Mountain Biking in Courchevel

Located in the heart of the 3 Valleys and on the doorstep of the Vanoise National Park, Courchevel offers everything from beginner-friendly trails to the Fun Track bike park and high altitude singletack to loamy forest funs. Forget about Courchevel’s glitzy ski resort reputation; in the summer it’s way more down to earth with outdoor enthusiasts and mountain bikers here to enjoy the grandiose mountain scenery and relaxed vibe of Courchevel 1650 or La Tania rather than showing off their Louis Vuitton salopettes.

Although Courchevel 1850 is more central in terms of lift access, if you stay at the lower Courchevel 1650 you can end your day with a longer descent. Remember to avoid getting stuck in the wrong valley after the lifts close. The taxi fare to get you back is seriously pricey.

The Mountain Biking

Courchevel still a bit of work to do to really link up with the rest of the mountain biking areas in the 3 Valleys, but each year it gets better. In Courchevel itself, there’s plenty of great XC, enduro and downhill trails, so whatever style of riding you’re into, you are well catered for.

Downhill Trails

If you’ve ridden the Portes du Soleil before, you’ll notice that the downhill tracks aren’t as cut up and full of braking bumps as the trails in Morzine and Les Gets, so you can get away with a smaller bike. A six-inch trail bike does the job perfectly, and you could mix up the downhill tracks with the more pedaly enduro trails.

There are some superb top-to-bottom trails with fast open sections through Alpine meadows to steep twisty forest sections, like the unmissable red Chantery track from Bouc Blanc down to La Tania.

And, don’t miss the new red mtb trail from the top of La Saulire down to La Praz, a massive 1500 m of vertical drop and breathtaking scenery the whole way. Start with a panoramic view over the highest peaks in the Alps and wind down through high-mountain terrain to the tree-line where the trail enters the forest and eventually spits you out at the edge of Lac du Praz.

Cross-Country Trails

Nearly 150 km of XC trails graded from green to black criss-cross the valley for your riding pleasure. The fact that Courchevel is made up of several widely spaced out sub-resorts including 1650, 1850 and La Tania means you can link these up in your day’s riding and build an interesting itinerary around luch and rest stops. There are 19 routes around Courchevel, plus the 117 km Three Valleys itinerary which takes in all three resorts. Expect some long, tough climbs, epic views and endless descending.