About Us

What makes trailAddiction special is, quite simply, a deep-rooted passion for mountain biking. By sharing this passion with all our guests, many find a whole new dimension to the sport they already love so much. A large majority of our guests return to stay with us in following years, and of course, we are always delighted to see them again.

Unlike nearly all other alpine operators, we are not a winter ski chalet looking to expand into the summer market. Neither are we a general alpine summer tour operator. In fact, we don't operate in the winter at all, and we have no affiliation to any winter activities. Nor do we organise other sporting activities in the summer. In this way, our focus is 100% mountain biking. In the off-season, we are busy trail-finding and preparing for the following summer. You won't find a group more dedicated to the cause than we are. We are confident the riding we offer really is top-class and truly unique in the world of mountain biking holidays.

From humble beginnings in 2002 when Alistair and Ash (two Sheffield University friends who spent more time dreaming of riding epic trails than doing any amount of studying) trailAddiciton now has a dedicated team of 12 very experienced, enthusiastic staff who love mountain biking and the alpine environment as much as you do! We are small enough to know each customer by name, yet are well-established enough to provide exceptional quality and reliability of service with a large range of ability-streamed groups for you to choose to ride in, all at outstanding value-for money. Each of our guides is minimum M.I.A.S. LEVEL 3A qualified (the ONLY level of award that does not exclude high-Alpine guiding). Perhaps more importantly, each of our guides has undergone one full summer season's intensive trailAddiction training before being awarded the responsibility of leading groups for the first time, in the following season. Only in this way can we ensure the quality of the riding experience we offer, which we pride ourselves as being best-in-industry. We look forward to sharing with you a magnificent mountain biking adventure, very soon.

Our Guides

Ash's unusual infatuation with 1:25000 maps generally comes in handy in his role as trailAddiction chief trailfinder (he always knew it would come in useful some day!). If the trail exists, you can guarantee Ash has ridden it. And if it doesn't exist, more often than not, he'll cut a path through the undergrowth and keep going, until it does! Many years of Alpine riding experience, including expeditions such as riding the entire length of the GR5 from Lake Geneva to Nice (550 Km) mean he can certainly handle a bike on the most technical of routes. If all this wasn't enough, in 2008 Ash took his passion for epic singletrack to another level by creating the now "worldwide benchmark" 7-day event that is Trans-Provence. Despite all this, at the end of a hard day on the trails, mention the word "pub" and you'll never be short of a drinking mate with Ash around. Show him a guitar and you may also get an impromptu sing-along thrown in as a suprpise bonus!
Rides: Ragley Blue Pig-X, Nukeproof Mega

An uncanny ability to destroy a shiny new bike in a matter of weeks hasn't yet dissuaded Alistair from continuing on his quest to ride as many Alpine miles as possible in one lifetime. If you have an energy to keep going for days on end, then our resident Geordie is your man. He's equally happy sessioning the most hardcore of descents or the most lung-busting xc-epics. Just don't let him carry your packed lunch for you - his human dustbin tendencies might have him scoff the lot before you even get a look-in!
Rides: Ragley Blue Pig-X, Nukeproof Mega, Sunn Radical

We first met Ben as one of our guests way back in 2002. Returning every season since then, Ben's enthusiasm and sheer natural ability to both ride a bike well and lead a group superbly meant we simply had to get him on the team. You may think you're keeping up with Ben, but trust us with nine alpine seasons under his belt and an intimate knowledge of each trail, if he wants to lose you, he will! Despite this, Ben is happy to divulge some of the secrets to his speed and will happily pass on advice that will help even the most experienced of riders. As well as our most senior and experienced guide in Les Arcs, Ben's a keen mountaineer and has peaked some of Eurpoe's toughest climbs such as the Eiger and the Matterhorn. Ben now manages the show for us and takes most of our bookings in the off season, and is Based in Les Arcs year-round. If you need some info or advice about riding in the Alps, drop him an email at the trailAddiction address!
Rides: Nukeproof Mega

