Tour des Bike Parks

Words & Photos: Cati Pearson

Our trip to Europe was based around two main activities - bike parks and the Tour du Mont Blanc. Tysin’s goal was to be a park rat and relive his youth; I thankfully had an obsession with the Enduro World Series back in 2017-2018 when I thought I was going to be a pro rider, so the idea of tacking on every EWS location to the list was super exciting.

Navigating, planes, trains and travel.

Matteo our mini camper –
home for the next 6 weeks.

After arriving in Milan and picking up our campervan we based ourselves at Lago d’Idro for a few nights to get over the jetlag and prepare for the onslaught of trails to come (obviously with swimming, a via ferrata and a sneaky trail or two). I may have tested the soil a bit hard on my solo lap while Tysin had a nap at the van... it's impressive how hard rock is when you are used to riding loam.

Italy

Canazei, at the head of the Val di Fassa in the Dolomites, is a bike park and EWS race venue. It's brimming with long tech trails that start in the open alpine as fast flowy grade 3 styled riding before dropping into lovely rooty native sections. The park itself didn’t appear to be super well known, there were a couple other riders on the trails but most gondola patrons were tourists getting easy access to the UNESCO World Heritage site. 6 gondolas and 18 trails, it’s pretty easy to clock the park, so we only spent a half day here.

A highlight was Tutti Frutti, a grade 5 trail that ran down the ridgeline, blending open multiline sections with steep rocks and root bowls. We were probably one of 20 riders in the park so lines were a minimum, however refreshments for all the tourists accessing the UNESCO World Heritage site were at a premium, with our most expensive red ambulance ever (a 330ml can of coke for $12!!) This had Tysin fuming for the rest of the trip. Luckily the Hutte on the mountain, where you stop for snacks, drinks and to pat pet goats had stunning views of the Dolomite ranges that all but made up for the prices.

Unfortunately, the bottom of the park was closed for logging and we accidentally ended up in the active logging site – lucky we could play the "we no speak English" card. After all that we freedom camped in the gondola carpark and enjoyed a bracing post ride bath in the alpine river flowing through town.

Recommended trails – Infinity, Animal House, Tutti Frutti.
34km, 460m vert ascending, 3000m vert descending. 7/10 for a tech park.

While in the Dolomites we highly recommend checking out the Via Ferrata - literally 'Iron Way' access routes that date back to WW1. These exposed hiking and climbing trails have steel cables for protection, and often ladders and bridges to assist your ascent (I'll do another blog on them down the track). They deliver a hit of adrenaline along with amazing views with no other people around - a rare thing in Europe. From here we navigated out of hectic Italy into Austria, where the sigh of relief was near instant after crossing the border. Road rules were observed, the roads wide and people were just a lot more relaxed.

Austria

A rain day kicked off our Austrian adventure to a slow start, meaning no bike parks or rock climbing. So, we had a rest day to let our wrists recover and save our muscles for more activities. Rest in the world of Cati meant… indoor rock climbing.

The following day we were treated to Saalfelden Leogang, one of the best bike parks of the trip. This park has everything to offer. World Cup DH tracks, flow, tech, air bags, dirt jumps, Velosolutions pump track, skills parks, drop progression and more. While it was full of people there never really seemed to be much of a wait. In typical Cati & Tysin fashion, we got a bit lost dropping into Saalbach to try the trails in that section of the park. What appeared to be working gondolas were not – so we didn’t risk getting stuck on the wrong side of the mountain. That resulted in a wasted hour of riding. However, we still managed to clock the park and get in about 3 laps of Alte Schmiede. Brand new in 2024 - it's a hand built masterpiece that traverses forest and alpine meadows. Full of Northshore features and technical passages with secret side hits, this high-speed track was definitely a favourite. Every time I rode it my freehub would complain, forcing me to pedal when I should have been coasting. This disconcerting behaviour didn’t stop the laps and we managed to clock up over 6500m vert of descending in 6 hours! The World Cup track is open to the public and we rode through all the famous sections I’ve watched on TV – however I couldn’t double the bridges like the real pros. Definitely not a park to miss.

Recommended trails – Matzalm, Alte Schmiede, Bongo Bongo.
55km, 260m vert ascending, 6500m vert descending, 8+/10 bike park.

