Switzerland

So I'm planning on heading over to Switzerland in late September this year. Would love to do a couple days of downhill and then do the train thing since I've never been over to Europe.

I've researched a little and see that there are quite a few places to downhill mtn bike. What are some recommendations that are comparable to Whistler? Any spots that I shouldn't miss while I'm there?

What about other things around Switzerland? Just looking for some advice for those that have been there.

Wouldn't mind doing some hiking as well. Looks so nice there.

1. You should contact Sethimus from this board - he seems to be in the know. I have never been there, but reading about in Dirt Mag is surely :drool: my appetite for some serious alpine shredding. There are literally dozens of places where you can shuttle all day and rip it down.

2. The train thing….where do you want to go to? Do you have any info on which countries you want to visit?

Well I don't have a particular country that I'm looking to visit. Mostly just looking for the best trip for the buck kinda thing.

I'm thinking there will be about 15 days to travel/bike/hike/whatever so just looking for not to miss type activities.

But biking is the main focus for sure….

I have heard that France has some great DH riding and is pretty accesible if you get to know the locals.
If you parlez the francais it could be even easier.

You could try something with these guy

http://www.ridebig.com/index.php

I was there last August and manged to get some riding in. From my experience you wont find anything that compares to whistler but some very good park riding to be had. Champery has the world cup track that is crazy but should be experienced. Verbier has some interesting trails as well. The portes du soleil region has a tonne of lift access riding. It encompasses a lot of different resort towns that you can buy one lift pass for all of them. You can take lifts\gondolas all the way from Champery (suisse) to Morzine (france). You could spend a lot of time exploring that region. Theres a lot of trails that arent on the maps so the best way to expore is to befriend a local that knows the area. Oh and they have "North Shore" trails that do not resemble the shore in anyway. :lol:

hope that helps a bit.

Late September is a little late for resort season, but the more "local" trails should be in good shape. The thing about Switzerland, is that you can pretty much get a map, pick a Mountain to ride on, and be relatively confident there will be some kind of funicular railway running to the top of it. I lived in Lausanne for a year, and can highly recommend Villars, Montreux (which itself is an awesome town that should be checked out) and Neuchatel, all of which have sweet trails and train access.

http://www.bikeattitude.net is a site run by a group of riders local to Neuchatel who know what's up.

I've gone tobogganing down Mt. Pilatus in Lucerne which was pretty fun.

big-ted is right. Most of the resorts close at the end of august. I missed that part of your op.