An Autumn Mountain Biking Vacation In The Alps

A Guide For American Cyclists

Dave Scull

Have you ever wondered why Europeans dominate mountain biking-a sport we invented?

Are you tired of health food, lonely single-track and English-speaking people?

If you answer yes to any of the above, there's no getting around it: You're a candidate for a European mountain-bike vacation.

Here's why: After my wife Nancy and I mountain biked in the European Alps for three weeks in September 1998, we discovered: the price is right, the experience was unforgettable; health food is rare; Endless trails and farm roads, gorgeous scenery, European cuisine, comfortable, inexpensive campgrounds and B&Bs . . . and the challenge of using our rusty French and German 20 years after our last European sojourn.

But the nicest surprise was this: bikers and hikers sharing trails without tension, almost everywhere... It's enough to bring a tear to this IMBA rep's eyes.

But hey, a place where bike races get more TV coverage than most wars must have a special relationship with biking. It does; you'll love mountain biking in the Alps. We did.

Where To Go

We are 55-year-old pleasure bikers, not racers. As we planned our European mountain bike vacation, we looked for cross-country rides of two to five hours in length, with elevation gains in the 1000 to 3000 foot range. We found plenty.

Our game plan was to hit our northern destinations first and head south as the weather got cooler. Remember, this was September; look at a map and you'll see that Switzerland shares the same latitude as our border with Canada.

Many off-road trails, we discovered, are in ski resorts that have become bike resorts in the summer. Lots of the resorts have hosted major international mountain bike events, which often means they spruced up their trails and signage. On six days we found chairlifts in ski resorts still operating and open to bikes. Because they didn't seem to have much bike business, we felt a moral obligation to hop on... then, of course, pedal higher before descending.

After our three-week trip we recommend the following areas, each rich in moderate, non-gonzo riding:

Austria

As a nation, Austria hasn't done much for mountain biking. However, Nancy and I discovered that some regions are making strides.

Aachensee/Karwandel, located north of Innsbruck on German border: Here you'll find dramatic views from gnarly single-track and dirt roads ascending to a quaint tavern at Barenbadalm. Hubert Wohl of Sport Wohl, Pertisau, runs a school for mountain bike instructors and quickly laid out a buffet of ride choices-from a few hours to multi-day tours.

Nauders, on the southwestern tip, bordering Italy and Switzerland: The treat here is true international cycling as trails crisscross the borders. Harold Ploner of Hotel Central sells maps, gives advice and leads trips throughout the region. One problem, though, is that the only bike shop stocks few parts after August; it was a 40-minute drive to full-service shop.

Switzerland

Switzerland has recently laid out an elaborate network of numbered routes for bikes that are well signed with red arrows. Most mileage is on roads (paved and dirt), but unpaved trails can appear as well, so you'll want a mountain bike or hybrid.

At Scuol, near the eastern border, less than an hour from Nauders, you'll find a lovely campground. From there, ride to one of Europe's most spectacular trails, Val d'Uina cleft, carved high into the side of stone cliffs. Do it as out-and-back, or try a 70-km loop (rated extreme).

Berner Oberland, home of stately peaks Jungfrau and Eiger (where Clint Eastwood let climbers plummet in The Eiger Sanction) is perhaps Switzerland's most visited and beautiful region. You'll find endless biking opportunities, and excellent guidebooks and maps are available. Hook up with Daniel Welti of Hotel Alpenrose, Hofstetten-a serious biker with intimate local knowledge.

In Gstaad, the main gondola lets riders carry their bikes (on your lap, inside the gondola!) and has cool tickets with mountain bike scenes on them. Views from the top showcase Switzerland's charming (and highly subsidized) mountain agriculture: farms subdivided so many times over centuries of inheritances that many are now the size of garden plots. During the descent, heady from compliments about my German, I misread a warning sign ("Achtung! Schiessgefahr") and pedaled across a shooting range, almost ending the trip.

France

Happily, the nation that hosts the Tour de France sees itself as ground zero for all things relating to bicycling. For mountain bikers, this has produced a truly extraordinary nationwide network of numbered trails, with special multi-colored maps--even multi-colored cue sheets with commercial advertising on them! Of the many terrific places we visited, the best were . . .

Metabief, north of Lake Geneva in the Department (state) of Jura. These were the lowest mountains of our trip, but showed the most impressive commitment to mountain biking. We stayed in a sort-of youth hostel called Les Sapins de L'Amitie, where for about $20 young innkeepers Jean-Luc and Francois provided a comfy room, dinner, breakfast; and unlimited bike care and advice.

Les Gets/Morzine, south of Lake Geneva, Department of Haute Savoie: Here you'll find a collage of ski resorts with interlocking trail systems. Morzine has a downhill bike racecourse which recently sprouted "no pedestrian" signs. Hmm . . . could this be a trend?

Chamonix/Mont Blanc, farther south in Haute Savoie: This is France's premier mountain playground. Hiking is so popular that biking struggles for visibility; bikes are banned from some lower-lying trails for safety reasons in July and August. One hundred thousand hikers circumnavigate Mont Blanc each summer (100 miles, 7 days); supported mountain bike trips now do that, too.