Our next Austrian location was Innsbruck – which was incredibly underwhelming, especially after Leogang. I expected much more of a Crankworx location but I really should have asked around beforehand. With only 9 trails covering 20.5km, and only a few of them fun, the park was not something to write home about. And it had no facilities, which came to haunt me later on in our day here. Tysin enjoyed ‘The Straight One’ with its little road gaps, and I suffered through the day. Thankfully (not thankfully) I blew out my freehub so we had to leave early in search of a real bike shop to fix it. Luckily, we hit pay dirt and had it  fixed pretty cheap, in time for us to escape for Switzerland the next day. Innsbruck really was a rollercoaster of emotions, it’s a stunning city with some cool architecture and old buildings, and probably the best gorgonzola gnocchi I have ever had in my life. But is lacking in terms of free swimming spots, proper good quality mountain biking and freedom camping sites that don’t also act as redlight districts.

Recommended trails – none
24km, 22m vert ascending, 3000m vert descending, 5/10 bike park.

Switzerland

We fled Austria for a brief 24 hours in Switzerland. Scared by the cost of the area (EVERYONE had warned us), we just wanted to skim the surface as we passed into France. Our campsite was great - providing walking trails, water fountains for ‘bathing’ and hydration, and a police chase!

Our pass covered Chur and Lenzerheide but it cost more than the previous parks all together. Firstly, Alpine Bike Park Chur. Holy! We loaded our bikes into a shitty gondola where they were held on with a 2 x 4 and chains. We had low expectations but were delightfully proved wrong. It turns out Chur, whilst being small and with only 5 trails, is considered Switzerland’s best and most varied freeride bike park. Every trail declares 1000m of descent and finishes right in the centre of town for coffee. It had some of the best built corners of the trip and beautiful big wooden drops everywhere. It even has a trail that appears to be entirely constructed of wood - which thankfully I didn’t have to ride as the rain came which was a good excuse for me not to attempt it.

Recommended trails – Alpenride, Rock n Roll, Vertigo.
15km, 27m ascending, 2500m descending, 7/10 bike park.

A quick lunch and then we drove to the sister park, Lenzerheide Bike Kingdom – a huge, rough, rocky, downhill and big jump inspired park. Whilst it only had 5 lines, the facilities were similar to Leogang and it definitely gave off world cup vibes. At this point we were a bit over bike parks – or I was anyway. We attempted a bunch of the trails... SHOREline which was entirely made out of wood, and some spicy pirate lines off PRIMEline that felt a bit more natural and more like home. Sadly, Tysin was working too hard keeping up following me down STRAIGHTline and threw a rock into his derailleur. The hanger didn’t flex, the frame did. Our day was cut short and with our tail between our legs we limped back to Italy.

Recommended trails – FLOWline, PRIMEline, SHOREline.
18km, 44m ascending, 2500m descending, 6/10 bike park.

Back to Italy

Back in the land of wine and pasta we queued up another rest day. We drove to Aosta and checked out the best supermarket of our entire trip (the cheese section alone was as big as a New Zealand supermarket). This was followed up with some bouldering for 'active recovery'.

The next day we discovered the awesome surprise that is Pila. Trails are open 7am to 7pm, giving us all day to experience not only the 16 trails in the ‘bike stadium’ but also the cross country circuit and off piste ‘free ride’ trails that descend over 2000m to the town below. There was an amazing mix of old school downhill trails that were terrifying, and new school dh trails that were fast with big jumps. We adored the adventure trails from the top that weaved through deep rooty and natural terrain past the numerous Refugios - always a welcome excuse to pause and inevitably imbibe a trailside beer. At our lunch stop we enjoyed beer with a sandwich, and what appeared to be a school play. The complete run from top to bottom was 6km and over 2000m vert. We finished our day in Aosta incredibly happy.

Recommended trails – Desarpa, Flow trao; Les FLeurs, Toboga.
54km, 237m ascending, 6400m descending, 9/10 bike park.

France

Through the Mount Blanc tunnel it was time to experience the European Whistler - Portes du Soleil. We trucked into Morzine and went straight to our favourite mtb dad, Rupert Hastings, for a coffee and catch up. He then helped grease my headset, provided some trail intel and sent us into the park for adventure. This is the largest bike park in Europe - comprising Les Gets, Champery, Morgins, Chatel, Morzine and Avoriaz - allowing you to cross the border multiple times between France and Switzerland. The gondie lines to get in were ridiculous but once you were 2-3 chairlifts into the park the queues settled and the trail choice exploded. If lots of flow and big jumps are your jam then this is the place for you. However, me being the tech rider that I am, I struggled to enjoy it, especially when blue trails had like 20ft gap jumps. That was until I found the pirate trails. I was overjoyed to force Tysin into one of the 'illegals' running into town, but man was it exactly up my alley - steep and technical! On our way back from Morzine to our camp in Les Gets we bumped into an English family who led us down more amazing and steep illegals. We would happen to bump into them a few more times during our stay in Morzine and were always treated to more technical steep gnar, just as I loved.

