June
28th 2005
A
few days ago I finished my latest 'Hans Rey Adventure Team' trip together
with Cross Country legend Thomas Frischknecht from Switzerland. We
did a 6 day freeride tour in the heart of the Alps utilizing ski-lifts,
gondolas, trains and shuttles to get around and to the top of some
of the best singletrails in the world. We did close to 60,000 ft (20,000
m) vertical downhill trails. The Alta Rezia regions consists of approx.
40 villages partly Swiss and partly Italian; our route started in
St. Moritz via Tirano via Livigno to Bormio, with many detours and
surprises along the way.
As usual we had a filmcrew
in tow (Halsundbeinbruch Film), who filmed in HD format for a DVD
and to produce royalty-free TV footage; as well as photographer Stefan
Eisend, who is also producing a royalty-free photo CD. Our complete
crew was on bikes, which really helped us keep the pace and move along
very efficient.
The "Alta Rezia Freeride"
will become a permanent route for people to ride on their own in the
future. One can either ride the entire 6 day route or choose any individual
stage, always using public transportation to get up the mountains
or back to the point of origin. The region will provide maps, a DVD
and GPS coordinates free of charge in 2006 to follow our tire marks
(www.alta-rezia.com).
Frischi
was the perfect partner for this trip. The Freeride boom is just about
to hit Europe and our diverse backgrounds - Mr. Cross Country and
Mr. Extreme - were the perfect combination for this trip. But we also
have much in common besides our passion for mountain bikes and Italy,
we are both Swiss, World Champions, Mountain Bike Hall of Famers and
both of us have been around since the early days of mountain biking.
Frischi rode a Scott Genius
MC10 (5 inch) with a Fox Float 130 XTT fork, I rode a brand-new prototype
GT i-drive 7 (7 inch) with a Fox 36 fork.
Day
1:
St. Moritz - Celerina - Marguns - Alp Survretta - Bever - Bernina
- Murtas Muragl - Pontresina
It
couldn't have been more Swiss than this, with the exception of meeting
Heidi, we just about experienced it all: majestic glaciers, delicious
chocolate, fresh cheese, happy cows, red-cheeked jodelers with alphorns,
the famous red mountain train and bunches of curious japanese tourists.
We had a full day which started out at the recently launched Frischi
Bike School in Celerina from there we took our first gondola. From
the top we had a short 30 minute climb with incredible views of St.
Moritz and the surrounding glaciers and mountains. The first 1,5 hour
downhill took us to the town of Bever were we waited for a short while
for the "Rhätische Bahn" - the famous red mountain
train - which took us for a small fee to the Bernina Pass. From there
we descended past the Morteratsch Glacier down to Murtas Muragl where
we jumped on the next Gondola for our last and final downhill of the
day. I almost took my eye out on a dead tree branch which I didn't
notice, since I was focusing on the trail rather than the tree. I
got quite lucky, my Evil Eye glasses prevented me from getting an
evil eye. The branch broke off but scratched me like Zoro across the
entire face. Frischi had his own wake up call when he practiced half
a backflip. We were very tired and sunburned after the last singletrail
to Pontresina, where we stayed in the Sport Hotel.
Day
2:
Pontresina - Bernina - Poschiavo - Tirano - Poschiavo
Early
morning we rolled from the hotel to the train station and took the
little red train to the top of the Bernina Pass at 2253m (7391ft).
We dropped down on the south side of the Alps past the Palü Glacier
to the idillic town of Poschiavo at the most Eastern tip of Switzerland.
We started out in the snow and continued on some breathtaking trails,
hit a sweet wallride and rode for hours through alpine meadows, forests
and remote alpine settlements where traditional farmers made sure
their cows got to eat only the best grass and wildflowers. One of
the cool things about the Alps is, as remote as you can be at times
there is always a mountain hut or small family restaurant nearby,
where one can get typical local snacks and refreshments. We stopped
in Poschiavo at the only bike shop in town, which is about half the
size of my garage. From there we took a car shuttle (which is also
available upon reservation to the public), and shuttled on top of
Col d'Anzana from where we had 1800m (6,000 ft.) downhill to Tirano.
