SkiBike Tour 2010-11 - Combloux

Posted: Saturday 1 January 2011 by Mark Kinnon in Labels: , , ,
0

In the immediate sector of "Les Portes du Mont-Blanc"...The Doors of Mont-Blanc only Combloux offers easy access for skibikes and skibikers.
Note: Not nearby Megeve, Jaillet nor La Giettaz. This is very important, as I wasted a hour trying to get access at the wrong ski stations and you could easily ski down to one, only to be denied further uplift. Message ends, you have been warned.

Combloux is easily accessed from the nearby A40 Motorway "La Autoroute Blanche". And there are easy inclines on departmental roads up to the village, which took under an hour from the centre of Geneva.
Once in the follow the signs for the "Domaine Skiable" which take you to the ski station, don't drive through and carry on to Jaillet or Megeve as I did.Skibikes are allowed to use all the chairlifts, but not the drag lifts, fortunately this has little impact as there are few of them once out of the nursery area.

I took the long Beauregard chair up which rises up from the valley floor and follows a gentle incline along a wooded ridge and came down the Gentiene, Cabri and Marmottons runs for a warm up. All were pleasant runs through the forest with some icy patches here and there to watch out for.

Later I tried the Grand Tetras run that follows the fall line close to the chair lift. It was quite steep and very icy and I found myself traversing most of the piste higher up, further down it became a very enjoyable fast section and an excellent opportunity to practice skibike carving. Next up was the Melezes run down to the Pertuis chair, ascending and returning via the Rhodos and Papa runs.
Both the Jorace and Plaine Joux runs went down into a cold and shaded back bowl with the long Jouty chair to return. At 3:30 these area were deep into twilight and becoming bitterly cold, so it was joyful to re-emerge into sunlight and head back to base via the Melezes and Roitelets runs.

In conclusion, a very pleasant village like atmosphere, but with access to a great interlinked domain, which could be greatly improved if only the other local mayors would all agree to open up their slopes to skibikers.
Phenomenal views of Mont Blanc, which give the place a big mountain feel yet most runs remain below the tree line.
Easy, stress free access from the Motorway, just an hour from Geneva. Thank You Combloux Je t'aime.

Combloux - you just don't get views like this everywhere - source www.skibiker.org

0 comments: