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Frequently Asked Questions
The Riding
What's the riding really like?
What standard is the riding?
Is Body Armour and a Full-Face Helmet really necessary?
Are there any ski lifts to take us to the top of the trails?
Are the trails marked out or graded?
Are the runs maintained?
Travel / Location
What's the nightlife like?
Which airport should I fly to?
What time are the airport pickups?
Can I arrive on any day other than a Saturday?
Driving Directions from the UK
How close are you to the nearest ski lift?
Kit & Prep
What sort of insurance cover will I need?
Can I hire a bike or should I bring my own?
Holiday Structure
How do I book-in for a Backcountry trip?
Do you offer long weekend packages?
Accommodation
How do you arrange room allocations?
Can I reserve a room to myself?
Booking and Payments
How do I make an enquiry / booking?
How can I make payment?
What's the riding really like?
In short: mind-blowing. The Les Arcs - La Plagne area literally redefines the term "flowing singletrack". Think the best dowhill sections at Coed y Brenin, Afan, Innerleithen, Glentress...add a bit of technicality and some great views, and multiply by 10 to get an idea of the scale. The only reason we set up in Les Arcs after 8 years of biking all over the Alps is that we couldn't find better trails and more varied terrain anywhere!
Don't just take our word for it - see what our past guests have to say!
What standard is the riding?
The trails vary from fairly challenging to extremely challenging and technical. We recommend that complete beginners do not book for a normal week's riding. However, we do run one special beginners' week per season (subject to demand) and riders of all ability are welcomed, as a great way to find out what real mountain biking is all about. Anyone of intermediate level and above, looking for a different kind of rush, will find what they're looking for in Les Arcs. If your a regular at any of the UK trail centres (Afan, 7Stanes, Glentress, Coed y Brenin, Llandegla, etc.) and ride the red/black xc-routes, the riding will be right up your street. However, experts/racers and harcorde downhillers can rest assured that we have something to challenge anyone of any standard, although the trailAddiction philosophy is not to thrill by scaring people, but by the sheer quality, length, and smooth, fast, flowing nature of the trails we take you down. Remember, we'll only put you with riders of a the same standard as yourself, no matter what that may be. (see The Guiding)
Is Body Armour and a Full-Face Helmet really necessary?
In our opinion, a chin-guard and arm / leg pads are worth wearing if you have them. The philosiphy is simple - if you fall off (and lets face it, you just never know when that might happen no matter how easy the trail) its going to hurt less if you are padded-up! Since we use the lifts to do most of the hard work for us, then its no real pain to wear/carry the armour, and it does help with confidence levels too. That way you can more freely enjoy the trails, with less worry about how much the gravel rash would sting if the worse was to happen! To put it in perspective, on xc-bias days we generally dump the full-face in favour of a half-lid, and leave the pads at home. The descents may be the same difficulty as before - but we ride them more slowly and more cautiously without the extra protection of the armour. If you dont want to invest (understandably), we can rent you a set for a few euros, just ask us at the start of your week in the resort. In summary, don't be put off by our photos if body armour is not your style - many of our guests are body armour first-timers too!
Are the trails marked out or graded?
Les Arcs boasts an extensive mountain biking "domain" comprising of over 100km of difficulty-graded and well signposted trails (see link to map below). However, this marked-out domain covers only a small portion of the singletrack terrain that the area has to offer... that's where our guides come in handy: marked or unmarked, the guides know the mountain inside out, simply because they've spent so much time scouring the 1:25000 maps and testing each and every trail. We like to think that we specialise in the unmarked stuff, but at the end of the day our riding is flexible, meaning that ultimately YOU get to decide on what and where you will ride on any particular day. Thanks to the hosts' knowledge, they have enough terrain in their repertoire to tailor the standard to each and every group, from near beginners to hardcore downhill racers.
View the Les Arcs graded MTB piste map here:
http://www.lesarcs.com/IMG/pdf/vtt07_web.pdf
Are there any ski lifts to take us to the top of the trails?
Except during Backcountry special weeks, YES. We make good use of the Les Arcs area's lifts (funicular railway, chairlifts and a cablecar) as a quick and hassle-free way of getting from the valley floor to the tops of the trails, often almost two vertical kilometres above. A full Paradiski lift pass costs the equivalent of £49/week which we think is outstanding value.
For the really "out there" backcountry trails, we use minibus or 4×4 access to reach tops of the trails. Having said all this, one of our hosts will always be happy to accompany an all-out cross-country ride, should people decide on a particular day NOT to use any of the above tools to overcome gravity!
How close are you to the nearest lift?
We have two chalets, both in the village of Peisey-Nancroix directly central to the Paradiski lift system (more central than Les Arcs itself). Chalet Edelweiss is about 100m from the lift(!) The Goat Shed being about 600m away i.e. less than 5 minutes' pedal. However, both the chalets are situated 500 vertical metres above the valley floor and therefore you can ride-in ride-out of both chalets with numerous trailheads starting literally on our very doorsteps - all leading downhill to alternative lifts.
Are the runs maintained?
The marked runs in the official Les Arcs mountain biking domain, yes. The unmarked and backcountry stuff, no. The fact is that these natural trails don't need to be maintained. They don't see many bikers and therefore don't get badly rutted or covered with the infamous braking bumps which are increasingly common on courses in more commercialised or overcrowded biking areas.