Day 2 in Morzine, Rupert was able to be our tour guide taking us from France to Switzerland and back again via chairlift after chairlift, trail after trail. The longest chairlift in (what seems like) the world was Mossettes (2.2km). It transported us to one of our highlights, the Swiss National Track – Grand-Conche. The ride out from here back to civilisation included a cool backcountry sort-of pedal past a Refuge that served beer (unfortunately for us cash only). A thunderstorm forced to take a break in Les Lindarets -  'village of goats'. We enjoyed a coffee and hot chips while waiting patiently for the chairlift to reopen and deliver us over the hill and home.

Group shot with tour guide Rupert.

Day 3 we started our morning in Les Gets. Avoiding the main park which is quite family friendly, we headed to the backside to check out the downhill track Dans I’Gaz. Traffic was at a minimum so we lapped it, and more technical gold in the form of illegals before getting thirsty and heading back to Morzine to join Rupert for a spritz. Less riding, more chatting. We were even blessed with a cameo catch up with Ellie Hulsebosch.

Trail side snacks in Les Gets.

Recommended trails – anything not on the map, Haute Tension, Vinkline, Serpentine, Grand-Conche.
Too many km, vert and 8/10 (if you have time & know where to look)

At this point I think I had broken my bf. The request for proper days off that didn’t include bouldering, rock climbing or mountaineering and the threats to just leave me to do solo things were strong. With Tour Du Mont Blanc looming it was time for a real break. But I'm going to skip that adventure and write it up separately. Rest assured, we had a blast.

Italy – the final hurrah

Following Tour Du Mont Blanc, and a period of down time due to food poisoning that was an unplanned part of the package, we were up for another bike park – the EWS race town of La Thuile Bike World. Trails exit right next to the campground, that sits at the base of the mountain, providing welcome access to mid-ride coffee and snacks. The main park has 170km of trails. The stuff straight off the gondola is a bit of the same same – natural and hand built, but nothing spectacular. However knowing they held multiple EWS rounds here we were confident gold was to be found and man we found it. Off to the far sides of the park were the 'adventure trails' - 3-8km descents of rock slabs and roots. Trails that navigated old (and current) river beds - proper grade 5 gnar at altitude. There was even an across-border ride between France and Italy across alpine landscapes, however we didn’t attempt this.

Finalborgo.

Recommended trails – Kappa, La Joux, Cambogia, Vertigo
46km, 114m vert ascending, 5300m descending, 7/10.

As the food poisoning settled and the days counted down to our return home, we headed coastal for a proper holiday of Aperol Spritz and pasta by the ocean at Finale Ligure.

Now I know Finale isn’t a bike park, however it is a Mtb Mecca. I have dreamed of Finale for years and was absolutely smitten to actually be here. The town itself is pretty and the beaches lovely if you can find a free spot. The walled city of Finalborgo provided all the great tourist shops and little eateries you could ask for. We were even lucky enough to be there during their annual medieval festival so got to see shows and live bands. Many Italians were dressed up to the nines which added to the buzz. We did a couple of self-supported ride days which were hard in the summer heat, the climbs tough and the rocks exposed. Luckily, you can finish lots of rides at the ocean (or at least the pool at your accom) to recover. We tagged along on a couple of shuttle days with Finale Freeride, which were... interesting. On the first day a bunch of the classic trails were closed due to weather, while on the second day our guide was hungover as didn’t want to entertain us at all. Thank goodness the trails were entertaining.

We did the Finale classics tour. Whilst we didn’t actually do a bunch of the trails, it was cool to see the vast difference between the different zones. Being at Nato Base high above Finale, experiencing the hype of all the EWS races was cool, and the long descents were absolutely hand-destroyingly fun. The mid ride stops for wine and pasta were also a highlight, definitely something that needs to continue now we are back home.

The Monte Carmo tour takes you into the Ligurian Alps and was meant to be more enduro or backcountry riding. It was a bit disappointing, being more of a grade 3 style tour and not quite what we like, however the other riders were lovely and it was a fun enough day. I’m not too sure if Finale didn't live up to our expectations because we had just ticked off the best of Europe crammed into 6 weeks, or because by this point the bikes and bodies were pretty tired. But I would still recommend it to experience the gorgeous location with amazing trails and great access thanks to some excellent tour companies.

Recommended trails – Little Champery, Ingere, Base Nato.

Finally broken and poor, we boarded the plane back to NZ ready to rest the wrists and get back into real loam.

Keep an eye out for Cati's Tour du Mont Blanc yarn.