that, we do recommend knee and elbow protection.

A typical day
A typical day begins with breakfast at 08.00 a.m, allowing time to get the bikes ready before heading out at around 09.30 a.m. If we are riding the Flaine Loop, we will be transported 10 minutes up to an elevation of 1,600 metres to begin the day. From here we will traverse and drop down a very long, technical descent to the Morrillon chair lift, which then takes us back up to above 2,000 metres and connects us with the adjacent valley. From here you will work our way around the mountain on a superb winding trail before dropping through the forest into the Flaine bowl, for a spot of lunch.

We then have the option to take a telecabine up to 2,500 metres and from there, drop over 1,700 metres in altitude, back to Samoëns. Or we can take a technical climb past the Flaine lake and continue along more superb swooping singletrack before dropping into the attractive village of Les Carroz. From here we take a telecabine back up high, before descending over 1,000 metres on one of the many trails available to us, winding our way back to Samoëns village. We tend to return to tea and cake, around 17.00, allowing ample time to relax before dinner is served at around 19.30 p.m.

If there is such a thing, that is a typical day!