Along the way we had another 1 hour hike n' bike before we did the
endless descend, somewhere along the way we had crossed the boarder
to Italy, without ever realizing that we did. Part
of the trail was on old military roads which were built in World War
1, they always have a 8% incline, and zickzack up sheer cliffs. Halfway
down I went through my first set of brake pads and had to brake metal
on metal for the rest of the day. We also met some locals who were
super stoked to find us on their trails, they invited us to the local
winery and a Pizzocheri dinner that night. It was quite an impressive
day, after starting in the snow to descend all the way to the 'Veltliner'
vineyards. After dark we took the train back to Poschiavo where we
spent the night in a 325 year old hotel.
Day
3:
Poschiavo - Bernina - Alp Stretta - Carosello 3000 - Val Federia -
Livigno
Another
beautiful sunny day awaited us, only shadowed by Frischi's small hangover.
Again we started our day with a train ride, the trains are super reliable
and almost always have a special wagon for the transportation of bikes.
From the top of Bernina we had a short downhill to Diavolezza, from
where we had to climb the beautiful Val de Fein Valley for about 2
hours, Frischi could have probably done it in half the time but he
had mercy for me and rode my pace. From there we crossed once again
the green boarder to Italy and faced one of the most technical descends
of our trip. Nobody had ever ridden the whole trail clean without
getting off their bike, so it was my turn to give her a go. It turned
out to be quite challenging and I have to admit that I put my foot
down on three occasions, two of them were loose uphill traverse sections,
however I never got off my bike, and was quite happy with my run.
From
there we head towards the outskirts of Livigno, site of the 2005 Mountain
Bike World Championships in September. Livigno is bicycle heaven off
and on the road. They are in the process of building some bike parks
right now and together with the taxfree shopping and nightlife, I
have to award them the 'Whistler of Europe" award. I love this
place.
Before heading into town
we stopped at the Carosello 3000 Gondola and took a ride to 2796m
(9173ft.). From there we rode down the backside through Val de Federia
to Livigno. Clouds started to move in but it didn't rain on us. Towards
the bottom we joined part of the 36km long 'Panoramica Livigno' Singletrail
which was built especially for mountain bikes and winds all the way
around town.
I guess the days when
XC racers didn't know how to properly descent are over, Frischi proved
what I had expected, not once did I have to wait for him; in contrary,
he attacked quite frequently. We had some fun duels down the mountains.
We
ran out of time to pre-run the World Championship downhill course,
which could have been another option for additional frequent flyer
miles. The great thing about this 'Alta Rezia Freeride' is that there
are many more options and alternatives to the itinerary than we had
chosen.
We stayed at the Hotel
Concordia, one of the 10 Bike Hotels in town.
Day
4:
Livigno - Trepalle - Alp Trela - Laghi di Cancano - Bormio - Bormio
3000 - Santa Caterina
We
left Livigno via the Mottolino Gondola, after a short downhill we
had a beautiful early morning climb, partly on a trail that was personally
built by the Major of Livigno. We stopped for a glass of fresh milk
and descended to the Lakes of Cancano, where I met a guy who I'll
never forget for the rest of my life. Silvio. He was the local mountain
bike expert, and ran the Mountain Bike School and Bike Station for
the Stelvio National Park;
but he was also the ultimate super Frischi fan. He was soooooo excited
to meet the "Grande "Frisch-neck" and il "Grande
Ans Rey"!!! He knew everything about mountain bikes and the history
of the sport, and he was sporting an orginal Richey Plexus hardtail,
which went really well with his colorful lycra outfit. He gave us
some pointers for our afternoon route, where a proper first descent
awaited us, and we made plans to meet him again in a couple of days
time to ride with us. After we had lunch in the ancient village of
Bormio we went up Bormio 3000 Gondola to 3011m (9879 ft.) to be the
first to attempt the backside on bikes. As soon we got up there, the
weather started to turn on us, we already could hear and see thunder
and lightning in the sky and the first rain drops started to fall.
