High-Altitude MTB in the Valais: When Adventure Starts Outside the Office Window

Let's be honest: at Exoride we love filling up our passports. We've spent years crossing time zones to track down improbable trails at the far end of the world, mixing committed riding with local culture and putting together trips that genuinely leave the beaten path.

But sometimes the most epic adventure needs no airport check-in at all. Just look up from your screen, glance out of the window and think: what if I went up there to see for myself?

The Val d'Entremont, the valley that leads to Italy

The Entremont is the valley climbing from Sembrancher to the Great St Bernard pass, through Orsières, Liddes and Bourg-Saint-Pierre, with the Val Ferret and the Val de Bagnes branching off it. A valley of passage for centuries, walked by pilgrims and merchants on their way to Italy, watched over by the Grand Combin and the Mont Vélan.

For mountain biking, that makes for rare terrain: historic mule tracks, quiet side valleys, and a spread of altitude that lets you ride from the glacier down to the vineyards of the Rhône.

The Orny glacier, our next-door neighbour

That's exactly what Chris Dassi, founder and long-time guide at Exoride, did on a solo escape last autumn: heading into the Entremont, right opposite our Exo'base, to go and say hello to the Orny glacier.

The Orny glacier sits above Champex-Lac, at the top of the Combe d'Orny, below the Aiguilles Dorées and the Pointe d'Orny, on the Swiss side of the Mont Blanc massif. It's high-hut country, with the Orny hut and then the Trient hut higher still, on the glacial plateau.

From the Exo'base you can make it out every morning without even starting the car. Yet two hours of climbing are enough to change worlds entirely: the larch forest gives way to alpine pastures, then to slabs, and finally to ice.

Flow, 4/4 style: the art of never getting bored

The ground keeps alternating between slabs, technical singletrack and faster, more flowing sections, with that constant reading of the terrain that makes advanced riding so absorbing. Nothing is ever repeated, and nothing is ever quite where you expect it.

It's the same playground as our all-mountain tour in the Entremont valley, with one difference: the guide already knows the lines.

Riding the high mountains without picking the wrong day

High-altitude terrain doesn't forgive improvisation: conditions shift fast, the ground is loose, and the technical level climbs quickly. That's why our level 3/4 shuttle days and our tours are graded precisely, and why the guide adapts the route to the weather on the day.

Why ride with us, in the Valais or further afield

Because we live here, at the Exo'base in Orsières, and because we ride these valleys all year round. Because a guide who knows the trails saves you hours of searching and keeps you off the sections that aren't worth it. And because whether it's a day out here or a trip to the other side of the world, the approach stays the same.

Have a look at our tours and trips, or read our report on the Megavalanche 2026.