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So you’re
going to the Alps eh?
If it’s your first trip here’s a few things you should consider
before going.
check out our photos to whet your appetite
Aside from the obvious
kit list there a few
extras that you should consider. They aren’t vital but they
will come in handy in making your trip all that more enjoyable. And
don't forget that insurance.
No, I’m not a seasoned downhiller but I have been to the Alps
3 times for a week each time. Two weeks were spent in the downhill
Nirvana that is the Morzine/Les Gets/Portes du Soleil area
and one week in the more singletrack biased Les Arcs.
You cram
a hell of a lot of riding into a week and those little niggles that
you normally ignore on a day out in the hills at home will become
major pains after a week whether they are on you or your bike
You will always come across some bloke usually on the internet who
says that he did it all back in the day on a fully rigid bike with
a cloth covered bell lid on. Ignore him, he probably hated it and
was half-crippled after a week’s riding. You will be able to
go much farther and faster and in more comfort if you follow these
simple tips
Get your bike serviced before you go. A week’s riding in the
Alps is not only hard on your body but it is really hard on your bike.
Preferably you can undertake the service yourself to save money but
if not visit your LBS. But please give it a decent test run before
getting on the plane to make sure everything is working as expected.
Are you
going guided or self guiding? If you have someone who has been out
there before and can string a decent route together back in UK then
that is probably sufficient but to get the best out of the trails
then use guides.
In 2010 we are making a return visit to TrailAddiction.
They provide a guide and also provide a free onsite bike-monkey for
any technical issues. It's well woprth considering the benefits of
guide and mechanic if you aren't too cost constrained.
-
Helmet (full face preferably; see below) and goggles
-
Gloves
-
Shorts
-
Socks
-
Flat shoes
-
Flat pedals. DMR V8 or V12's are cheap but extremely reliable and many riders use them. Flat pedals are much easier to use when the going gets rough. Simply step off and back onto the pedals without having to worry about clipping in half way down a gnarly trail
-
Body armour; at a minimum knee/shin and elbow/forearm pads/protectors. I use Roach (now Race Face) pads and these have been fine for me for 3 years but if you are going large then chest/spine protectors are recommended
-
Downhill inner tubes for those of you who aren’t already tubeless. Plus take one anyway even if you are tubeless in case of emergencies
-
The largest volume double ply tyres you can get into your frame. 2.35 minimum or 2.5 if you have the clearance. Maxxis High Roller in the back and Maxxis Minion up front are the preferred weapons of choice. A million downhillers can’t be wrong! The only choice you have to make is whether to go for Super tacky or the various other grades. It's a trade off between grip and rollability…
-
Don't think you need all this gear? Check out the photos from our Les Arcs trip to see what riders are wearing. Even the Trailaddiction staff are armoured up although they do wear open face XC lids
-
Spare rear mech and cable hopefully you wont need it but take one just in case
-
Spare brake pads. Yes you can usually get them out in the Alps but you are a hostage to whatever price the shop wants to charge you
- Spare rear mech hanger: these regularly brake and again although you can buy them when you are out there chances are your new-fangled, all carbon 6 inch all mountain frame will have a mech hanger that's really, really hard to find
-
Power links for fixing any chain problems
- Seat post bolt(s) These rarely break but it's always useful to have one with you whether home or away. Sam broke his on the Big Hit in Les Arcs 2007
-
Full face helmet. I rode the first visit back in 2005 with a normal XC open face lid and took the same for the second trip but after a mate had a big off including a nasty faceplant we dropped into the bike shop in Les Gets at lunchtime and 3 of us invested in full facers. There's nothing like a near miss to convince you of the need for protection.
-
Sawn-off seat post. A lot of you ride with long posts showing in the UK but you will want to drop it down far more in the Alps for those long, technical descents. If you have an interrupted seat tube as per many of Specialized models you won’t be able to get the post low enough. I used an old post that had bent and sawed it off above the bend to a length that allows the saddle to sit pretty much on top of the seat tubemuch just sits on
-
Tape for binding your fingers. You will do more braking in one week than probably six months riding back home and those fingers will get sore. Bind some tape around the top joints of your fingers to relieve the pressure
-
Spare pairs of gloves and shorts. Chances are that after a few days the pressure points on your body will be sore from constant use. A different set of shorts or gloves offer the chance to relieve or at least move those pressure points
-
Full suspension bike. Yes, yes, I know but see previous comment re riding hardtail or rigid. What's the point?
-
Sun cream. You will spend much of the day with your lid off sitting on the chair lift heading to the top of the next run. Don’t forget you are at altitude and more susceptible to the sun
-
Two-way radios. I’ve never had an issue with phone signals in the alps but two way radios are great fun for chatting to your mates as you float up the side of the mountain on the chair lifts. Leave them on permanent receive and they are also good for warning of crashes/trail blockages further down the trails. you can pick them up for about £20 a pair now. Well worth it.
- A simple tool kit. A selection of proper allen keys in case of emergency repairs required in the evening plus chain whip, spare spokes, borrom bracket tool, cassette cracker etc.
- A decent camera to record all that stunning scenery and a decent sized memory card e.g. 2gb to 4gb should be sufficient unless you are shooting video too in which case you probably want an 8gb card depending on your camera) plus plenty of preferably re-chargeable batteries plus charger
- A small
container with washing powder in. No doubt your chalet will have
a washing machine there to wash your smelly gear (it’s summer in
France: it will be hot and you will be wearing lots of kit if you are
all armoured up, it helps if you have some washing powder)
You really don't want to be stuck in the middle of nowhere with a serious injury. A broken collarbone is gonna make it a bitch to get back to the chalet from the wrong side of the mountain and those helicopters are expensive things if you dont have insurance (circa £2,500) plus medical bills on top.
I cannot recommend highly enough having the right level of insurance. Snowcard are the most often recommended insurers and make sure you have the right level of cover: you need to go one up from 'standard XC'. It will cost you about £25 for a weeks cover.
But the best advice
is to TAKE IT EASY for the first few days whilst you get used to the
speed, steepness and difficulty of the trails. A week is a lot of
riding and you don’t want to break yourself on the first day
(as happened to a bloke we met on his first visit to Morzine).
If you are unsure whether you should try that jump/drop or take the
gnarlier line leave it until later on in the week. Chances are you
will be going by that way dozens of times over the next week (that’s
the great advantage of list assisted riding)
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