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Local Knoweldge Required: Switzerland Vacation

jasonvelocity

Monkey
Aug 26, 2008
177
0
Palmer Lake, CO
I am planning out a Swiss DH vacation and need some suggestions regarding logistics and planning.

  • What are the best resorts to visit?
  • What order would you recommend?
  • Should I hit some trail riding too?
  • What are your recommendations for things to do on rest days?

I am also trying to decide if I want to travel with a DH bike or rent. Travelling is probably the cheaper option, but then I need to travel between resorts with a bike.

swiss_map.JPG
Lift Served DH Mountain Bike Spots
 

UncleHowie

Chimp
Feb 9, 2011
76
0
Switzerland
My favorite places to ride:

- Portes du soleil (12 villages connected via lift in switzerland/france)
my favorites there are Chatel, Morgins and Champery (the legendary DH track...steeep :eek: ) but these are mostly technical trails, the flow trails are in Morzine and Les Gets. I'm renting a Condo in Chatel for two weeks this summer, it doesn't get boring there.
-Verbier
-Bellwald (love the DH trail but there are only 2 trails)
-Lac Blanc (it's in France but not too far away, there are around 7 trails and it's cheap)
-Lenzerheide (last year a bit boring but they're building more trails this year because of the world cup next year)
-Biel
-Todtnau (Germany but not too far away)

Some other places, which I've never been but are famous:
Chur, Crans Montana, Flims, Davos and Monte Tamaro

Trail riding:
There are some epic rides, search for switzerland on pinkbike.com but I don't have personal experience.

Bring your own bike if possible and fly with British Airways (had good experience flying with the bike to whistler).
On rest days there are many things to visit. Cities like lucerne, geneva and berne are beautiful.

If you have any questions just ask!
 

jasonvelocity

Monkey
Aug 26, 2008
177
0
Palmer Lake, CO
I did not expect to see British Airways as an option out of DEN, but it looks like they are everywhere. I will consider them as most of the US airlines are pretty bad on bikes (Frontier being an exception).

So when you are there, do you stay in a single location or move around? We were not sure how to best arrange our lodging and transportation. From what I understand, everything is much closer together than we are used to in the US.
 

UncleHowie

Chimp
Feb 9, 2011
76
0
Switzerland
So when you are there, do you stay in a single location or move around? We were not sure how to best arrange our lodging and transportation. From what I understand, everything is much closer together than we are used to in the US.
I would fly to geneva (I don't know if all airlines fly to geneva, if not fly to zürich) and stay in chatel, at least for the beginning. From chatel you can ride in Portes du Soleil just with your bike (check how long the lifts are running or you're stuck on the other side of the mountain ;) ) and verbier & crans montana are just bit more than an hour of driving away. But I would do a small road trip, it's always fun to explore a foreign country by car.

Switzerland is way smaller than US, in just 2.5 hours you are on the other side of the country :D
 

pugslybell

Chimp
Jan 23, 2002
71
2
Durango Colorado
BuckoW on this forum is an American xpat living in Morgins/chattel and an awesome person. I would hit him up in a pm to get some great local knowledge of where to stay. I have not personally seen or talked to Ben in years but knew him when he lived in Durango and he is just a good person. He builds a lot of the tracks at the bike parks there and is an awesome rider. Good luck and super jealous of your trip.
 

frango

Turbo Monkey
Jun 13, 2007
1,454
5
Definitely talk to Ben (BuckoW). He's the great guy. Know entire region very well. Ben working on trails in Italy, too. He and his brother(?) owns a chalet in Morgins, I think.
 

supercow

Monkey
Feb 18, 2009
969
128
I'd certainly bring my own bike, renting a (decent) bike in the Alps is incredibly expensive.
Travelling from resort to resort with the bike, is half the fun. Most of the region you'll be able to reach just using the Ski lifts.
 
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jasonvelocity

Monkey
Aug 26, 2008
177
0
Palmer Lake, CO
Yeah, I preferred to bring my bike, but wasn't sure about stashing the bike bag. A bike in a bag is fine, but a bike and a bag becomes two bulky objects. If I stay in a single place and branch out, that would make life a bit easier.
 

buckoW

Turbo Monkey
Mar 1, 2007
3,777
4,697
Champery, Switzerland
Yeah, I preferred to bring my bike, but wasn't sure about stashing the bike bag. A bike in a bag is fine, but a bike and a bag becomes two bulky objects. If I stay in a single place and branch out, that would make life a bit easier.
Thanks for the props guys!

Jason - you're welcome to stash your bike bag at my house in Champery if you'd like. When are you coming over? I'll pm you my contact details.
 

jasonvelocity

Monkey
Aug 26, 2008
177
0
Palmer Lake, CO
Thanks for the offer Ben.

I talked to my (non-biking) Swiss friends, and they recommended coming later in the season. I was looking at August or September maybe?

Based on past Whistler trips, I was projecting two to three consecutive riding days, followed by a day of relative rest. As with Whistler, rest days are hard to abide by. I want to do the tourist things and I want to ride :0.
 

