The riding possibilities Aosta Valley offers are quite impressive. You can ride almost anywhere and the roads and infrastructure the region offers are a logistical kids play.
Smooth asphalt roads going up to the highest village on pretty much every mountain, about 1800 to 2000m above sea level. Your choice to either set off for a big alpine tour or reaching the tops by using the shuttle and then enjoy the ride down. These two are the go to options to take advantage of the best natural riding we love at Aosta Valley Freeride.
The Aosta Valley isn’t one simple big valley, but with multiple valleys and mountains on top of mountains soaring up to 4000m and above! You get a better picture looking at it on a 3D map. It’s like a fish bone, the Dora Baltea river flows from the Mont Blanc through the main valley down to Turin. The main valley is then surrounded by 20 and more valleys spreading out and raising up to high alpine regions which also branch off into smaller valleys.
It’s like a matryoshka effect, where you can just keep going up, up and up!
Riding options are exponential.
It isn’t easy to choose from this big catalog if you don’t have your riding priorities straight.
From bike parks, shuttle days to high Alpine Hike-a-Bike Tours, we’ve got it all.
Not sure which is your priority or what you would like to start with? That’s why we are here!
Weather and seasons play a huge role in planning your rides, but luckily we have a long riding season here and you can enjoy the best from early spring to late fall.
As we are surrounded by the Italian Alps a thing to consider is the snow mantle and the possibilities that freezing temperatures will make it unbearable or impossible to ride. That’s why we stop hiking up to 3000m peaks and ridges in late October. Every season hits differently, but a good sign to stop climbing is definitely when your suspension seizes and you hear creaking sounds from under your tires!
As we said, the riding season comes to an end in late fall but our shuttles don’t go to sleep unless we want them to. Bear in mind that the wheels on the shuttles can spin like the earth revolves around the sun!
Realistically speaking, during winter you could go skiing in the morning, go change, grab your bike and hop on a shuttle to keep enjoying the mountains in another way! Quite rad, and yes we’ve done that. North face, south face, you get the drift.
Anyway you see it, the shuttles are the go to option to get away with it in harsh conditions. Like filming this video late in the season last year. Foggy weather, dripping wet, down slippery slopes having too much fun. The dirt is spectacular in November and moist conditions make it feel like riding somewhere very distant, like Pemberton.
Changes in weather keep the rides fresh and switch up the terrain completely. On one side of the spectrum we have the three month burning summer where the game is escaping the unbearable heat, climbing up as high as the trail allows us to and riding on rather mineral terrain. Dusty, rocky peaks and ridges back into the woods. Then all the way down to the bottom, with more than 2000m of elevation drop. Then you get spring with amazing weather and fall with the rainy season, where you can enjoy prime conditions in the luscious lower part of the mountain, the woods. So dreaming of shredding completely organic and loamy trails? Here it becomes reality! Because you know, dreamin’ becomes true.
Personally, one of my happiest “AHA!” moments I’ve had it’s realizing that where I live, actually satisfies all my riding wishes. Having traveled a lot and ridden in different spots around the world like British Columbia, Australia or South Africa, I feel like we do have that riding here in the Aosta Valley, and it explains why people from all over the world come to ride with us, ending the day with “Yo this feels like home, ey!!”
So, in a nutshell, the rich and different options here in such a small region, make this place an MTB paradise!
When booking your rides here, because we know you can’t wait to discover our place, come shuttle shred with us!
