Mont d'Arpille
Description
At the start of the tour, it is best to hang your bike on the rear rack of the Postbus at Martigny station and ride up to Les Chesaux. Here you follow the mountain road, later the gravel path up to Alp L'Arpille. Theoretically, it would now be possible to start the descent directly. However, for the sake of the view, shoulder the bike and carry it up to Mont de l'Arpille. The view really is phenomenal and the climb is worthwhile. The upcoming singletrail descent to the small pass at L'Arpille is very difficult. Less experienced mountain bikers are advised to leave their bikes at the alp and tackle the detour to the summit on foot. The following singletrail descent on the north side to La Crettaz is then more "generally suitable" again, even if it is quite steep in places. The serpentine path winds its way down through a kind of fairytale forest. From La Crettaz to Gueuroz, you have to descend 400 meters in altitude on the little road due to a lack of alternatives. The hiking trail parallel to the road on the valley floor is not passable. In Gueuroz, however, there is a singletrail finish, albeit a difficult one. An old and rough path winds its way through the steep and rocky terrain and ends in Vernayaz. Return to Martigny on the singletrails parallel to the main road.
Map & GPX-Track
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Details of the tour
24 km
1040 m
1680 m
444 above sea level
2060 above sea level
1 day
Martigny
Martigny
1296
well suited
More information
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User comments (2)
About the author: Thomas Giger
Note: This content has been automatically translated from German. Please report any incorrect translations.
Mont de l'Arpille
I rode the tour on 19.08.2021. As I didn't want to wait for the post bus, I rode from Martigny. However, the first part is over a very busy race track and therefore quite tedious, although the steepness is pleasant to ride. Once you are off the main road, however, you can ride comfortably up to the alp. I can also recommend the ascent to the summit, even if you have to carry your bike uphill for a short time. But the view is really quite beautiful. I didn't find the way downhill too bad either, even though I had to get off my bike again and again and some sections are absolutely unrideable. Nevertheless, it's far from the pain threshold as you're very quickly back on rideable terrain. However, I was a little disappointed with the subsequent trail, as it was marked with a "thumbs up" on the ST map. It was too steep and too rough for me for a super trail, even if it was easy to ride. At La Crettaz, I didn't feel like wasting the meters of elevation gained on a gravel path, so I took the trail towards Litro. With a few exceptions, this was completely rideable. In Trient, I decided to climb up to the Châlet du Glacier, which was also easy to ride except for the last few meters. There were still a few people on the road there, so I took a longer break before taking the climb to the Col de la Forcolaz. At this point, there were almost no pedestrians and, to my surprise, no bike ban. The bisse was very nice to ride and there were no problems with the people who were still on the road. On the other side, i.e. at the col, there was unsurprisingly a ban on bikes for the bisses, but I really couldn't have known that. Nevertheless, I would only recommend this variant at off-peak times. From the col, the route down to La Croix is mostly on meadow trails, quite fun if without any highlights.
I ride a Scott Genius Ultimate and am usually in the head group uphill; downhill I'm always the last one by a long way.
Ridden from Martiny on 22.7.21 perfect conditions. Only for experienced technical riders up to the viewpoint. Otherwise you have to carry your bike down again. Otherwise, turn right up the meadow directly behind the Alp. I found the route great, including the view. From Martigny to Martigny I would certainly plan 4 hours, more likely a little more.