Chamonix has some incredible downhill riding, with big, steep descents, challenging trails and two dedicated bike parks where you can drop jumps, ride table tops and practise your skills. The mountain bike trails are clearly signposted and graded with the same colour system as ski pistes with the easiest being green and the hardest being black. Buy a Mont Blanc Multi-pass to give you access to the summer lift system.
Le Tour Bike Park
There are four downhill trails here, accessed via the Charamillion gondola and the Autannes chairlift. There is one green-graded trail, one blue and two red. From Le Tour you can also head over to Vallorcine or over into Trient to pick up some nice single track routes.
Les Houches Bike Park
There are three variations of trails at Les Houches bike park, which you can access via the Prarion gondola or the Bellevue cable car. The black trail here includes some large jumps in the woods, there is also a red and a blue graded trail for those who prefer to keep their tyres on the ground.
Brevent Downhill Trail
There is a downhill trail that runs from the mid station at Planpraz and leads off into the couloir to lookers right. It’s steep and rocky at the top with a few man-made corners a little lower down and then runs out into nice wooded sections towards the bottom and then back to the bottom of the gondola. It’s a tough trail and one where your brakes will be put to good use! Note that this trail crosses over with walking trails at certain points, to caution is advised.
Grands Montets Trails
Take the Lognan cable car up to mid station and head off to the right and into the woods where you’ll find two different trails - one with the infamous amount of switchbacks to the valley floor and the other a little further on that takes you back down to Lavancher village. Note that these are shared trails, so be courteous to any walkers you pass by!
