Mountain Biking MTB Holidays, Mountain Bike Holidays & Training in Les Arcs, Bourg St Maurice, La Plagne Singletrack French Alps

Epic Downhill DH Crosscountry XC Mountain Biking Holidays in Les Arcs in the heart of the French Alps

trailAddiction Backcountry - la crème de la crème

In 2005 we added a further dimension to our holidays, giving clients access to terrain outside of the lift-linked Les Arcs area, since some of it is just too good to be missed. As there's no easy access, the trails in these outlying zones are truly unspoilt and almost always deserted. They also happen to be extremely nice to ride! You can sign-up for these trips during your stay (see bottom of this page).

To help get a full dose of this "crème de la crème" singletrack we use minibus uplifts to take us and our bikes to the top of most, if not all of the climbs. The result is an experience exclusive to trailAddiction which has proved to be an absolute favourite with our guests

We currently offer the following two types of backcountry daytrips as part of our holidays:

The Classic Five

The original trailAddiction backcountry day contains a selection of five of Ash and Ali's favourite secret trails. With the help of a minibus and trailer, each trail takes in over 1000 vertical metres* of the Tarentaise Valley forests' finest sweeping singletrack, with a pastural afternoon coffee & ice cream break to boot!

*yes, that's 5 x 1000 = 5000m = more than the height of Mont Blanc just on singletrack in ONE day!

H.E.I.D.I.

Brand new for 2006, the High Exposure Isère Descent Itinerary is a 60km long, all off-road, 80% singletrack route descending from the Col de l'Iseran at 2764m (Europe's highest road pass, situated above Val d'Isère) right down to the Isère Valley basin at 850m.

We do use a minibus for most of the ups, but the 3700 vertical metres of descent enjoyed on this excursion must be partially earned by a total of 900 metres of unassisted ascent.

But don't let these relatively measly (!) figures put you off. HEIDI is a real high-mountain route in proper backcountry surroundings. With the Vanoise national park's most prominent peaks and glaciers just across the valley from the main section of the trail, you just don't get any more "alpine" than this!

Along the way we pass through a world of trail variety containing scenery to take your breath away and ancient Savoyard villages such as the protected site of Le Monal.

*Backcountry trips are organised subject to customer demand, weather conditions, and most importantly, rider ability/experience. We need to ride with you first before we can guarantee you a place, simply because it would be irresponsible for us to do anything else. These trails are remote, fairly physically demanding, and with few bail-out options...therefore higher risk. You can sign up at your chalet after your first day of riding with us. Backcountry days are subject to a small additional charge to cover transport costs.