Alpine Break

Another great ride. We used a shuttle to cut down a bit on the climbing making this more of a freeride descent. Though there was still 800m of climbing by the end of the ride. Initially the track heads up some forestry roads out of Ponteil up towards the Cabane de Tramouillon at 1963m where it is possible to park a few cars. Directly to the west is the impressive overhanging cliff of Le Peyron and to the north west, in the direction we are heading are the amazing burnt orange cliffs on the Crete de Gaulent, and a steep hill. Read the rest of this entry »

The lifts opened at Vars yesterday so I headed up to see what they had on offer. There is just the one downhill track that is closed to pedestrians. All the rest of the trails are more freeride and are open to walkers, though I didn’t see many. Read the rest of this entry »

This ride goes through some amazing scenery right in the heart of the Queyras with stunning views. The ride starts out, like so many around here, with a bit of a climb, 800m up to the Sommet Bucher at 2254m. The Bucher sits right in the centre of the Queyras and from it you can see the full extent of the park in all directions. To the east is the valley leading up to the Col Agnel, the highest international pass in the Alps, and behind the col Monte Viso can be seen still with snow on its jagged peaks. Further south is St-Veran the highest habitation in Europe. To the north you can see the col d’Izoard a favourite pass for the Tour de France. Read the rest of this entry »

This is a great easy ride out of the ski resort of Risoul at 1850m. The path is all 4×4 and not at all technical as there is only just over 300m of climbing in the whole 9k ride. After an initial climb out of the ski resort up to around 2000m the track then levels out and contours around the hillside through the Foret de Risoul. Read the rest of this entry »