Bases in the Alps

secretsam

Afternoon all, slightly odd request - planning our annual works away weekend (September) and need a place that holds .c15-16 people, not sharing beds ideally (LOL). Team seems to want to go abroad, and given some of us are active and others not, figured the Alps would be good (French, Italian, Swiss or Austrian).
Would ski chalets be available? Does anyone have a recommendation?

Thanks in advance

mtb-idle

I've stayed with Treeline Chalets multiple times in Morzine, very good chalets and service.

Summer prices are reasonable, winter for skiing are expensive (not that i ever go skiing), I assume September would be at the cheaper end.

navrig2

Some resorts are open and have chalets available. Others simply close over the summer.

The open resorts tend to be decent sized ski resorts with good MTB routes. An alternative is to chose one of the bottom of valley towns such as Bourg St Maurice which are always open.

Things to consider (from my limited experience).

Ski resorts may not offer easy access to road bike hire. We struggled when staying above Bourg St Maurice (La Rosiere).
Ski resorts often mean a big (easy) downhill first thing in the morning and a long (hard) climb last thing in the day.
Valley towns avoid the big end of day climbs.
September is not a bad month but you can get cold and wet days so take waterproofs. On dry days take a gilet for descents - it can be very cold.
September will have a lot of motorbikes (this is compared to our trip in June when there were almost none).
The cycling is sublime.

navrig2

It may be worth registering and posting on one of the skiing forums. People there will be well placed to advise or suggest chalets.

I frequent here: http://snowheads.com/

amrushton

Good advice by Navrig. Stayed in St.Foy for a week and it was a 5k climb back to the chalet after climbing out of Bourg St.Maurice. Annecy might be a nice place - some epic riding around there. Bourg also has some great riding but is at the end of the valley so bear that in mind.

http://www.chalet-la-giettaz.com/summer/cycling-holidays/

thegreatdivide

Just a heads up on Chalet G in that link in case anyone thinks about booking. Chris (who comes on here sometimes) and his wife are selling off the apartments as of now, so it’s not a functioning chalet anymore. Luckily they’re still living there and they’ve kept another apartment for themselves (so that’s me sorted!).

Anyway…Annecy is the perfect base for folk who want really easy or really challenging cycling (and anywhere in between) as well as MTB. It’s also superb for folk that want to walk round the stunning town or the nice villages that dot the edge of the lake. Hill walking for all abilities is also superb, and you can even do some paragliding! IMO there’s nowhere else in the Alps as good as the Haute Savoie / Savoie for riding.

amrushton

I'm not an ad for Annecy but there is a great cyclepath to Albertville (main road is horrendous at times) then it's the Madeleine. Train will get you to Moutiers and Bourg for big climbs or you can head the other way to Ugine and Gran Bornand. Just riding around the lake is good.And you can swim in it.

thegreatdivide

There are so many Tour Cols in striking distance from Annecy and many lesser known epics too. You've not lived until you've done the Col de l'Arpettaz from Ugine. 40 odd hairpins up to the superb Refuge restaurant. Got passed by one car and three other riders last summer.

thegreatdivide

Oh and Annecy is about 45 mins drive on luxurious* motorway from Geneva airport.



*It's certainly better than anything we have in the UK.

sancho_panza

Chalet in Morzine - would be perfect. Lifts opening later in the forthcoming season, so well into September. Road cycling and general ambiance is wonderful...

Dorset_Boy

sancho_panza said:

Chalet in Morzine - would be perfect. Lifts opening later in the forthcoming season, so well into September. Road cycling and general ambiance is wonderful...

Les Gets is nicer!

briantrumpet

thegreatdivide said:

Oh and Annecy is about 45 mins drive on luxurious* motorway from Geneva airport.



*It's certainly better than anything we have in the UK.

Top tip - if you're hiring a car, do it on the French side of the airport... can be much cheaper.

pippi_langsamer-2

Stayed in St Jean de Maurienne last August.

Great base with some of the legends (Telegraphe, Galibier, Glandon, Croix de Fer, and Madeleine), on the doorstep, with a few other really nice lesser known climbs too (Alban, Mollard, Mont Denis, Chaussy via the Lacets de Montvernier etc).