Sorry to jump in, but I'm convinced I can help out
Cornish Neil wrote:Amazing - I haven't been on this site for a while but came on to specifically ask about fat biking in the Jura and this popped up!
A mate and I do a "silly" winter trip once a year, it usually involves type 2 fun and being very cold and on the edge of what we are physically capable of, and takes most of the year to recover from mentally!! We are based in Cornwall and realised that for £20 more than flying to Scotland we could fly to Geneva...
The plan so far is to do the GTJ (grand traverse of the Jura) on either fat bikes, or maybe XC skis, carrying our own kit and camping, maybe with a night of warm accommodation in the middle if we are feeling soft. Probably 6 days, 5 nights.
If anybody (Gairy?!) can help with any of the below it would be much appreciated:
We don't own fat bikes or XC skis, so would need to hire them, presumably this is easy enough? Do we need to pre-book?
Is transport to the start/ finish easy from Geneva airport? Do we need to pre-book?
Could we get away with normal MTBs with 2.4" tyres on groomed trails or are fat bikes essential?
Presumably we are allowed to ride bikes on the groomed trails?
I see organised ski-tours cover 20-35 km per day, this doesn't seem very far... Will we go faster than slower than an average skier on this terrain on bikes?!
Any other advice?!
Thanks
"We don't own fat bikes or XC skis, so would need to hire them, presumably this is easy enough? Do we need to pre-book?"
You can rent fat bikes in the Goms, Valais, in Pontresina, Graubünden and in the Area of Gstaad and Zweisimmen, but I don't know of rentals in the Jura. Google bike shops in Biel, Neuchatel and drop them an email.
"Is transport to the start/ finish easy from Geneva airport? Do we need to pre-book?"
Yes. It's all trains. Only very few Trains in Switzerland need pre booking. Check out
http://www.sbb.ch/home.html for timetables and bike Transport restrictions (which are very few). A full Jura traverse from Basel to Geneva would be really easy to access by Train. But... expensive. There are Tourist tickets you might want to check out. You can do that once you arrive in Geneva. Probably easier then from UK.
"Could we get away with normal MTBs with 2.4" tyres on groomed trails or are fat bikes essential?"
Depends on how much snow's lying. Generally above 1000 m you can only ride on the cleared roads in winter in the Jura with regular tyres. There are no groomed trails for fat bikes and you're asking for lots of trouble if you take your fat bike on groomed BC ski trails. Wouldn't be nice for those who ride there regulary as they will be accused of riding on groomed trails/tracks too.
"Presumably we are allowed to ride bikes on the groomed trails?"
Definately not! There are a few hiking trails and snow shoe trails you may use, but they don't nearly span across the Jura. More like loops/short hikes around the tourist hot spots.
Check
http://www.skidefond.ch/index.php?lang=de for routes, but do yourself and the Swiss/French fat bike community a favour and don't use groomed BC tracks. If you're eager to use them, take BC skis. They can be hired at every cow shed.
"I see organised ski-tours cover 20-35 km per day, this doesn't seem very far... Will we go faster than slower than an average skier on this terrain on bikes?! "
On groomed trails it is indeed not far. Off track BC skiing 35-50 km is a lot if you're bracking tracks yourself incl. camping gear. Same/similar goes for fat biking.
In the Engadin there are alot of groomed trails hikers share with skiers and 9 out of 10 times I'm faster.
"Any other advice?!"
Go late. Risk low snow, but going around mid March the chances are biggest that you can cover ground anywhere you want efficiently and don't need groomed tracks, cleared roads and stuff. Make most of the early hours of the day, when there's a crust that will carry you.
I've too been thinking of a self sketched out route to traverse the length of the Jura. Truth be said, you need to wait for the right Moment. Some days it will take you 10 h to cover 25 km, some days 10 h for 120 km.
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