In Search of Singletrack in the Alps

I have just redesigned some www-pages about singletrack riding in the Alps,
http://www.lowdin.nu/MTB/singletrack...eTrack2000.htm nothing new
really, but they are a lot easier to navigate.

Per
http;//lowdin.nu

"Per Löwdin" wrote in message
...
I have just redesigned some www-pages about singletrack riding in the
Alps,
http://www.lowdin.nu/MTB/singletrack...eTrack2000.htm nothing new
really, but they are a lot easier to navigate.

Per
http;//lowdin.nu

I was in Cortina, IT for a week of riding. I found it really easy to find
the riding. We rode trail 409, Passo Forcella la rosa and some others that
was awesome. Check it out http://www.gvii.net/hundtoft/pagetwo.html

The info is dated from 1998 some things are sure to have changed.

TJ

"Per Löwdin" wrote in message ...
I have just redesigned some www-pages about singletrack riding in the Alps,
http://www.lowdin.nu/MTB/singletrack...eTrack2000.htm nothing new
really, but they are a lot easier to navigate.

Per
http;//lowdin.nu

Per, just wanted to know your website and pictures and stories are all
beautiful and very inspiring.

I have just redesigned some www-pages about singletrack riding in the
Alps,
http://www.lowdin.nu/MTB/singletrack...eTrack2000.htm nothing new
really, but they are a lot easier to navigate.

I was in Cortina, IT for a week of riding. I found it really easy to find
the riding. We rode trail 409, Passo Forcella la rosa and some others
that
was awesome. Check it out http://www.gvii.net/hundtoft/pagetwo.html

Glad you liked Cortina. We planned to do the 409 returning from Forz
Travenzes and Val Travenze doing a circuit of the Tofanas. However, when we
started to ascend Forz Travenzes we were met by nasty signs banning MTBs.

The info is dated from 1998 some things are sure to have changed.

Maybe, as I wrote,
http://www.lowdin.nu/MTB/singletrack...0/Cortina.html, we did not
feel at ease at all in Cortina, so it will be a while before we go back. In
fact all other places we visited in Italy were far more friendly for MTB.

Per
http://lowdin.nu

"Per Löwdin" wrote in message
...
I have just redesigned some www-pages about singletrack riding in the
Alps,
http://www.lowdin.nu/MTB/singletrack...eTrack2000.htm nothing
new
really, but they are a lot easier to navigate.

I was in Cortina, IT for a week of riding. I found it really easy to
find
the riding. We rode trail 409, Passo Forcella la rosa and some others
that
was awesome. Check it out http://www.gvii.net/hundtoft/pagetwo.html

Glad you liked Cortina. We planned to do the 409 returning from Forz
Travenzes and Val Travenze doing a circuit of the Tofanas. However, when
we
started to ascend Forz Travenzes we were met by nasty signs banning MTBs

Was this recent. I.E. the last couple of years? The signs were probably
put there by a non official source.


The info is dated from 1998 some things are sure to have changed.

Maybe, as I wrote,
http://www.lowdin.nu/MTB/singletrack...0/Cortina.html, we did not
feel at ease at all in Cortina, so it will be a while before we go back.
In
fact all other places we visited in Italy were far more friendly for MTB.

Per
http://lowdin.nu




We stayed at a campground named "Dolomite". There was an american that
worked there. His name is John. He has lived there for the last 25 years.
He used to herd cattle up on the hills there. He is the one that gave us
the info on the trails. If you go again ask around for John the American.
Everyone knows him there. He will point you in the direction of the good
rides.

TJ

Was this recent. I.E. the last couple of years? The signs were probably
put there by a non official source.

It was in July and August 2000. The signs were highly official I am afraid.
There is in fact a law which banns cycling on any path that is more narrow
than 1 metre. In most places no one cares but in Cortina the local
authorities have put up signs in a lot of places. It was quite
disappointing.

The info is dated from 1998 some things are sure to have changed.

Maybe, as I wrote,
http://www.lowdin.nu/MTB/singletrack...0/Cortina.html, we did not
feel at ease at all in Cortina, so it will be a while before we go back.

We stayed at a campground named "Dolomite". There was an american that
worked there. His name is John. He has lived there for the last 25
years.
He used to herd cattle up on the hills there. He is the one that gave us
the info on the trails. If you go again ask around for John the American.
Everyone knows him there. He will point you in the direction of the good
rides.

We stayed at a place called Rocchetta, if I recall it correctly, down by the
river. Have camped there several times, as we have been climbing around
Cortina a couple of times. In August it was extremely overprized. The rides
we did were not bad. But there was not much singletrack. Considering the
cost and effort of going there it was not worth the money. There is much
better riding in Livigno or Lago di Garda.

Cortina is a peculiar place. It is a kind of playground for really rich
people of the most boring kind kind one can imagine. Don´t even have sense
to have some fun with their money. Among the self styled classic resorts,
Cortina, Chamonix, Zermatt, Kitzbuhl, St Anton, St Moritz and Davos, it is
certainly the one that it is least worthwhile to visit: lots of interdictive
signs about cycling, to climb you have to ride a car to the foot of the
climb, and there is rarely any snow and if there is the pistes are not even
half as good as in any of the other "classic" resorts.

