The fun just carries on! As of last year, the ski areas of Tignes and Val d'Isère are now linked in the summer too making up the new Tignes Val d’Isère Bike Park! This summer, from the 29th of June to the 1st of September, these 2 world-famous ski resorts invite you to discover their infamous slopes on your mountain bike! The ski lifts are free, in both Tignes and Val d'Isère (with no strings attached) and even the 3 bike washing stations are free!!! With Val d’Isère’s Bike Park, hosting the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, quality of facilities is certainly guaranteed.
The Tignes Val d'Isère Bike Park is an excellent, varied mountain biking area where there is something for everyone in terms of difficulty: from areas specially designed for beginners, through many fun blue slopes, to black runs for hardcore experts. There is also a diversity of styles: cross-country mountain bikers, enduro fanatics and downhill thrill seekers will find superb trails to get under their wheels. And for the more adventurous among you: the BIKE AIR BAG and the WATER JUMP are just waiting to get that adrenalin pumping! The Tignes Val d'Isère Bike Park is easily accessed via modern lifts, and offers a wide range of just about everything that can be done with a mountain bike! The Bike Park offers a large majority of blue runs, suitable for both the intermediate and expert rider and can be summed up in two words: fun and accessible! The Tignes Val d'Isère Bike Park can boast to being one of the safest in France with very few accidents. In 2012, over 110,000 free passes were issued in Tignes and Val d'Isère and there were only 25 emergency calls meaning only one accident out of 4,300 people! A pretty safe record!
150 km of slopes, totaling 30 tracks, accessed by 5 ski lifts open 7 days a week from 10am to 5pm – and all for FREE! A mountain biker’s dream! From the Tignes side of the mountain, the Tuffs chairlift in Val Claret and Palafour Lake chairlift are where you need to be and on the Val d'Isère side – (where you’ll find some wilder mountain biking), the Olympique gondola and Solaise and Borsat chairlifts on the Bellevarde massive are the meeting points to start your day… Just like ski slopes, mountain bike trails are classified by color according to the level of difficulty: green, blue, red, black and double black (easiest to most difficult respectively). The 150km of tracks on offer are made up of 2 green, 9 blue, 5 red, 3 black and 1 double black (new for the 2013 summer season) downhill tracks. You can also discover the 7 enduro tracks, 2 cross-country tracks and 2 family trails plus 2 “Bike Lands” for practising skills, tricks and generally having fun. There are also 3 free washing stations and 13 bike patrols. Make sure you have your iron legs with you as the longest downhill trail in the Tignes Val d’Isère Bike Park is "la Val Bleue" in the Bellevarde area – a mere 12km long! Check out this YouTube video.
On the Tignes side, there is a new shuttle service linking Brévières au Lac which goes through the camp site and Les Boisses 1800. This service will be available 6 days a week from the 6th of July to the 30th of August with a bus every half and hour from 9am to 6pm. In the Palafour area there is a new red track "Red Hot" and some of the green tracks have been reworked to make them more fun for mountain bikers. On the Tovière, the new double black track named "Scarefresse" is open - reserved for the extreme mountain biker who doesn’t mind having his heart in his mouth!
If you don’t have your own mountain bike or you fancy trying a new ride, then renting equipment is easy in the many mountain bike hire shops in Val d'Isère and Tignes. You’ll easily find both full suspension and hard tail mountain bikes and generally the equipment is of an excellent standard. The daily rental cost varies in different shops and of course depends on the type of bike you choose but on average you will pay anything between €16 and €80 per day. The huge price difference depends on whether you hire a basic bike without suspension, or a full on free ride descent bike! Up to you to decide… Children’s mountain bikes can be hired for around €15 a day so even your budding little mountain bikers can get involved…
The fun just carries on! As of last year, the ski areas of Tignes and Val d'Isère are now linked in the summer too making up the new Tignes Val d’Isère Bike Park! This summer, from the 29th of June to the 1st of September, these 2 world-famous ski resorts invite you to discover their infamous slopes on your mountain bike! The ski lifts are free, in both Tignes and Val d'Isère (with no strings attached) and even the 3 bike washing stations are free!!! With Val d’Isère’s Bike Park, hosting the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, quality of facilities is certainly guaranteed.
The Tignes Val d'Isère Bike Park is an excellent, varied mountain biking area where there is something for everyone in terms of difficulty: from areas specially designed for beginners, through many fun blue slopes, to black runs for hardcore experts. There is also a diversity of styles: cross-country mountain bikers, enduro fanatics and downhill thrill seekers will find superb trails to get under their wheels. And for the more adventurous among you: the BIKE AIR BAG and the WATER JUMP are just waiting to get that adrenalin pumping! The Tignes Val d'Isère Bike Park is easily accessed via modern lifts, and offers a wide range of just about everything that can be done with a mountain bike! The Bike Park offers a large majority of blue runs, suitable for both the intermediate and expert rider and can be summed up in two words: fun and accessible! The Tignes Val d'Isère Bike Park can boast to being one of the safest in France with very few accidents. In 2012, over 110,000 free passes were issued in Tignes and Val d'Isère and there were only 25 emergency calls meaning only one accident out of 4,300 people! A pretty safe record!
150 km of slopes, totaling 30 tracks, accessed by 5 ski lifts open 7 days a week from 10am to 5pm – and all for FREE! A mountain biker’s dream! From the Tignes side of the mountain, the Tuffs chairlift in Val Claret and Palafour Lake chairlift are where you need to be and on the Val d'Isère side – (where you’ll find some wilder mountain biking), the Olympique gondola and Solaise and Borsat chairlifts on the Bellevarde massive are the meeting points to start your day… Just like ski slopes, mountain bike trails are classified by color according to the level of difficulty: green, blue, red, black and double black (easiest to most difficult respectively). The 150km of tracks on offer are made up of 2 green, 9 blue, 5 red, 3 black and 1 double black (new for the 2013 summer season) downhill tracks. You can also discover the 7 enduro tracks, 2 cross-country tracks and 2 family trails plus 2 “Bike Lands” for practising skills, tricks and generally having fun. There are also 3 free washing stations and 13 bike patrols. Make sure you have your iron legs with you as the longest downhill trail in the Tignes Val d’Isère Bike Park is "la Val Bleue" in the Bellevarde area – a mere 12km long! Check out this YouTube video.
On the Tignes side, there is a new shuttle service linking Brévières au Lac which goes through the camp site and Les Boisses 1800. This service will be available 6 days a week from the 6th of July to the 30th of August with a bus every half and hour from 9am to 6pm. In the Palafour area there is a new red track "Red Hot" and some of the green tracks have been reworked to make them more fun for mountain bikers. On the Tovière, the new double black track named "Scarefresse" is open - reserved for the extreme mountain biker who doesn’t mind having his heart in his mouth!
If you don’t have your own mountain bike or you fancy trying a new ride, then renting equipment is easy in the many mountain bike hire shops in Val d'Isère and Tignes. You’ll easily find both full suspension and hard tail mountain bikes and generally the equipment is of an excellent standard. The daily rental cost varies in different shops and of course depends on the type of bike you choose but on average you will pay anything between €16 and €80 per day. The huge price difference depends on whether you hire a basic bike without suspension, or a full on free ride descent bike! Up to you to decide… Children’s mountain bikes can be hired for around €15 a day so even your budding little mountain bikers can get involved…
Being lucky enough to have parents who were crazy about skiing, my love for the mountains started when I was 4 years old on our first family ski holiday to Austrian ski resort of Obergurl. One ski holiday a year was never enough and tears rolled down my face as I looked out the back window of the car on the drive down the valley on the way home!
