[FlipSide]

I will be in Munich for work in a couple of weeks. I will meet a friend there and the plan is to go ride some place cool for a weekend.

My friend is of intermediate level and I plan to bring only knee pads and an open face helmet. i.e.: Gnarly DH trails are not really what we're after. Ideally, we would like to rent Enduro bikes and use a chairlift/gondola to access nice AM trails.

Does any of you have recommendations for bikeparks offering this and accessible by car from Munich? I was thinking Leogang or Livigno, but I know very little about non-DHWorldCup-related riding in Europe.

Thanks!

Note: I used the RM search, but the threads that came out were quite old.

 

[slyfink]

As I recall, Innsbruck is not too far from Munich (one train ride away). I'm not too sure about the riding there, but it has mega-potential. I seem to recall seeing something pinkbike about riding there being good, and chairlift accessible - but only to those without a full-face and dual-crown forks.

 

[Kurt_80]

How far can you get? Portes du Soleil is pretty awesome if you can get to France....

 

[slyfink]

yeah, it looks like a nice place to ride: https://www.pinkbike.com/news/destination-showcase-innsbruck-austria.html

this is the article I mentioned earlier: https://www.pinkbike.com/news/innsbruck-bans-downhill-bikes-from-public-transport.html (from May this year). From the comments, it seems that there is tons of the kind of riding you want to do.

As much as I like the Portes du Soleil (my cousins have a couple of shops in Les Gets), when I went to Innsbruck in 2000 I found it had a much mellower vibe, and a less "curated" experience. But that was (jesus effin christ I can't believe I'm saying this) almost 20 years ago.

 

[slyfink]

Also, was it @JohnE used to live there? Maybe he can chime in with some solid recommendations...

 

[Kurt_80]

yeah, it looks like a nice place to ride: https://www.pinkbike.com/news/destination-showcase-innsbruck-austria.html

this is the article I mentioned earlier: https://www.pinkbike.com/news/innsbruck-bans-downhill-bikes-from-public-transport.html (from May this year). From the comments, it seems that there is tons of the kind of riding you want to do.

As much as I like the Portes du Soleil (my cousins have a couple of shops in Les Gets), when I went to Innsbruck in 2000 I found it had a much mellower vibe, and a less "curated" experience. But that was (jesus effin christ I can't believe I'm saying this) almost 20 years ago.

Yeah, I only have the one experience there (PDS) for 4 or 5 days in 2015, but the ability to use lifts to go from resort to resort, let alone country to country (hello Champery!) was pretty awesome. Would definitely recommend.

Also had fun in Spain (La Molina), the bike park in Andorra, and Les Angles in France. 1 day each, not sure how they would fair for multi day trips.

I was supposed to have fun in Chatel, but it had heavy rain and lightning and they closed the trails, so I drank beer with some other Aussies who were also riding there.

 

[kidwoo]

Just block the insides of your turns if you go to chatel.


@buckoW lurks

 

[FlipSide]

Thanks a lot! That's really helpful! Innsbruck does seems like a good fit for what we want to do. France is not out of the question, but it's quite a long distance from Munich.

Thanks again!

 

[slyfink]

Yeah, I only have the one experience there (PDS) for 4 or 5 days in 2015, but the ability to use lifts to go from resort to resort, let alone country to country (hello Champery!) was pretty awesome. Would definitely recommend.

Also had fun in Spain (La Molina), the bike park in Andorra, and Les Angles in France. 1 day each, not sure how they would fair for multi day trips.

I was supposed to have fun in Chatel, but it had heavy rain and lightning and they closed the trails, so I drank beer with some other Aussies who were also riding there.

You raise a good point. There's so much riding in that area that you can pretty much choose your destination based on weather. I found it really hard to ride the alps when it's wet. It's really greasy and steep. So if I were you, I'd identify a few areas that are relatively easy to get to, and decide at the last minute which one to get to based on weather.

 

[Sandro]

Innsbruck is definitely a good shout for a day trip. I’d skip Leogang and go straight to Schladming/Planai, which is much smaller than Leogang, but the downhill track is so much better than anything Leogang and Saalbach have to offer. PDS can get a bit crowded, but given the sheer size and variety of trails, it’s hard not to recommend.

If a multi day trip is in the cards and you are open to something beyond your typical bikepark experience , i can highly recommend going to the Maritime Alps. Finale Ligure is the most popular destination, but there are tons places with mostly natural trails in Liguria and eastern France that offer shuttles. I personally much prefer this type of riding, but it requires a bit more time.

 

[FlipSide]

Finally, we went to Saalbach for various reasons. The place was great, beautiful and we had a good time. The Bergstadl trail and X-Line in Saalbach are a lot of fun. Good balance between technical and flowy. The rest is brake bumps galore. I ran into Vali Höll and her crew. The fanboi in me was quite happy about that.

I got to be among the first to ride the new Antonius trail in Leogang. It was really great and, from the look of it, riding a fresh loamy trail is not something usual in Leogang.