Rich hails from Yorkshire and all those wet weekends up there obviously count for something because no-one can touch this guy when its raining! With an uncanny ability to float over wet slippy roots and rocks without any drama everyone can learn something watching this stylish northerner ride! He will arrive in the morning with a green bike, green shoes, green shorts, green boxers... but unforunately we ruin it by forcing him to wear a red trailAddiction guiding jersey!
Rides: Nukeproof Mega, Orange Patriot

With his relaxed attitude and quick as you like humour Pat is our much loved Irish guide. Pat's ever-smiling wife Lesley, is also a permanent trailAddiction guide, both having been with us full-time since 2005 (and part-time since year one!). Being year-round locals, both know the area extremely well and have many years of ski instructing experience. Their background in ski instruction means that they have infinite patience and with a few hints from these guys and you'll be surprised at how much your riding comes on! However, don't be fooled by the relaxed attitudes, they can both ride the most technical of trails with ease.
Both Ride: Ragley Blue Pig-X

We first met Matt in 2009 as a Les Arcs seasonnaire and friend of some of the locals we know in the village. It quickly became apparent that Matt was a "proper shredder" (to quote Rich) and did a good job in scaring the pants out of Ben and Ali when picking crazily steep and techy lines down some of the secret "locals lines" above Bourg St Maurice. Sometimes quietly spoken and with a heart of Gold, Matt's outward personality seems at odds with his presence on a bike. It was a foregone conclusion that we had to get him on our team, so after completing the obligatory trailAddiction training period and gaining his formal guiding qualifications, Matt has been a permanent member of the guiding team since summer 2010.

Nathalie first worked for trailAddiction in 2009 having been on holiday twice before that as a paying guest. Half-German and half-Irish makes for an interesting accent! Nat is a qualified teacher working in Dublin, although she is currently taking a break from teaching to focus on guiding and generally enjoying the mountain life year-round.

With a long and varied background in XC racing, Chris first joined our team in 2011 and instantly amazed everyone with his endless energy and seemingly photographic memory for trail learning. Chris's uber-keen enthusiasm to stiff out new trails and new riding formats in even further afield placed, led to final realisation of several long-time dreams of Ali and Ash - multi-day hut trips and guided riding sprawling truly epic distances - Courcheval / Meribel, Chambery, and Les Arcs-to-Beaufort itineraries were developed with Chris's help, and incredibly all in his first season with us! Chris is currently doing back-to-back MTB guiding seasons between Queenstown, New Zealand, and Les Arcs, France. Not a bad way to pass the time, really. Don't be misled by Chris's XC whippet appearance though, he's as technically capable on the downs as anyone else here, but with the frustrating added trait of grinning all the way up the fire roads.
Rides: Nukeproof Mega, Santa Cruz

One of Two Guides-in-Training (GIT) for 2011, Drew first came out to trailAddiction as part of our first ever organised School trip with Peebles High School.. Drew is a keen DH racer and had finished on the podium (youth category) many a time at major UK regional events. To summarise, even our best and most experience guides cannot stick with him when he puts his race-head on. (Imagine "The Stig" from BBC's "Top Gear", in MTB clothing. Now studying full time in Mountain Bike Management at College (yes, you can do that these days!) Drew spends his summer vacations out working and guiding for the trailAddiction team in Les Arcs.

Our other GIT for 2011, Emily will be back in 2012 for her first full season as a guide. Emily is a seasoned Donwhill racer and regularly finishes podium in the Pearce Series (UK Midlands). She sure can teach the boys a thing or two about how to ride a bike, although Ben would NEVER admit it.....

NEW STAFF FOR 2012:
Tim has owned and run Vertigo Bikes & Guiding outfit in Queenstown, NZ for the past ten years, but is looking to spend more time in Europe and plans to follow Chris's lead with back-to-back seasons between NZ and Les Arcs. We're excited to welcome Tim to the team. Will he ever accept that the riding in Les Arcs is better than his spiritual home of Queenstown? Watch this space....