Can I hire a bike or should I bring my own?
trailAddiction does not have bikes for hire and we highly recommend that you bring your own. Due to the majority of our past guests who have opted to hire a bike ending up very disappointed with the standard of the products and technical support in Les Arcs' rental shops, we also no longer organise or coordinate the hiring of bikes. Please bring your own if at all possible - we find that riders almost always have a better time on their own bike since they are used to how it performs and how it is set up. In emergencies, (e.g. broken bike!) we can arrange good bike hires for 60-80 euros per day.
What's the nightlife like?
Nightlife-wise, the Peisey sector of Les Arcs is not what you would class as "crazy" but it's definitely a considerable step-up from places like Landry and the more outlying villages of the area. The Trois-Stations underground bar opened its doors in Summer for the first time in 2006, and it got quite hectic/lively at times (gaining in popularity thoughout the summer). There is also a more chilled-out terrace-style outdoor bar at your disposal for the well-deserved beer after biking, as well as another small indoor locals bar. For proper nights out, we run transport to and from the popular seasonaires' bar "Mont-Blanc" in nearby Vallandry for a very reasonable fee (payable locally to whoever is driving on the given night), and also to the bars and nightclubs of Arc1800 which tends to be the often blurry scene of end-of-week send-offs!
Which airport should I fly to?
Geneva is the obvious choice as it is the closest airport which currently has a regular summer EasyJet service from a number of airports around the UK. Our airport transfer service runs to and from Geneva (within set times - see below) and costs £20 per person, each way. As for bringing bikes on planes, many airlines do not charge provided you are within the baggage limit. Make sure you pack your pride and joy with care, preferably well-braced and in a hard case.
What time are the airport pick-ups?
For week-long holidays, we pick up using several minibusses each carrying a maximum of 8 passengers, and we arrange times to best suit all our customer's schedules. In general, we make several pick-ups between 12:00 and 15:30 on Saturdays only. We can't pickup for flights any later than this unless specially arranged, and for an additional surcharge. At the very least, this would mean late arrival at the chalet - too late to properly enjoy your first meal, unpack, build bikes and get a decent rest before the first day on the trails! Of course, we will help where we can so please do contact us if you are really stuck. For your return journey, we drop off at the airport from 10:30 at the earliest (i.e. earliest flight departure of 12:00). If you require an earlier / later transfer we can normally arrange a commercial taxi minibus transfer however this will cost an extra £15 per head per journey, and could mean getting out of bed at a very early hour!
Can I arrive on any day other than a Saturday?
If you are driving over or making your own way to the region, then this can normally be accommodated subject to availability. However special airport transfers, especially for smaller groups, will incur a large surcharge due to the high costs involved. If in doubt, please ask us first before booking any flights!
Driving Directions from the UK
We are 9 hour drive from Calais and most other channel ferry ports in France, and it is a fairly straightforward drive. Directions can be printed out from mappy.com or you can download our easy version in pdf format. Driving over can be easier, cheaper and faster (door-to-door) than flying, especially if you are car-sharing. Plus, there is the added flexibility of having your own transport in-resort, should you need to make a trip to the bike shop or simply go exploring. PLEASE DO NOT PLAN TO ARRIVE EARLIER THAN 13:00 on your arrival Saturday - we need time to see out the previous week's guests, and prepare your room. On the other hand, please plan to arrive not too late - it is difficult for us to guarantee you a meal with table service if you arrive after about 20:30.
What sort of insurance cover will I need?
First of all, make sure you have an up to date E111 card as this will cover you for almost any hospital treatment you may need. Secondly you will need to take out specific insurance for a mountain biking holiday. The key thing to check in any policy is that they cover you for accident / emergency recovery. If the worst happens and a helicopter is required the bill could be well over £10,000. We often ride on paths and trails in the "backcountry", i.e. away from the marked, dedicated mountain bike trails (kind of like "off-piste" skiing). Although these are all marked as "paths" - and in France, you ARE allowed to ride on them - check you are covered for this. We require all riders to be insured when riding with a host, for the sake of your own safety. We recommend SportsCover Direct's VentureGuard.
How do I book-in for a Backcountry trip?
Excepting HEIDI (which is available throughout the summer), Backcountry trips are unique to our Backcountry Special weeks, and 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 on each route, simply because it would be irresponsible for us to do anything else. Some trails are remote, fairly physically demanding, and with few bail-out options...therefore higher risk.
Do you offer long-weekend packages?
Yes, we do now offer long weekend packages to Les Arcs, which include everything you can expect from a week-long package, just a bit shorter! A minimum group size of 4 people applies, although you may be able to join another group if you wish to travel alone - please ask us.
How to you arrange room allocations?
All of our rooms are either twin or triple rooms, with ensuites. We allocate roomings based on group composition, any indicated preference at the time of booking, and to best accommodate every guest on a given week. In some situations we may need to split your group to suit the roomings available. For example: if a group of 4 makes a booking, but we only have one twin and one triple room available (i.e. 5 spaces), we would split the group into two groups of two guests. However we cannot guarantee the remaining bed would be left vacant unless an additional "under-occupancy" surcharge is paid at the time of booking (i.e. it MAY be filled with a customer travelling alone, for example). This allocation arrangement is applied in rare cases, and in reasonable circumstances only, i.e. we would never force mixed-sex room sharing, and couples are always guaranteed a private room to themselves!
Can I reserve a room to myself?
Yes. We have limited availability on one small double room that can be reserved for sole occupancy for a surcharge of only £50. Alternatively, a full-size twin room with ensuite can be reserved for sole occupancy, for a surcharge of £149.
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