Guiding, Coaching & Groupings / Alpine Skills Training and Bike Confidence Coaching
The technical nature and variety of the trails in Les Arcs make it the perfect place for riders of all levels to improve their bike handling skills and general biking confidence, and we’re here to help you make the most of it. The sheer size of our trail network coupled with easy lift-access for gaining height quickly, means that in one week with trailAddiction you’ll do more technical downhill riding than in several years of UK trailriding. It follows that no matter who you are, or whatever your current technical ability level, your skills can’t fail to improve a great deal.
For those who are keen to develop even more quickly whilst still having great fun, we offer informal & free skills training sessions as part of your week with trailAddiction. All skills sessions take place out on the trail with your guide, after all – you are here to ride, not sit around talking about it! For advanced-intermediate riders and above, this is available as part of your guided group’s regular schedule and is not restricted to any particular date or package.
Taking the informal approach a step further…..if you or anyone in your group is new to Alpine Riding, or may need appreciate extra encouragement or taking things slower at first in order to feel more confident in difficult mountainous terrain; we’re running special Alpine Improvers Groups on selected this season. Please be sure to book for one of these dates if you think you might need this since we can’t guarantee guiding or coaching for improving Alpine riders outside of these specific dates. Unsure what we’d class as an ‘Alpine Improver’? This Guide should help!
Just drop us an email to ask about what specific availability and dates we have for these special Alpine Improver weeks.
Typical Skills Covered during an Alpine Improvers Coaching Week
An Introduction to Descending Technical Singletrack
For those relatively new to Alpine riding and long descents, the basic skills session concentrates around the fundamentals:
– Alpine-specific bike set-up. We’ll talk you through optimum tyre pressures, saddle height and position, front and rear suspension set-up, brakes and brake lever set-up.
– Balance and weight distribution.
– Pedal positioning in corners and near ostacles.
– Optimum use of braking whilst cornering and on technical sections.
The Switchbacks Masterclass
Something you don’t come across that often outside of the mountains are switchbacks….but we have plently of them here at trailAddiction! We’ll run through which is the best line to take for through the switchback, body and bike positioning for optimum balance, brake and pedal control, how to cope with trail irregularities such as stepped and rooted switchbacks or uneven camber…..and soon you’ll be conquering corners that you’d previously have thought totally unrideable. For the top riders amongst you (probably not for first-timers!) our best guides will show you the “patented” trailAddiction rear-wheel flick / rolling endo technique for mastering the steepest, most extreme switchbacks at high speeds!
Downhill Course Skills Session
For budding DH racers, there’s ample chance to improve on the world-class Cachette downhill course (part of the Avalanche cup race series) or the infamous “Black 8″ Course. Our DH skills session looks at railing the berms, how to move the bike underneath you, and confidence in the jump and drop sections….in addition to the basics of braking, balance and pedal work. You’ll soon learn that you needen’t always have an 8” travel rig with triple-clamp forks to get down a DH course in a respectable time. If you are feeling particularly confident after our training, try our “funnicular challenge” – beat the funnicular railway down the mountain in time to catch it for the next uplift – the clock is ticking, and you have approx 12 minutes to make it…will you get there in time? Our guides have experience in racing many of the world’s toughest DH races including the infamous Megavalanche in Alpe d’huez – and will be happy to dish out a few tips to competitive types.
Jumps, and Drop-Offs – Technique and confidence
Starting with easy to manage obstacles, and with minimum option to hurt yourself if it all goes wrong – we’ll gradually build up your skill and confidence to have you mastering this tricky and difficult to learn skill, in no time. It needn’t be as scary as it seems!.