ULTIMATE PYRENEES MOUNTAIN BIKE TOUR
The Ultimate Pyrenees mountain bike tour is something really special. The trip uses mules and helicopters to get us to the highest mountains it is possible to ride in the Pyrenees and also to let us sleep high up in the mountains. This is a trip only for people who have been on a previous mountain bike holiday with basqueMTB and who we feel will cope with the technical and physical challenges. Please get in touch if you are interested.
“amazing, endless single track, unforgettable descents”
Muriel (MTB Pro)
“Most awesome trip ever don’t change a thing!!!”
Andy (UK)
The Ultimate Pyrenees mountain bike tour is is a point to point trip, sleeping in different places most nights and having an adventure as we ride around, along and across the highest mountains in the Pyrenees. We will use traditional mules to carry our equipment on two days, and also to supply two high mountain camps for us. There will be one big helicopter journey to link two trails on one very special day of mountain biking, descending around 4000m. Each day there will be some pedalling, carrying and pushing to reach the top and everyone needs to be capable of this.
With over 20,000m descending the Ultimate Pyrenees mountain bike tour is a unique and extremely high level mountain bike adventure. A once in a life time experience.
ULTIMATE PYRENEES MOUNTAIN BIKE HOLIDAY PHOTOS
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Mountain Bike Tour
- 7 nights
6.5 days guiding
All shuttles
All food and wine
Tasting of local produce and wine
ULTIMATE MOUNTAIN BIKE TOUR DETAILS
Overview
Ultimate Pyrenees Mountain Bike Tour: What’s Included
- 7 Nights High Quality Accomodation + Camps
- 6.5 Guiding
- All shuttles
- Transfers from San Sebastian or Biarritz Airport
- All food and wine
- Local produce tasting
- Up to 20,000m of descending
- Around 6,000m of climbing
“Absolutely hands down my best riding week ever”
Pete Scullion (Wideopen and various magazines!)
Biking
Ultimate Pyrenees MTB Tour: The Biking
Riding all day, from dawn to dusk often. Hike-a-bike to reach the highest peaks. Heli-drops. More than 20,000m of descending in a week. The Ultimate Pyrenees Mountain Bike Tour has all of these things and even for the guides it is an intense experience. It is our only mountain bike holiday which I give the guides time off to recover from!
This trip uses uplift of course however you will be climbing around 1000m each day and descending on average between 3000m and 4000m of high mountain singletrack each day. It is NOT the same as descending the same amount in a bike park!
We rate our holidays for fitness and skill levels. To find out more about how we do this and an overview of the grades we use, check out our mountain bike holiday skills and fitness guide.
Skill Level
Our Ultimate Pyrenees Mountain bike tour has been designed for expert riders. This is partly due to the level of the trails but more importantly it is because you will be riding thousands and thousands of meters of technical singletrack each day so need a lot of experience to cope with this safely.
Fitness
Up to 1000m climbing a day. Between 1 and 2 hours of bike pushing and carrying each day. To enjoy this mountain bike tour safely you will need an excellent level of fitness. Don’t panic though if you are not there yet we can help you with some training ideas.
The Ultimate Pyrenees mountain bike tour is not something which we can offer to anyone. It would be a recipe for disaster and very irresponsible of us as mountain bike guides. This is something that you might need to work towards, train for, improve your skills and set as an objective. We simply will not consider offering this trip to people who have not ridden with us on another mountain bike holiday.
Logistics
Ultimate Pyrenees Mountain Bike Tour Logistics
Arrival
Most people arrive to Bilbao Airport, however Biarritz is also good. If you are flying via Madrid or Barcelona you might be able to arrive to Hondarribia Airport for the shortest transfer.
If you are coming by car then the ferry to Bilbao or Santander is a good option from the UK. Additionally you can contact us for the most up to date advice.
From Paris you can take the TGV direct to Hendaye.
We need you to be in San Sebastian by 12am. This isn´t flexible and most people arrive the night before. On the arrival day we have a ride and we need to reach our first camp before dark!
Departure
We will get you back to Barcelona airport for around 12:00 on the last Saturday. You can arrange a flight from around 13:00 onwards.
Accommodation
Our High Pyrenees mountain bike tour has two types of accommodation. When we stay in towns we will stay in nice hotels so that we get time to recover and sleep in a proper bed! When we stay in the mountains we will be camping and these nights we will be supported by a train of mules so we have drinks and a proper meal plus our tents and sleeping stuff. You do not need to carry any equipment with you while we ride.
Calendar
Please just contact us for dates. We will run one public trip a year but you can also reserve this trip for a group of 6 friends and have it private for you. One of your party needs to have holidayed with us before and vouch for the rest of the group.
FAQs
Here are some of the questions we are regularly asked about our mountain bike holidays. If you have any questions we are delighted to answer them, just get in touch.
Do you have an itinerary for your Ultimate Pyrenees Mountain Bike Holiday?
This trip does run to an itinerary. You can get a good idea of the trip in this article: Ultimate Pyrenees trip preparation or have a look at the videos from the first tour we ran.
I don’t want to do a week’s mountain bike holiday, can I do a shorter break?
Sorry but shorter trips just aren’t possible on this trip.
What are the group sizes on a typical mountain bike holiday?
This trip runs with two groups of 6 people and 2 guides.
My partner doesn’t mountain bike but would like to join our holiday, is this possible?
This isn’t a trip for non-riding partners. You can take all the photos home and show them afterwards though!
What other equipment do I need for this trip?
You will need a good 3 season sleeping bag and sleeping mat. A good warm jacket and trousers for sitting round the tents when the sun goes down. We will provide a full kit list when you book on this trip.
Who can come on this trip?
Really this is a trip for people who we know. If you have done one of our other trips then get in touch and we will give you all the details and talk you through it.
How come it´s so expensive compared to your other trips?
To put it simply, it is thanks to the helicopter and the high mountain campsites. These things are expensive but it makes for an incredible experience. We really thought about cutting things from this trip to make it more affordable but then you would be better off doing our Backcountry Pyrenees or High Pyrenees trip. This is a very special trip, for people who want that experience and that is what it costs.
Our Ultimate Pyrenees mountain bike tour is special. We are the only company in the Pyrenees with experience of offering this trip Even as the most experienced mountain bike guiding team in the Pyrenees it is a very challenging trip to run safely and efficiently, however we have run several trips now and the feedback from the lucky guests is incredible. With nights high in the mountains under the stars, endless descents, long climbs to reach remote mountain passes, helicopter uplift, and mule support, this is something very, very special. It is also very, very intense! I think you already know if this is the trip for you!
Riding
Obviously for this trip the riding is off the scale. The advantage of the hikes and special uplifts is that we can get to ride the trails that way fewer bikers ever ride.
Nights
The nights spent in tents under the stars high up in the Pyrenees. These nights make this trip something special. It can be cold, uncomfortable but it is never anything other than spectacular.
Uplifts
Rather what the uplifts allow us to do. An uplift in a helicopter is cool but really it is not what makes this trip special. You can do a helicopter uplift cheaply in other places. Very careful use of these uplifts allows us to use basqueMTBs experience to link together amazing, adventurous days.
Adventure
This is a true point to point, working our way across the Pyrenees mountains. It makes a big adventure and adds a lot to this trip. It is the challenge that is the main reason to do this trip. If this doesn´t appeal then honestly do two of our other Pyrenees trips instead! These long mornings to reach high mountain passes form a massive part of the Ultimate Pyrenees experience.
ULTIMATE PYRENEES | RELATED PAGES
Before you book why not have a look at some of our Ultimate Pyrenees stories and related holidays.
