We might be 2 weeks late with wishing it, but Happy New Year! Here’s hoping 2025 has started well for you wherever you are in the World.
Bikes have been shunned for boots and crampons here in the North of England since the start of the year, as deep snow, and cold icy conditions have meant a change to winter activities for a little while. It’s given us chance to do some bike maintenance ready for the year ahead though, and we know it won’t be long until we’re out there enjoying the trails again.
The 2024 season already seems like a lifetime ago, but when we think back, it was full of great times with good people in beautiful places. We hope those of you who joined us on a trip have similarly good memories and some photos to remind you of them too.
We started the year with a challenging day in the Lake District on the Four Passes route. This was a prerequisite day for those looking to join us on the Lake to Lake who hadn’t previously ridden with us, and the conditions certainly made it a tough day! All those who joined us were signed off to come on the trip, leaving with the hopes that the weather would be much better in Italy!
From here it was on up to Scotland, for our Cairngorms Classic Enduro trip, where we were joined by a lovely group of guys from Yorkshire. We were accompanied for the first time this year in the Cairngorms by driver and logistics legend Calum from Bothies and Bannocks adventure travel. It was a pleasure working with him and we’re looking forward to future trips together this year! We had some cold, crisp but sunny weather and even a bit of snow up on the munros.
Much of our time in the Spring is spent with private groups up in Scotland, and in 2024 we had several who had based themselves in the Tweed Valley, home to steep enduro trails in the woods, and a place we love sharing with experienced groups. The conditions were pretty perfect with good weather and the trails in grippy conditions, and warm enough to even sit outside for a post ride drink at the pub! It’s safe to say I think all of the guests who joined us will be heading back to explore more of what this amazing area has to offer.
Almost straight after our Scotland season finished, we headed out to Italy with a group of test riders for the inaugural Trans Ligurian Odyssey trip. This was a new trip run in collaboration with BackCountry Finale, a shuttle and guiding company based in Finale Ligure. Spending 6 days travelling between Finale and Molini di Triora, riding as many amazing trails in between these two places as possible and staying in small local accommodation with friendly hosts and delicious food. It was a fantastic week and we have no doubt it will be enjoyed by anyone who signs up in 2025! The quality of the trails and the abundance of tasty food and great ambience mean it’s sure to become a firm favourite!
And then it was on to the Alps for a long season of our usual trips. We spent June, part of July, and September in the Hautes-Alpes and Queyras, with mid-July and August back in Chamonix and the Haute-Savoie. This seems to work well with fitting in when the lift networks are open, but also enjoying the Hautes-Alpes when it’s not at it’s busiest and hottest times in mid-summer.
We had guests from the UK, USA, Canada, Norway, Czech republic, Poland, Germany, the Netherlands, Isle of Man, Ireland, and New Zealand joining us this year. It’s amazing hearing how people have come across Endless Trails and never ceases to amaze us how privileged we are to get to share the trails and these weeks with such an awesome bunch of folks from around the globe!
On the guiding team were Julia, Graham and Emily, and we had Fran and Andy helping with driving and logistics. It would be impossible to run these trips without a group of awesome folks helping, and it’s a pleasure to work with all of these fantastic people!
We finished up the season on our Italian Lake to Lake trips, usually a time where we’re enjoying the last of the sunshine, but unfortunately the weather gods were not smiling down on us, and instead we had some unseasonably cold wet weather! There were moments of sunshine though, and the hotels kept us warm with roaring fires and excellent food and drink as always.
And so it’s on to 2025 and looking like a busy year ahead again! We have our first trips in April in Scotland, and we’re spending some time plotting new destinations and tours north of the border for future years too. We’re keen to hear from you, our customers, where you would like to see these run, and what sort of format, so we’ve got a very quick initial survey question it would be great if you could complete for us…it’ll only take seconds to do so!
Here’s wishing everyone a great year ahead, we look forward to seeing many of you on our trips, but until then, happy trails!