Mountain Biking in Méribel

Meribel Bike Park

Meribel has quietly been building a reputation for amazing Alpine mountain biking in recent years with the bike park expanding every summer and new, exciting trails appearing all the time. Spurred on by the 2014 UCI World Cup, which was the first time that the World Cup visited The 3 Valleys, Méribel provided MTB fans with the ultimate two-wheeled showdown and is now firmly on the French Alps mountain bike map.

While all the riding in the valley is pretty good, the chances are you’ll be here for one of two things:

Enduro

Enduro style riding has always been the best aspect of riding in Meribel. The DH and bike park trails get better and better year on year, but a little bit of pedalling and consultation of the trail and IGN maps goes a long way here. The resort has been great at incorporating existing trails and favourite routes into the bike park and there’s now an enviable network of patrolled trails to play around on.

From the top of the Saulire you can enjoy 2000 m of vertical drop, from the rocky trails under the mighty Aiguille du Fruit down through the rooty trails in the woods around Creux Loup to the steep slabby chutes above Brides Les Bains you have a massive descent you’ll be boasting to your mates about for weeks.

On the other side of the valley you have a multitude of options to get you from the peaks of the Tougnete to the valley floor. The ride along the Cretes ridge offers technical climbing and an undulating trail with stunning views of Mont Blanc and across the St Martin Valley towards Maurienne.

Upon reaching the Grand Lac plain you have a heavenly mix of singletrack to get you back to Meribel, Les Allues or further down the valley. Every trail is made up of natural singletrack with rock gardens, roots, tight switchbacks and loam. Lots and lots of loam. The trails are well signposted but really every trail is rideable and all get you to roughly the same place.

Downhill & Bike Park

Since 2013 Meribel has been building, upgrading and improving all the trails in the bike park.

The trail network has expanded with trail builders from Trailsolutions (who built the Tignes and Les Saisies bikeparks) building fast, flowy, technical trails.

There are 9 DH trails: 1 green, 3 blue, 3 red and 2 black. On the Tougnete side you can warm up on Blue Line, a flowy trail with berms, tabletops and gaps to get you going, then head back up to the summit. From there, Tougnete Rocket is steep, rough and rapid and joins up with Forest Jump, a tight technical run through the woods.

The Saulire side offers the blue trail Bellevue, nearly 9km of simple, warp speed single track from the mid-station back to La Chaudanne. Alternatively, Mottared, the newest trail in the valley offers big drops, huge bermed switchbacks and doubles to session over and over.

For advanced riders there are the black graded La7 & and the French Championship 4 cross track both steep and loose. You can also ride the downhill world cup track. It’s not on the map, but you can pick up the start of the trail by the Lac du Plan de l’Homme runoff.

So if you want to ride in the Alps, have the trails to yourself and ride amazing, natural singletrack and bike park trails without the braking bumps try Méribel. You won’t regret it…

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Méribel Mountain Biking Holidays

Located in Meribel Les Allues, Alpine Ethos offer comfortable and well equipped chalet accommodation with free wifi, a hot tub, secure bike storage, and tools and bike stand for any mechanical tweaks required.

Meribel-les-Allues is a top spot to be based for your biking holiday. Chalet St Joseph, Alpine Ethos’ bike-friendly accommodation, is just a minute’s ride from the free shuttle bus that runs you up to the trail head.

With bike-friendly accommodation, bars, restaurants and shops, and some of Meribel’s best trails finishing in the village, you’re all set up for an epic biking holiday!