Itinerary

This itinerary is only given as a guide and will be followed as closely as possible. Your guide will assess weather conditions and possibly alter the route to ensure you have a safe and enjoyable trip.

Day 0.

Arrive Geneva airport. Transfers can be individually timed or shared to save you cost to collect you from the airport and take you to the chalet in the centre of Samoens - approx. 1hr 15mins transfer time. We can book these for you with a local transfer company or collect you in our own van. Your guide will meet you at the chalet in the evening to give you a briefing about the trip and make sure you and your bike have arrived safely.

Day 1.

Time to assemble the bikes for those coming in late last night, there will be help with this and all the bikes will be checked over before our first ride; a varied cross-country route to stretch and test the legs. We will be climbing high above the Giffre valley floor to get some stunning views of the area. We leave the chalet and follow the rooty river trail along to the beautiful village of Sixt-Fer-a-Cheval. From here we take a chairlift to cut out most of a very strenuous climb. From the top of the chairlift we still have 400m of doubletrack climbing on a sometimes loose and rocky surface but the views from 1700m when we get there are worth it. There is a beautiful chalet here which offers delicious drinks, crepes, salads and omelettes with glorious views of the Giffre valley and the surrounding peaks. A perfect spot to soak up the sunshine. From the top we descend on fun single and quad width track which is sometimes rocky and technical, all the way back down to the valley floor. When we reach the valley floor, we once again join the beautiful river trail - with one or two exciting deviations - all the way back to Samoens village centre.

Day 2.

After a good breakfast, we have either a big road climb or van uplift - depending on the group fitness - up to the col du Joux de Plane where we can indulge in a spot of Mont Blanc gazing from the small café by the lake. We climb a little more to a cross on a hilltop with yet more spectacular panoramic views. From here a fantastic single track trail snakes its way down a cool 1,200m to the very bottom of the Giffre valley far below. This descent is rarely used as there are no chair lifts to bring you back to the top again. We make the most of a seemingly never ending descent of narrow trails, switch back turns and the jewel in the crown - an amazing swooping roller coaster ride at the end of the trail which brings us out at the picture-perfect village of Samoens. After lunch in the old square we get a an uplift, followed by a bit of leg power to the top of one of the most fun descents in the area. It’s a swooping, varied singletrack trail through woodland, small hamlets and rocky terrain back down to Samoens centre.

Day 3.

Today we head off down the valley in the van to a new area. In fact, it’s the area we ride in from our front door. La Vallee du Risse and our local peak, known as “Le Mole”, provide some superb little known singletrack xc riding. We will get a van uplift to the pretty village of Onnion in La Vallee du Risse. From here we climb steadily on road and dirt track to the top of Plaine Joux - a high alpine plateau at 1,200m. After following a varied trail across the plateau with smooth flowing trails and rocky and rooty singletrack, we then drop off the plateau and chose one of several options for descending on singletrack back to Onnion. We’ve named our favourites which include “Wild Thyme” and “Cut-through Classic”. The terrain alternates between, loose rocks, roots and smooth flowing singletrack. After lunch in Onnion we continue on a real xc route through pretty alpine hamlets, which brings us to the top of a fast-flowing wooded singtrack descent all the way down to the village of St Jeoire, at 580m. Deepending on time and energy levels there’s the options of a climb on a mixture of singletrack, road and doubletrack to the top of another of our favourite descents on Le Mole. “Caravan” is a classic finish to a day of great riding in this area. Swooping down on pitch-perfect singletrack with a few tight switchbacks and tricky rooty sections, we pop out again in the village of St Jeoire. After some liquid refreshment, the van will be waiting to transfer us back to Samoens.

Day 4.

Today we sample some of the best trails the area has to offer. We spend today in the Grand Massif and visit Flaine ski station. With a mixture of van, chair lift and some climbing we ascend to the very top of the Flaine massif from the small village of Morillon. We arrive at a point from which we have a staggering 1,800m of descent ahead of us! Setting out on what may well be the biggest rideable descent in the Alps we “drop off” the peak along easy trails before coming to some steeper twisting single track trails which bring us out at the beautiful Lac des Gers. Some lunch is called for or drinks at least before a fast double track takes us to the best section of single track in the entire region - a swooping, curving, testing descent which seems to go down and down for ever. Ducking through trees and leaping over roots we cross several other tracks and still head down, with grins wider than the helmets on our heads we finally pop out next to the Giffre river on very edge of Samoens.

Day 5.

Today we head to the most well-known valley in the French Alps - Chamonix. The van will transport us to the base of a small cog train at Chedde which takes us up into Chamonix. It’s a much more picturesque way of getting to the town than the road. Here again we use the chair lift system to gain height on the very steep sided valley and have wonderful close up views of Mt Blanc. In the morning we will use trails high above the valley bottom, traversing and descending our way into Argentiere. After lunch we descend down one of the most technical single track trails in the valley - the Petit Balcon Nord. There are few short climbs but it’s mainly a single track descent. We then take a final chair lift up for a huge descent right down to the very base of the valley, below the steep gorges where we left the van early this morning for the drive back to Samoens. It’s a long day but very rewarding with a huge amount of single track riding.

Day 6.

For our last day we will explore some more of the local Samoens trails and re-ride some favourites from earlier in the week. The day will include a van shuttle up to a high plateau - Samoens 1600m - from which point we have a whole variety of excellent trails at our disposal. The last night may find you tired and happy but definitely exhilarated. It’s time to pack the bikes and get ready to hit the town!

Day 7.

A final morning to relax in the comfort of the hotel and to leisurely pack away your bikes before checking out of your room in time for collection by the transfer company or the RTA van for your journey to Geneva Airport.