Roadtr to r Conquering the Rhone Valley on two wheels…
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Words & Pics robert rebholz
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Switzerland’s rhone Valley is the undiscovered gem of big mountain freeride with endless backcountry singletrack, amazing bike parks and more vertical than your brakes can handle. rob rebholz and his team load into the big green bus for the roadtrip of a lifetime.
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efore I’d even finished writing the cheque for my new camper van, I knew it was time to plan an epic roadtrip. I’d driven through the Swiss Alps the previous summer and was completely blown away by the endless snow-capped peaks. When I called my good friend and pro freerider Alban Aubert about the best spots to ride in Switzerland, he replied with two words: “Rhone Valley.” What Alban described sounded too good to be true. One valley packed with tons of buff alpine singletrack, gnarly DH race tracks and even top notch North Shore trails. My only thought was, “When can we leave?” I mentioned the roadtrip to a friend in the UK, James Griffin, and he immediately wanted in on it as well. James spent a season guiding in the world famous Portes du Soleil in France and Switzerland, but never had the chance to check out the nearby Rhone Valley. “I’m dying to try out my new Intense SS on some big mountains,” said James, as he squeezed the grips on his cherry-red machine…
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CRANS EURO MONTANA TRIP
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The lads climb the summit of Crans in the beautiful Alpine sunshine
A well earned break and a chance to take in the breathtaking vista
The guys were up for the ascent, but Crans often won out in the steep-stakes
Dover
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BelGium Germany
France
Neuchatel
First stop, Crans Montana
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Crans-Montana Saint Luc Verbier
Switzerland D E F
Rob’s roadtrip
the inest resorts in the rhone Valley A Dover C Neuchatel, Switzerland D Crans-Montana, Switzerland E Saint Luc, Switzerland F Verbier, Switzerland The trip to Crans Montana from the UK is about 10.5 hours in total, so you may want to break it up and
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James and I picked up my van in Dover and hopped on an early ferry to Calais. We made it to Alban’s place in Neuchatel, Switzerland just in time to enjoy a great home cooked pasta dinner. “I hope you guys brought extra sets of brakepads,” said Alban, dishing out the spaghetti. “We’re going to be doing a lot of descending over the next week.”
rest along the way. We stopped in Neuchatel to pick up Alban and then headed straight to the Rhone Valley the following day. Once you’re in the Rhone, all of the resorts are within an hour’s drive of each other. We hit Crans irst, then St Luc and inished up with Verbier.
Our first stop was Crans Montana, which was just an hour from Alban’s place. As we drove on the windy road from the valley floor up the mountain, James and I were in awe of the snow-capped mountains that surrounded us in every direction. “Are we going to be riding on any glaciers?” I asked. Alban looked back at me with a smile, “We’ll see if it can be arranged, if you like.” James and I looked at one another with glee. This was going to be one hell of a week. Sure enough, Crans Montana was every bit as breathtaking as it looked from the valley floor. It had rained the night before we came, so the maintenance crew were out buffing the berms and freshening up lips on the jumps. As we gained our big mountain confidence, the runs down the windy freeride track got faster and faster.
“So what about those glaciers?” said James. We stopped by the tourism bureau and inquired about a ride from the top of the glacier. Normally the gondola is only for hikers, but with a little of his Swiss charm Alban got us the green light. The view from the top was simply amazing. We were above the clouds and the valley floor seemed a million miles away. Rows of massive peaks looked like the teeth of some mighty shark. The ride back down to the bike park was the ultimate freeride adventure. We drifted on corners of shale, blasted blind rock drops and did our best to pick our own lines down the field of scree. “That was the longest line I’ve ever done in one go!” said an ecstatic James. “Just wait until we hit St Luc,” replied Alban.
Second stop, St Luc The next morning we travelled to the other side of the valley to ride St Luc. Alban pointed out our line on the glacier from the day before and it looked even more massive than it felt riding it. “I can’t believe we rode all of that in one shot,” said James. “If you don’t believe that,” said Alban, “then you’re really not going to believe this.” Alban pointed out a
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KINGS OF THE ROAD top tips for roadtrip success and 1Clean mean
Taking the time to keep the van, your bike and yourself clean on the trip will really pay off. It’ll be much more comfortable travelling in a tidy vehicle, your bike will run smoother and your buddies won’t have to wear gasmasks when around you.
2Spare spares
Having plenty of the common stuff (lube, tubes) around will help your wallet, while frame and suspension-specific spares will keep you rolling. Stock up on mech hangers, fork seals and if you’ve got the cash, do yourself a favour and pick up a cheap used rear shock.
3Breathing room Travelling can take you to some amazing places, but don’t come home needing a vacation from your vacation. When drawing up your itinerary, leave yourself plenty of time to stop along the way if you see something cool roadside, or if you just need a break. Don’t forget to schedule in rest days on the trip or fatigue will catch up with you fast.
