It can only be reached via winding country roads. Even from Freiburg, which is close to the border, the journey takes 2 hours. Tip: You can combine the trip to La Bresse with a visit to the Lac Blanc park. It is almost next door (42 km) and impressed us with its fun trails (9 points). La Bresse also benefits from the ideal low mountain terrain: not too steep, interspersed with boulders and covered in light-coloured deciduous forest.
La Bresse is a ski resort with a modern chairlift with an altitude difference of almost 300 metres and all the infrastructure you could wish for. There are even pump tracks, airbag jumps and practice courses at the valley station. In addition to the pure park trails, La Bresse also offers enduro tours in the surrounding area - which adds to the offer. Drawback: The opening hours are limited to weekends and holidays for a long time; the park is only open continuously between 18 July and 23 August.
The routes in La Bresse
The strength of the bike park lies in the variety of trails. The French claim a total of fifteen trails. However, only four of these are real park runs and two are freeride/enduro descents - but that's something. The centrepiece of the park are the red stunt trails D5 and D7 under the lift. They are peppered with table jumps, step-ups, hips, boner logs and gaps. Many of them are perfectly constructed with wide landing zones. While D5 is rather blue in terms of difficulty (with low stunt density), we found D7 to be dark red with lots of gimmicks. Some doubles, drop-offs or the lower 3-metre gap in D7 are unnecessarily tricky.
Once you leave the stunt plateau on both trails, the descents seem bombed out. Good on the other hand: the Northshore elements near the valley station. The black downhill in the forest is largely natural, somewhat old-school, but varied: steep, twisty, rooty with a few wooden gaps, doubles and rock drop-offs. It quickly becomes slippery when wet. The blue runs D3 and D4 and the green D2 are mostly natural in the beautiful deciduous forest. There are only a few built features here, but the runs are still fun. They are suitable for beginners, enduro riders and for warming up. Pleasant: The day ticket costs 20 euros - which is favourable in comparison.
INFO
Routes 6 car park departures
Lift Chairlift
Start of the season 14 May
Opening hours 9.00 - 18.00 hrs
Day ticket 20 Euro
Bike hire Yes
Driving technique school Yes
Info phone +33 (0) 3 29 25 68 78
Info www.bikepark-labresse.labellemontagne.com
Distances
Stuttgart 3.5 hours
Munich 5.5 hours
Frankfurt 4 hours
Berlin 9 hours
Innsbruck 5.5 hours
Basel 1.5 hours
CHARACTER
Freeride 3 out of 4 points
Slopestyle 3 out of 4 points
Downhill 3 out of 4 points
DIFFICULTY
Beginners 3 out of 4 points
Advanced 4 out of 4 points
Expert 3 out of 4 points
CONCLUSION:
The La Bresse bike park near the German border is well worth a visit. Many trails and well-built stunts provide variety and fun - for beginners and experts alike. It's a shame that it's a little out of the way.
FREERIDE judgement 8 out of 10 points
Dimitri Lehner
Editor