The euro-rental (Mondraker Dune) was pretty nice as well.

 

[JohnE]

Also, was it @JohnE used to live there? Maybe he can chime in with some solid recommendations...

Sorry, I gots nothing. I am not a park guy, spent most of my time in Bavaria or Baden Wurtemburg poaching social trails...

 

[Electric_City]

I will be in Munich for work in a couple of weeks. I will meet a friend there and the plan is to go ride some place cool for a weekend.

My friend is of intermediate level and I plan to bring only knee pads and an open face helmet. i.e.: Gnarly DH trails are not really what we're after. Ideally, we would like to rent Enduro bikes and use a chairlift/gondola to access nice AM trails.

Does any of you have recommendations for bikeparks offering this and accessible by car from Munich? I was thinking Leogang or Livigno, but I know very little about non-DHWorldCup-related riding in Europe.

Thanks!

Note: I used the RM search, but the threads that came out were quite old.

Make sure you rent an E-bike. I hear they're totally Euro!

 

[norbar]

As I recall, Innsbruck is not too far from Munich (one train ride away). I'm not too sure about the riding there, but it has mega-potential. I seem to recall seeing something pinkbike about riding there being good, and chairlift accessible - but only to those without a full-face and dual-crown forks.

Steep as Fvck

I'd say go PDS for variety and good trails. Saalbach for good views and long trails, Leogang if you want park trails with brake bumps the size of small children, Schladming for the best DH track ever. Though overall Leogang is not far away and if time is of essence Saalbach + Leo is not a horrible choice.

 

[Flo33]

Steep as Fvck

I'd say go PDS for variety and good trails. Saalbach for good views and long trails, Leogang if you want park trails with brake bumps the size of small children, Schladming for the best DH track ever. Though overall Leogang is not far away and if time is of essence Saalbach + Leo is not a horrible choice.

Hey norbar, look at post #11

 

[Sandro]

Just because FlipSide wouldn't listen doesn't mean we have to stop and this thread could be a good resource going forward. I'm glad he had a good time and i also enjoyed X-Trail the last time I was in Saalbach, so i don't want to give the impression of constantly shitting on Leogang - the park is very well run and the incredibly friendly trail crew does their best to keep everything maintained and fight the braking bumps, I'm just not really into the type of trails that are predominantly on offer there.

The Europe forum sees less action than I do, so these recommendations by @C.Alshus probably weren't seen by many:

Morzine is still a nice place, but the trails in Super Morzine have been closed for a few years now. The Classic trails of Les Lindarets, Les Gets are still the same. Chatel is much larger than in 2010. Morgins as well. But its much more bombed than it used to be.

I would rent a car at the airport and drive to Samoëns (the valley next to Les Gets. ) Steep hills. Excellent DH. Lookes like Morzine did ten years ago.

Aosta/Pila in Italy. Park your car in Aosta and take the gondola to Pila. There is a bike park in Pila and an amazing trail all the way down to Aosta. 1200 meters vertical. Stay in Aosta. Its a mid size town. Great restaurants and gelato.

La Thuile. Great if you have an enduro-bike. Not so good on a DH bike. Steep.

Bourg Saint Maurice/ Les Arcs. Just over the mountain from La Thiule. Works both on DH and endurobike. Park your car in Bourg St Maurice and take the train (800m vertical) to the top. Bike Park on the top. Its a bit wide spread, but offers good riding. The trail down to Bourg ST M. is so good. Lift pass is cheap. https://en.lesarcs.com/bikepark.html

Finale Ligure. Excellent riding. You need a guide and a shuttle to ride here. Around €50 per day. Do one or tho days. Its worth it. Great on a enduro-bike. I did it on a DH bike. It works, but normally its not steep enough and you need to pedal a lot.

This is a start. There are better places to ride than in Portes Du Soleil, imho.

I dig the type of stuff he recommends here and I'd welcome more suggestions like these.

On the park side, if anyone is ever in the Alsace region, Lac Blanc doesn't have a lot of elevation, but it's a fun and reasonably priced park even if you don't have downhill bike with you.
Has anyone here ridden Klinovec yet?

 

[FlipSide]

Just because FlipSide wouldn't listen doesn't mean we have to stop and this thread could be a good resource going forward. I'm glad he had a good time and i also enjoyed X-Trail the last time I was in Saalbach, so i don't want to give the impression of constantly shitting on Leogang - the park is very well run and the incredibly friendly trail crew does their best to keep everything maintained and fight the braking bumps, I'm just not really into the type of trails that are predominantly on offer there.

It's not that I didn't listen...I just didn't get to make the final call on the destination and there were other things to consider.

I agree this thread should live. It's a bit strange how difficult it can be to find good information on European riding destinations.

 

[norbar]

Hey norbar, look at post #11

That what you get when you're overworked and overstressed. I'd miss a bus even if it hit me in the face

 

[ebarker9]

Rode the Nordkette in Innsbruck a few years back. Perfect if you're into horrendously steep switchbacks. As it turned out, I was not.