ROWS OF MASSIVE PEAKS LOOKED LIKE THE TEETH OF SOME MIGHTY SHARK MBK235.euro 193
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THE TRAIL OFFERED TONS OF WICKED STUNTS BUT STILL HAD A GREAT FLOW Admiring the view? Pah! Thin air at 15,000m is no excuse for idleness…
Absolutely awesome – best not try a blind descent at this point…
The views on offer in the Rhone Valley must be seen to be believed
SWISS STOPS ROADTRIP HIGHLIGHTS: THE FINEST RESORTS IN THE RHONE VALLEY ROADTRIP HIGHLIGHTS
ROADTRIP HIGHLIGHTS
ROADTRIP HIGHLIGHTS
Verbier is a racer’s delight. Steep, technical chutes, gnarly off-camber sections and a heavy helping of rooty corners make Verbier’s racetrack one of the most challenging in europe. the Swiss cup track is a four to ive minute track that’s full-on from start to inish. alternatively, for beginners there are plenty of options with tons of buff singletrack, a bit of north Shore and tabletop jumps. at the end of the day, why not enjoy some of Verbier’s terriic nightlife – if you have any energy left! www.verbier.ch
Visit Saint luc for its top shelf north Shore trail and amazing backcountry access. you’d be hard pressed to ind a trail on the north Shore of Vancouver packed with as many stunts, while still maintaining good flow. access to the endless off-piste options is second to none here. call ahead and book a night in the mountain lodge above the resort to get the ultimate freeride experience. the sunrise ride of buff singletrack to the resort, followed by the shredding to the valley floor, will be one you’ll never forget. www.st-luc.ch
crans has the most developed trails in the entire valley, as well as tons of fantastic restaurants, hotels, casinos, itness centres, a golf course, open air jacuzzis and even hot springs to soak your bones on your rest days. But back to trails, there are two main ones – a freeride track and a downhill course. the sweeping open berms of the freeride track are guaranteed to have you grinning from ear to ear and the north Shore area at the end will be a test of your skills, no matter what your level. www.crans-montana.ch
VERBIER
SAINT LUC
CRANS MONTANA
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EURO TRIP
Getting to grips with St Luc’s North Shore trail and its cool wooden features
fantastic voyage that we would be undertaking over the next two days at St Luc. “See that little spot right over there?” he said pointing to a smudge on one high peak. “That’s where we’ll be sleeping tonight.” We started the day out on St Luc’s amazing North Shore trail. The track was jam packed with awesome wooden features like bridges that wrapped around trees, cool step-ups and massive road gaps. The trail offered tons of wicked stunts, but still had a great flow. After a solid session in the bike park, we grabbed our overnight bags and hopped on a truck up to the secluded mountain lodge that Alban had pointed out to us. We settled in and enjoyed a delicious traditional Swiss meal of potatoes and ham smothered in a creamy cheese sauce. The mountain air was thin at the high elevation and we slept like babies.
Final stop, Verbier “Wake up guys!” said Alban at the crack of five the next morning. “We need to stay on schedule if we’re going to make the last bus up from the valley.” After a hearty Swiss breakfast we grabbed our bikes and were on the trail at first light. “This singletrack is ancient,” Alban explained. “This is the way the villagers would come to check on their cattle grazing in the mountains.” I felt a strange connection to the past as we blazed the miles of buff singletrack down to the valley floor. After catching a Swiss Poste bus back up to the resort, we grabbed the van and
Fair play to Alban. It must be said – you just don’t get trails like this in England…
headed to the last stop on our tour – Verbier. As we crossed the valley one last time and began our ascent up to the resort, Alban again pointed out where we’d be riding. “You guys are in for a treat,” said Alban. “This is my favourite bike park in Switzerland.” Alban wasn’t lying. The next day we caught first chair at the resort and found the most challenging tracks in the Rhone Valley. We started on the DH track that’s used for the Swiss Cup and realised that we would have to step up our game very quickly. “This is just like a UK racetrack!” exclaimed James as he shredded a line ahead of me. The trail had everything a good, hard racetrack should have –
tricky rooty corners, slick off-camber sections and gnarly rock gardens. We also got a chance to sample some of Verbier’s more beginner friendly trails. The jump trail had plenty of tabletop jumps to get comfortable on before hitting some of the bigger doubles. There were also plenty of mellow wooden features to keep things interesting to any level of rider. As we packed up the van and headed toward home, we all realised that we’d just had the best week of riding of our lives. The sun was setting as we looked back over the now golden coloured Rhone. I turned my head back eastward and was already thinking of my next trip back. c Mountain Biking UK 195
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