Best Alps MTB: La Clusaz Loam
La Clusaz in France has some of the best official mountain biking in the Alps.
There isn’t heaps and heaps of stuff like this, but there are two or three fully ridiculous enduro trails handcut into the hillside. They feature loam, turns, loam and turns and lots of flow.
As mentioned, there aren’t hundreds of trails (and the Beauregard mainline track is in a right old state), but the handcut singletrack off Crêt du Merle chairlift is unreal.
Catch two lifts to the top, push or pedal uphill for a few mins, bomb down a fire road and then drop into nonstop flow and loam all the way back to town.
This run is Les Encarnes into the new blue section linking to Bois du Plan. Early season it is ridiculously good. It gets a bit dusty mid-summer but is always a lot of fun. Full-day and four-hour lift passes available.
Open weekends from mid-June and every day from late in June until early September. Well worth a day or two of riding.
There’s a great free spot to park up and camp at Les Confins or a decent campsite in nearby Grand Bornand. Pizza Minute or Pizz’Avalanche for quality grub.
Tangent: We rode La Clusaz in April two years ago when there was no snow but the lifts were still turning and open to bikes.
Pivot Factory Racing’s Morgane Charre following on camera and commentary duties.
James is riding a Santa Cruz Nomad. Morgane is on a Pivot we aren’t allowed to talk about or show you.
Where do you recommend us riding in the Alps?
