Day 54: A big day in Bardonecchia
23 Aug 2011
Day 54: A great day of riding exploring the trails at Bardonecchia. We set off on the bikes first thing to have a good look around and scope some spots for photos later in the day. First up a bit of general info about the park. It’s a Kona Groove Approved Park with 3 separate lifts, although only 2 of them are linked by trails. The main centre is at Campo Smith, and trails link you to the Melezet lift a bit further up the valley. Be careful though, as this lift is only open on the weekends and on a Tuesday – lucky for us today! There is also the Biovey lift on the other side of town, which is only open on the weekends and on a Thursday – lucky for us again as we can check this out in a couple of days time. Both Campo and Melezet are 4-man chairlifts although each chair can only take either people or 1 bike on the hook. Can’t mix it up. Would only be a problem on days with lots of riders as it would somewhat slow the uplift capability. However a bonus point gained for not having to hitch your bike up yourself – a helpful chap will do it for you!
On to the main trails – there are 3 black and 1 red DH trail at Campo, and a black DH trail at Melezet. The trails that run between the 2 are mainly traverses with slight downhill gradients, and are simple winding single tracks and fire-roads the kind of which you would use to introduce your mum to biking. Not complaining though – still great to be pedaling bikes through woodland in this kind of scenery! The DH trails are fairly similar to each other – all fast twisting berms of various steepness. Dry hard-packed dirt which was bone dry today even after 2 hours of heavy rain last night, so drainage is good. The exception is trail ‘14D’ running round the outside in Campo, which is a natural trail with some steep rocky sections that is great fun. Not at the top end of the scale in terms of technical difficulty but still tricky to ride fast. All the trails are numbered (rather than named) and they are very well signposted. The Campo Smith lift has lots going on at the base – it seems to be the main centre of tourist activity in the town. There is a big adventure rope park for the kids (and big kids), with bars and restaurants to chill out in. It’s also where the Kona bike hire shop is. And there is plenty of easy free parking if your rock up in your huge pick-up.
Today we explored the trails with Alex from the hire shop, and local (ish) rider Riccardo, and these guys gave us plenty of opportunities to get some great photos. A few of the best from the day…
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