DHing in France

[sich nich]

Bonjour! I am planning to go to France in May/June 2009 with my family for a gathering of some sort. For some of the time we are staying near a town called Cotignac, sort of in the middle southern bit of France, but we will travel around Europe abit as well. Its my first time overseas, and its Europe for 4 -5 weeks, so naturally, the downhill bike comes along.

Of the places I have researched, ie world cup venues, all the lifts open to riders a week or two late for the time i'll be there. Crying shame to say the least. I'd really like to do some kind of racing over there if I could, perhaps club or even a national race hopefully. Itll be too early for the Mega, plus i wouldnt reckon i'd be upto it.

Can anyone make any suggestions of clubs, people they know, race series, trails in the area, DH tours, anything really? Am looking, just thought Id ask too.

I will be quizzing you Nicho and Daver...

Cheers guys.

[Incontinent]

Nich,

Nicho and Daver are over there at the moment so they know what's happening. Send him an email.
Thought the Mega Avalanche was last week but there are a couple of them in different formats.
Bert stayed in France for a while with the juniors and the ended up at Chammonix and were looked after very well by the crew at Le Vert Hotel and the boys at Zero G so naturally we are going to recommend a visit there. If you happen to end up in Chammonix speak to Dax and tell him the Aussie boys recommended them to you. The riding was good but there is no dedicated DH track, shared trials with walkers. (bit like Thredbo in summer). They had originally planned to go to Les Gets and Morzine but lifts weren't open as it was too early in the season.
As for the racing, IXS series races are all over the place, or French Cup races could be happening as well. You can check out all race dates on the web. Hope some of them line up with your time over there.

url for Le Vert Hotel
http://www.leverthotel.com

[Odissius]

I spent a couple of months living in a town called Chatel which is part of the Ports Du Solei of which both Morzine and Les Gets belong. Some amazing riding in the area as not only do you have the french resorts but the swiss as well including Champery and Morgins.

Unfortunately I don't think the area opens up till the end of june, though it is worth checking when your there as they may decide to open for the weekends prior.

Champery opens earlier as it has the telecabine running nearly year round. When I left it seemed as though the WC track had an uncertain future but there are numerous other tracks, though they can be a little hard to find. The guys at the bike shop underneath the telecabine will show you around.
Hope this helps.

[ride979]

Les Arcs (Above Borg St Maurice) is pretty good. It's not as busy as places like Les Gets or Morzine. Plenty of good trails. But, like Odissius mentioned, not sure when the areas open, depends a little on whether the snow melts I suppose. Verbier also comes highly recommended by some friends but I haven't been personally.

[Karnige182]

Its a spam Invasion! far out!