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MountainBikeReview.com's Forum Archives - - Passion -
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Flaine, France (French Alps) (17 posts)
|  Flaine, France (French Alps) | Ripzalot
Jul 1, 2003 6:59 AM | | Opening day at the ski resort of Flaine in France. Located in the Haute Savoie region of the French Alps,
this is one of my favorite snowboarding spots. The ski area is a large bowl shaped valley, which faces north,
ensuring good snow when others are hurting. It's pretty interesting to see the ski resorts sans snow. I had
no idea how much rock is underneath. This place reminds me of some of those slickrock areas of the desert
southwest, 'cept much much looser. Erosion gone mad!
The main route down starts off over an incredibly gnarly rocky section, which stairsteps down until you
get to the main ski run. It's dotted with patches of remaining snow which are fun to try to blast across.
The ski run is a scary fast run comprised of large loose rock (i.e. little braking capability) which winds
down the north side of the bowl. There are a couple of areas which you can veer off and take some singletrack
and open field routes down to the village. There are other routes to take, but many wind up far down the valley,
which means a huge uphill climb back to the resort.
I never saw another biker although I ran across a fellow biker (Salut Foux!) who was hiking with his family.
There were quite a few bikers working their way UP the valley road to the resort, but no one there but me and
a handful of hikers.
Location of Flaine in the French Alps (approximate)
Map - insert shows the route I took
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| Part 1 | Ripzalot
Jul 1, 2003 7:00 AM | | On the way up
Top station
Mont Blanc in the background (left of center, almost looks like another cloud)
Obscured by Clouds
Freeride heaven...
Or hell?
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| beautiful! How were the bugs? | Brodiegrrl
Jul 1, 2003 8:24 AM | | Its amazing the terrain you can ski on, and how damn steep they are when you're on a bike! |
| Bees everywhere | Ripzalot
Jul 1, 2003 10:40 AM | | I caught 3 in my full face helmet, but fortunately no stings! I was actually thinking about putting a screen across the open face somehow. The other week I caught one in between the helmet and my head and had to slam my bike down and rip the helmet off before he could get me. The hikers watching me must have had a good laugh. First screech to a stop, throw the bike down, fumble with the helmet strap, take gloves off, fumble with the strap again... |
| Part 2 | Ripzalot
Jul 1, 2003 7:01 AM | | Winding downhill from the top
.jpg)
Me
Posershot
French Cows (almost as cute as Swiss Cows)
Last blast to the village
.jpg)
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| Panoramas | Ripzalot
Jul 1, 2003 7:02 AM | | Approaching Flaine
For comparision/contrast, here's a winter shot
Top view looking over the Chamonix Valley and Mont Blanc
Freeride heaven
The big view
Looking up
Dead lift station
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| Sequence Shots | Ripzalot
Jul 1, 2003 7:03 AM | | 
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| Sequence Shots-WOW! amazing photos! | cbchess
Jul 1, 2003 7:25 AM | | how did you do the sequence shots? just set up your auto timer and ride along? did you have someone else helping you?
was it hard to retrieve your camera?
as always outstanding photography and views! I love to see your mountains over in europe!
Thanks
Chris |
| Sequence Shots How To | Ripzalot
Jul 1, 2003 7:34 AM | | My girlfriend and one of her friends were hiking along that day. I got a little nutty with the sequence thing after messing around with the photostitch software. I normally do panoramics and stitch several photos together. When she took the photos of me, basically she was just panning along while standing in the same place. So I took the first and last pictures, stitched them together and then cut/pasted the middle riding shots of me into the picture. Since they were all taken from the same angle, they paste in pretty seamlessly. I like the effect, 'cept you can now see what a crappy rider I am! |
| Watch out! | pedalAZ
Jul 1, 2003 9:38 AM | | Those EU types are pretty uptight when it comes to cloning!
Great post RPZLT! |
| FANTASTIC. (nm) | terminaut
Jul 1, 2003 11:41 AM | | |
| wowsers | parkmeister
Jul 1, 2003 12:42 PM | | Thanks for the great pics.
I was in the French Alps this time last year on my honeymoon and it was fantastic. Chamonix is the bomb.
gary |
| Cham this weekend! | Ripzalot
Jul 2, 2003 6:11 AM | | Got any pointers? It'll be my first bike trip there. |
| Yeah, take lots and lots of pics! | parkmeister
Jul 3, 2003 10:16 AM | | When I was there with my wife, we mostly hiked and did the touristy tram ride thing.
I highly recommend taking the Aiguille du Midi tram/gondola ride from Chamonix up and over the glaciers to Point Helbronner in Italy. It's a little pricey but worth every Euro and more. You won't be disappointed. Get to the tram EARLY in the morning to avoid the crowds.
I rented a bike one day and tootled up the Chamonix valley past the ski station at Argentiere and ended up at Le Tour. I rode mostly easy fire roads as the hiking trails were off limits to mtn bikes during the high season ( I did see a few bikes on the singletrack, tho).
I'm sure you'll have a blast.
gary
Here's a shot of some telecabines soaring over the Glacier du Geant |
| This is the Mer de Glace... | parkmeister
Jul 3, 2003 10:21 AM | | ...as seen from above in a telecabine. |
| Crevasses on the Vallee Blanche glacier | parkmeister
Jul 3, 2003 10:25 AM | | The specs in the upper middle of the photo are 'alpinists' hiking over the ice and snow. |
| And finally, some Frenchie I met on the trail. | parkmeister
Jul 3, 2003 10:28 AM | | Chamonix was c'est magnifique! |
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