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> cancelled a planned guided ride in Verbier the following day.
Ho Hum Hubs...
The
following day the weather was pretty bad so we ended up getting the
last lift at 4PM to do some more exploring. We bumped into Steve who
was travelling around Europe for six weeks taking in various MTB
resorts. He was running a hard tail with a Rohloff Hub, a similar
configuration to Matt. Steve decided to join and ride with us for a few
days, unfortunately Steve and Matt were to bore us to death with their
discussions on the merits of Rohloff for the rest of the week!
During
this time we started exploring any signed trails on the side of the
mountain. Most of these I guess were really for walkers, but no-one
could tell us whether we really shouldn’t use these trails. There
was an excellent mix of technical, rocky, and flowing trails and green
Alpine meadows. We spent the rest of the week exploring them, working
out how they linked up, and also revisiting the Col De Cou route to
Barme with our new friend Steve.
Who needs chains?
When
the weekend came the chairlift from Les Crosets to the top of the red
DH track opened. And so we were able to try this route a number of
times. It’s a great trail but very short. It was fun to use the
chairlifts and just keep going up and back down on the same trail.
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The last day came all too quickly and we kept riding until the last lift.
Conclusions
A 9 hour drive back to Cherbourg gave us plenty of time to reflect on the trip…
Champery in early season is great. You just have to explore more. The
fact that Steve decided to extend his stay in Champery by 3 days to
ride with us backs up this statement.
6 days of riding mainly natural trails had improved all of our riding skills immensely.
Worries about DH Tyres, Full Face helmets, and knee and arm protection
being OTT were unfounded. Everybody wears this gear out there and after
seeing the results of Mark’s crash well recommended.
Would I go again? Yes. Would I go again at the same time of year? Yes,
but I would also like to go a few weeks later in the season to explore
all the links and routes when the ski lifts and links are open…
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