EVRAC

Monkey
Jun 21, 2004
757
19
Port Coquitlam, B.C., Canada
We spent a week in Morzine two years ago and it was fantastic. Very central to other PDS resorts, so we could day trip by (rented) DH bike and chairlift to Les Gets, Chatel, even Champery, and still be back for dinner. Not much experience with the other towns, but Morzine was big enough to have some stuff going on in the evenings, like pubs and such, and has likely 8 or 10 bike shops. That said, the trails right at Morzine might not be the best in the area, but there are lots of them, and so many areas so close by.

We can't wait to go back, but will have to wait for our little boy to be old enough to rip it up.
 

UncleHowie

Chimp
Feb 9, 2011
76
0
Switzerland
Thanks for the offer Ben.

I talked to my (non-biking) Swiss friends, and they recommended coming later in the season. I was looking at August or September maybe?

Based on past Whistler trips, I was projecting two to three consecutive riding days, followed by a day of relative rest. As with Whistler, rest days are hard to abide by. I want to do the tourist things and I want to ride :0.
August is good because some places are already closing in september.
 

buckoW

Turbo Monkey
Mar 1, 2007
3,777
4,697
Champery, Switzerland
August is good because some places are already closing in september.
Yeah, August would be better but September also has good riding, just not in the spots you've heard of.
Chatel would be the most central town in the PDS regarding easy access to the rest by bike. I usually have more time to show you some spots starting in late August after Crankworx.

You could stash your bike box or whatever at a friends place in Chatel or my place in Champery if you want to move around a bit on the trains. If you want to check out some lesser known spots then Montreux and Bex are fun but someone would have to show you the trails since they aren't marked. Try to get in a day in Morgins with my friends and I, that is my favorite spot we built.

You might want to bring some mud tires too. Sometimes they are necessary.

Udi and contactjt are also good sources of info for spots to ride in Switzerland, by the way.
 
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ebarker9

Monkey
Oct 2, 2007
848
242
I'm considering a trip to this area of the world in mid to late August with a couple of friends. They both mountain bike but aren't really DH riders. Is there a place that is 1) open this time of year and 2) has suitable, fun terrain for a range of skills? I'm thinking lift accessed but with fairly buffed out trails.
 

slyfink

Turbo Monkey
Sep 16, 2008
9,288
5,028
Ottawa, Canada
I'm considering a trip to this area of the world in mid to late August with a couple of friends. They both mountain bike but aren't really DH riders. Is there a place that is 1) open this time of year and 2) has suitable, fun terrain for a range of skills? I'm thinking lift accessed but with fairly buffed out trails.
Where to start?! pretty much all of the Alps. Seriously. Les Portes du Soleil is probably a good place to start as it has a high concentration of what you are looking for. But re-read this thread because the information you are looking for is contained in the links.
 

tabletop84

Monkey
Nov 12, 2011
891
15
Try to ride "the brazilian" just in front of Crans Montana and if you have a trail bike with you take the gondola to the plaine morte glacier above Crans Montana and from there to Sion.
 

ebarker9

Monkey
Oct 2, 2007
848
242
Thanks for the suggestions. I was starting to look into Morzine and Les Portes du Soleil, but wasn't positive if everything was still open that time of year (I was reading an older thread suggesting that everything starts to close around the end of August). They live in Eindhoven, so I'm pushing for a drive through a few automotive sites of interest in Germany (Nurburgring, Stuttgart, etc), down to the Alps then back up for the Belgian GP. Not sure when I'll get back so trying to make the most of the opportunity.
 

UncleHowie

Chimp
Feb 9, 2011
76
0
Switzerland
Thanks for the suggestions. I was starting to look into Morzine and Les Portes du Soleil, but wasn't positive if everything was still open that time of year (I was reading an older thread suggesting that everything starts to close around the end of August). They live in Eindhoven, so I'm pushing for a drive through a few automotive sites of interest in Germany (Nurburgring, Stuttgart, etc), down to the Alps then back up for the Belgian GP. Not sure when I'll get back so trying to make the most of the opportunity.
Until september everything should be open in portes du soleil. But if your going to stuttgart drive through todtnau and ride there. Expensive but I love the trail!
 

sethimus

neu bizutch
Feb 5, 2006
4,881
2,132
not in Whistler anymore :/
Thanks for the suggestions. I was starting to look into Morzine and Les Portes du Soleil, but wasn't positive if everything was still open that time of year (I was reading an older thread suggesting that everything starts to close around the end of August). They live in Eindhoven, so I'm pushing for a drive through a few automotive sites of interest in Germany (Nurburgring, Stuttgart, etc), down to the Alps then back up for the Belgian GP. Not sure when I'll get back so trying to make the most of the opportunity.
stop by in bad wildbad for riding if you're visiting stuttgart, it's an hour away
 

ebarker9

Monkey
Oct 2, 2007
848
242
Those look like great places as well. I may have to extend the trip slightly! Thanks for the suggestions.