Read about us – our approach to what we do and how we do it: Sustainablity, Philosophy, Professional guiding and finally; Meet the team

Sustainability

Sustainability is at the core of our trips. As with everything in life, it’s a balancing act. Positives and negatives. Our resolution as a company is to contribute more than we detract, to leave a positive imprint behind us. Environmental considerations are key to this approach and are also part of a bigger social and economic picture.

If you would like to go super-geek on it, please call us anytime – Sam studied sustainable development during his degree and has remained invested in taking his principles into practice ever since. Otherwise, here are a few key commitments, some small gestures that help us sleep at night:

  • Our electricity is all from 100% renewable sources
  • We have always and continue to encourage land-based travel to our trips. Train station transfers are free for our clients and car + train travellers benefit from reductions in order to encourage sustainable transport.
  • Need to fly? Sometimes we all do. Follow our guide to carbon offsetting your trip here
  • Dig to ride – we love to get our hands dirty. As supporting partners of the Mountain Bikers Foundation we support trail advocacy at a national and European level, via IMBA Europe. More than that though, we look after our local trails as part of an active and engaged mountain biking community in the Tarentaise Valley.
  • All of our mountain bike trips use exclusively local, independent hoteliers and restaurants (no chains). These are people who live in the villages we visit, whose children fill the local schools and whose taxes support the local community. These are also all people who now love and support mountain biking too – everybody wins.
  • We eat local too – often we will pause a ride, high up in a mountain pasture, to buy cheese from a local farmer direct on the mountain. Again, if the benefits of mountain biking are felt locally then everyone comes out winning.
  • Cultivating a culture of responsible riding – this one is pretty simple. We stop and say hi to everyone we meet, we avoid adding new lines to old trails and we value clean riding over fast riding. There is even a prize every week for the cleanest rider.
  • Environmental education is important too. Not just the usual ‘don’t litter, don’t skid’ etc. but learning about the environments and cultures through which we pass. You’ll love the ride so much more once you know that the shadow overhead is a bearded vulture, that the mushroom pickers are looking for cêpes because it rained 2 days ago and that wolves are in the trees watching you as you ride 😉
  • Investing in communities – sharing routes
  • Using equipment
  • Local taxes. This is possibly the least exciting sounding but most committed gesture we could make. Most travel companies base themselves in the cheapest country, tax wise, they can get away with using as a base. It makes sound business sense but it just doesn’t sit with us. We’ve been 100% French based for 25 years, which costs an absolute fortune. It also contributes to the society where most of our trips are based, our home. Our money is where our mouth is at the very least.
  • Philosophy

Very few people on this planet have thought quite so hard about what makes mountain biking adventures truly exceptional, life affirming and vital as we have. Sam actually lectures on this very subject to trainee guides – lucky them!!

Anyhow, great trails is a given – the first box to tick if you like. Even then this is so subjective that one person’s favourite is another’s nightmare. So, the right great trails, that’s a given.

Awesome scenery? Likewise, we can take this as read.

Skills development? Progress in our biking is addictive. We love to integrate this into our guiding in an unobtrusive way – it’s a fun little value add that will keep you remembering your AlpPacker trip all year as you use your new skills back home.

Escapism – this one is harder to pin down. We like to think that a great riding trip will not just help you get away from the stresses of your regular daily life but to actually take you to a place where you feel yourself, but better. A place where you have the headspace for so much positive input that you actually feel changed by the experience, enriched by it. It’s a lofty goal but it’s what we strive for.

We’re big fans of the narrative too. Riding is basically a journey after all, bikes are a form of transport before all else. We love to travel through landscapes, through cultures and sometimes through time (not literally, obvs) as we immerse ourselves in the context of where we ride. Engaging with all aspects of our environment adds so much to the riding experience. We’d be mad not to love it!

  • Professional guiding

1200 hours of training, usually split over 2-3 years. That’s basically a masters in teaching and guiding mountain biking. It’s also the French professional standard. All our guides are French qualified and this means they’ve all devoted their professional lives to making your mountain biking adventure with us the best of your life. It’s the longest and most rigorous training system in the world by nearly 3 times and it helps to ensure that you get the very highest standards of guiding, skills advice and overall care that the industry offers.

  • Meet the team

To be honest if you really want a flavour of what we’re all like, the best thing to do is follow us all on Instagram – you can keep up with our summer and winter adventures here in the Alps!

Next step is to book a chat with Sam so we can help you choose your ultimate mountain bike trip.

If you’d like to read more about Sam’s approach to guiding, Off-Road.CC ran a great feature on him.

Our guides:

Sam Morris @bikevillagemtb

Dylan Giraud Pontier @summit.bike 

Graham Pinkerton @chamonixbikeguide