Now, if you can find good rides around Cortina that is fine, but we will
certainly look elsewhere for good rides. Don´t like to feel like some kind
of felon when we go for a ride.

Per
http://lowdin.nu

The Rough Stuff Fellowship has information on singletrack riding in
the Alps, and I remember seeing another site that had hand-drawn maps
available of trails connecting Alpine roads (I remember one that ran
from Col de Sarenne, next to Alpe-d'Huez, to the Col de la Croix de
Fer, for example). Danged if I can remember that site, though, and my
book marks got hosed a couple weeks ago. :-( Jobst Brandt has told
stories of riding old Roman roads in the hinterlands of the Alps and
there's a few photos of such on the Palo Alto Cycles Web site.

The Rough Stuff Fellowship has information on singletrack riding in
the Alps, and I remember seeing another site that had hand-drawn maps
available of trails connecting Alpine roads (I remember one that ran
from Col de Sarenne, next to Alpe-d'Huez, to the Col de la Croix de
Fer, for example).

Yes, there are appeared to be lots of places in France that were really
good. Unfortunately, we were running out of time, so we just passed most of
them. We found France cheaper, better food and more wine, for less money,
and the camp sites far better than in Italy. If we go back to bike in the
Alps France would be our first choice. In many places they seemed to really
bet on MTB.

Jobst Brandt has told
stories of riding old Roman roads in the hinterlands of the Alps and
there's a few photos of such on the Palo Alto Cycles Web site.

We rode one coming down from Gebidum Pass above Brigg.
http://www.lowdin.nu/MTB/singletrack...00/Zermatt.htm It was a really
ancient road, across the watershed to Italy close to the Simplon Pass. Most
of it had by lack of use turned into tight singletrack with some nice
switchbacks, great fun to ride.

Per

Per Lowdin writes:

The Rough Stuff Fellowship has information on singletrack riding in
the Alps, and I remember seeing another site that had hand-drawn
maps available of trails connecting Alpine roads (I remember one
that ran from Col de Sarenne, next to Alpe-d'Huez, to the Col de la
Croix de Fer, for example).

Yes, there are appeared to be lots of places in France that were
really good. Unfortunately, we were running out of time, so we just
passed most of them. We found France cheaper, better food and more
wine, for less money, and the camp sites far better than in
Italy. If we go back to bike in the Alps France would be our first
choice. In many places they seemed to really bet on MTB.

Jobst Brandt has told stories of riding old Roman roads in the
hinterlands of the Alps and there's a few photos of such on the
Palo Alto Cycles Web site.

We rode one coming down from Gebidum Pass above Brigg.

http://www.lowdin.nu/MTB/singletrack...00/Zermatt.htm

It was a really ancient road, across the watershed to Italy close to
the Simplon Pass. Most of it had by lack of use turned into tight
singletrack with some nice switchbacks, great fun to ride.

I assume you mean Brig at the north side of the Simplon. I cannot
find a Gebidum Pass between Zermatt and Brig. Zermatt is surrounded
by 4000+m peaks and the lowest pass to the south, the 3317m (10882ft)
high Theodul pass that crosses a glacier on the south side.

http://www.ocd.org.uk/alps/rs/fred.htm

Both Brig lies east of Zermatt and both towns are on the north side of
the Alps between Italy and Switzerland. The Saastal to the east lies
between Zermatt and Brig and is surrounded by 3000m high glaciers on
the east side. Can you outline the course in a bit more detail so I
can find it on a hiking map?

Jobst Brandt

We rode one coming down from Gebidum Pass above Brigg.

http://www.lowdin.nu/MTB/singletrack...00/Zermatt.htm

It was a really ancient road, across the watershed to Italy close to
the Simplon Pass. Most of it had by lack of use turned into tight
singletrack with some nice switchbacks, great fun to ride.

I assume you mean Brig at the north side of the Simplon. I cannot
find a Gebidum Pass between Zermatt and Brig. Zermatt is surrounded
by 4000+m peaks and the lowest pass to the south, the 3317m (10882ft)
high Theodul pass that crosses a glacier on the south side.

http://www.ocd.org.uk/alps/rs/fred.htm

Both Brig lies east of Zermatt and both towns are on the north side of
the Alps between Italy and Switzerland. The Saastal to the east lies
between Zermatt and Brig and is surrounded by 3000m high glaciers on
the east side. Can you outline the course in a bit more detail so I
can find it on a hiking map?

Yes, we started in Zermatt, and rode down the valley, from Täsch there is
wonderful singletrack winding along the slopes losing altitude only
gradually to Stalden. In Stalden we took a cable car to Gspon and headed for
Gebidem Pass and descended into Nanz Tal, the ancient road goes along the
valley floor where one joins it. It is at the "elbow" after Gebidem Pass on
this map http://www.rhone.ch/biken/bike20.htm. Returned by the main road to
Zermatt the same day.

The mountains around Zermatt are as you point out high and steep, they are
real climbing mountains, so the best mountainbiking is really below Zermatt
although there are some nice trails near the village too. It would not be
possible to cycle to Italy, at least not in a meaningful way, across Theodol
Pass, some 3300 m, 4-6 km of glacier.

Per
http://lowdin.nu