The first few miles was just endless rocks, without a proper trail,
just every 50 yards was a painted rock with the number of the hiking
trail we were on. Sometimes those rocks were hard to see and the trail
wasn't obvious at all. I was glad it wasn't too foggy. I was able
to ride most of it except a few uphill sections. No one was in sight
all afternoon, not even a remote settlement or mountain hut. It was
quite
eire, after a while we hit some alpine, rocky meadows, we had to cross
several creeks and the wet grass didn't make things any easier. We
came by some picturesque lakes and it looked like in the Scottish
Highlands. All we could think about was to beat the storm down the
hill. The adventure factor definitely kicked in. Frischi wasn't too
happy when he told me that his carbon frame especially attracts lightning.
After a tough hour of technical descending we finally saw a proper
trail and a settlement far below us, when we finally got there we
had another 45 minutes of gravel roads and forest trails to arrive
soaking wet at the village of Santa Caterina.
Day
5:
Santa Caterina - Val Cedec - Passo Zebru - Val Zebru - Bormio
"Super,
Super, Super and one more time Super" were the words we were
greeted by Silvio, our super fan, when we walked outside the hotel.
And those words were also the motto for the rest of our trip. Its
been a long time that I laughed more than on this day. The sun was
shinning once again and he was there waiting for us with the shuttle
driver from the National Park, who offers this service to anybody
upon reservation and a small fee. We drove up to the Pizzini hut,
where we were supposed to have stayed, but due to the bad weather
we had to stay in the valley. It would have been an awesome place
to wake up to, surrounded by glaciers and pure nature. From there
we had another hour of climbing to the top of the Pass Zebru and to
the highest point on our tour at 3029m (10,000 ft.). All day long
I was blown away by the beauty of this place and by Silvio and his
funny comments. He was definitely a Cross Country style rider, he
had to carry his bike most of the way down until we hit proper trails
again. The top part was very technical with big patches of soft snow,
which were nearly unridable. Some sections were so steep that they
had permanent metal ropes afixed to help hikers find there way down.
Once again I managed to ride almost every section of the trail, even
Thomas had to push his ride a few times, but I had earlier pushed
my bike way more on the uphill while he was still riding effortless
through the thin air.
Half way down the valley
we came by a cozy little baita or hut, a cute old couple operated
this place where they were staying all summer making all the food
in house, from the bread, sausage, cheese, cake, all the way to the
homemade
wildflower schnaps. The rest of the downhill, the remaining 2000 ft.
vertical was mainly on gravel roads all the way back to Bormio, where
we got to enjoy the ancient Roman hot springs at the Bagni Nuovo.
Nothing better than a nice mud bath at the end of a long day......
Day
6:
Bormio - Pedenolo - Bormio
To celebrate
our final day Fadri and Darco Cazin, the Alta Rezia representatives,
had a special surprise for us arranged. Instead of the National Park
Jeep shuttle, we had a helicopter waiting for us to take us up near
the famous Stelvio massif and the Umbrail pass from where we did a
sick downhill, not only once but twice, for filming purposes. At some
points the helicopter almost blew us off the trail when they were
filming us. It was a perfect way to end a great trip. We all had a
good time and big grin's on our faces. Frischi took his freeriding
skills to new levels, and I took my Swiss German dialect to new levels
(I usually speak German). And we both realized how many more trails
there are to be ridden in this region in the future.
This
form of transalp riding will find many more fans in the future and
will bring many new people to biking and to nature. And just for the
record, don't you think we didn't get a workout just because we had
some help on the uphills.
Hans
More info on this tour
will be available soon on: www.alta-rezia.com
Check out: www.frischi.ch www.hansrey.com
The premier of the DVD will be during the World Championships in September.
All photos courtesey: Stefan
Eisend/ Alta Rezia
Check
out the photos below:
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