As the UK’s weather becomes ever colder and/or wetter, thoughts inevitably turn to sunshine and dusty trails. From there it’s but a short mental hop to planning 2010’s holidays, and the choice for MTB trips gets ever larger.

New into the fray is Singletrack Safari, a new company that’s promising a “completely unique approach”. Forgoing the usual centre-based arrangement, Singletrack Safari shifts its entire operation from country to country at different times of year, using mobile facilities and ferrying riders between the best trails that a region has to offer.

The example the company gives is its Ultimate Alps trip, during which Singletrack Safari customers can enjoy natural trails around Chamonix, ride the route of the Pass’Portes Du Soleil, see the best of Les Gets and Morzine, experience the route of the Megavalanche and explore the amazing trails at Les Deux Alpes.

In order to make the experience as professional and memorable for clients as possible, Singletrack Safari has invested heavily in its equipment. Guests travel in a specially-converter VW Transporter, offering enhanced comfort including a high end video and audio system, which even has a socket to allow helmet cameras to be connected so clients can watch the best of the day’s riding footage on the journey home.

Bikes travel in a secure box trailer which converts into a fully equipped mobile workshop, with work stands, lighting for working at night and bike washing facilities. The trailer can carry up to 16 complete bikes inside, protected from the elements, with custom internal racking that adjusts to hold bikes gently in place.

Martin Hills, Director of Singletrack Safari, explains:

“Traditional mountain biking holidays offer a centre-based package. We have been on many of those types of holidays, and they all suffer from the same restriction: it’s very hard to find a week’s worth of outstanding high quality trails. Most holidays provide you with one or two great rides, but the remainder simply aren’t as memorable. We have spent over two decades riding in locations all over Europe, and have a huge amount of trail knowledge to share with our clients. We’ve designed a holiday format which means that we are not restricted by a geographical location, which allows us to offer an utterly iconic or incredible trail for riders to experience every single day!”

Accommodation is in quality hotels, and the company’s guides extend their responsibilities into the evenings. Georgina Hills, Director, adds:

 “We’ve spent a great amount of effort researching not only the finest trails available, but also the best restaurants, bars and entertainment in each location. We are holiday guides – not just biking guides. Therefore we make sure that we show clients all of the best places to go when they are off their bikes – for example, not only can we recommend the best places to eat for any budget, but we can often recommend the best dishes on each menu and help make sure that language barriers cause no problems!”

Now that’s our kind of research…

The company offers eight holiday destinations, including “Wild Scotland” which explores the north of Scotland from the Cairngorms to Skye, “Ultimate Alps” which is a twin centre holiday offering both XC and DH experiences, “Andorran Altitude” based in the Pyrenean principality explores the amazing untapped riding for both XC and DH riders around its borders. “Spanish Trail Tapas” is a true trail riders dream exploring many different areas of Andalucía with a great variety of terrain. There are also holidays in the South West of the UK (“Wild West” – Dartmoor, Exmoor, Quantocks, and Mendips), North Wales (“Explorer” – the best Snowdonian natural trails and man-made centres), Scottish Borders (“Scottish Stanes” – not just the famed 7 Stanes but the best of the borders riding) and South Wales (“Trailmaster” – Brecon Beacons, Black Mountains and the finest man-made riding).

Singletrack Safari is now taking bookings for the 2010 season. There’s currently an interim website at  www.singletracksafari.com with more details (and some competitions to win holidays), with an all-new site coming online in the new year.