Courchevel/Meribel, near Albertville, in Department of Savoie: These are Olympic venues where you'll see ski jumping in summer (ceramic rollers on the jump, plastic grass on the landing area). This rugged region offers a wealth of well-marked trails.

Italy

Italy has embraced mountain biking. Indeed, the acknowledged Mecca for bikers in Europe lies in northeast Italy, in the Dolomite Alps surrounding Lake Garda.

Lake Garda's warm Mediterranean climate means palm trees around the lake and a long biking season. It also means bikers aren't the only tourists. When we arrived, every hotel was filled, allegedly with German gamblers. We were lucky to snag a tent site in a campground otherwise filled with rock climbers in town for a big competition.

The biking is fabulous, with trails winding through the hills and mountains, vineyards and groves, with views of lakes, villages and mountain valleys. There are so many first-class trails that the major trail guide comes in two volumes (in German).

Germany

With only one day left, we couldn't do justice to this large country's mountain bike offerings. So we picked Jachenau, an out-of-the-way village in the Bavarian Alps near the Austrian border. At the tourist office, a one-man affair open only occasionally, a middle-aged official tried sincerely to help us pick trails. Alas, his recommended trail, though beautiful, proved unbikable--so rocky and steep it was almost impossible even to carry our bikes. At least the well-earned view from the top was lovely.

Jachenau, we'd say, doesn't get many foreign visitors. When we entered the local inn that night the entire clientele put down their utensils and simply stared at us. Nowhere else on our trip, even in the smallest villages, did the presence of foreigners seem to create any stir. We'd love to go back.

Planning

Planning the trip in detail was unexpectedly difficult, but it turned out not to matter. Use our experience to take the hassle out of yours.

The bottom line: We developed a list of major mountain bike destinations in the larger Alpine countries so we could get the flavor of each one. Each of our destinations did indeed have a solid infrastructure for mountain biking: bike shops, maps, well-marked bike routes, reasonably priced places to stay. Then we just showed up. That's right, no reservations anywhere and few trail guides.

We just relied on the blind faith that we'd get local advice on rides. Plus, we knew (from my Army stint in Germany in the '70s) that if you have a car, you can always find a campground or suburban B&B--especially in non-touristy September. Guess what? I was right. It worked great.

Gonzo High-Alpine Biking?

Suppose you're young, fit and ready for the Matterhorn of mountain biking. Is it there?

Not to worry. Not only can you bike above timberline forever in the Alps, you'll be in good company. A host of tour providers already lead packs of fit Europeans on three- to eight-day supported trans-Alp summer tours. Most are German and French companies, but also some British are getting into the act. The mouth-watering, beautiful itineraries usually go from north to south, ending in Italy with a return shuttle. Prices are reasonable at about $65/day. Elevation gains are typically 3,000 to 5,000 feet a day over very rugged terrain. Believe it or not, we really wanted to try a high-alpine tour, but couldn't find one that fit our plan.

Maybe next year.

What You'll Find

Here's what you can expect in an autumn Alpine mountain bike vacation:

Off-season occupancy in hotels, campgrounds, B&Bs
Lower starting elevations (3,000 feet in Switzerland vs. 8,000 in Colorado)
Greater elevation gains (2,000-5,000 feet are common). Mont Blanc, Europe's highest, is higher than any peak in the Rockies.
A vast network of trails and farm roads. Europeans have been farming the Alps for millennia, right up to snow line. Result: navigation is relatively easy; small farming towns are everywhere, well marked on maps and well-signed on roads and trails.
More people on the trails. Europeans love to hike and bike.
Extraordinarily picturesque scenery, quaint taverns, bucolic vistas.

Nuts and Bolts

TRAVEL TO EUROPE: Frequent flyer miles got us to Munich, Germany free, but not our bikes. We paid United $100 for each bike, each way.

PASSPORT: Show it once upon entering any country of the European Community. But that's it until you go outside the EC (e.g., to Switzerland-but the efficient Swiss run their checkpoints faster than most gated communities in Florida).

BIKES: We took our own bikes mostly because I'm tall and can't always find a rental that fits. For an extended trip like ours, we recommend you do the same-rental fees for three weeks would exceed the cost of shipping, and getting reimbursed for the inevitable repairs on rental bikes would be difficult.

CAR RENTAL: We rented a station wagon (Hertz, $525 for 3 weeks) and kept the bikes inside (not on a rack) to deter theft. It worked.

CAMPING: We brought camping gear as a fallback and ended up camping six nights--not because we couldn't find rooms, but because it was so pleasant. Campgrounds are easy to find, provide many amenities, and are practically deserted in September. Plus, there's this added bonus-sleeping outdoors attracts mountain bikers, who provided us with advice. Another hint: If you plan to camp, take a propane stove, not gas. Propane is easier to find.

TOURIST AND TRAIL INFO: Upon arriving in a new destination town, we headed straight for the tourist office to get maps and hopefully find a younger employee/biker for trail advice. These offices give good advice on lodging, eating, bike shops, chairlifts, money-changing and much more. When more trail advice was needed, we went to a bike shop. Unlike the U.S., European bike shops tend not to sell guidebooks or maps (plan to get them at the tourist office or bookstore). But we always found helpful staff who took the time to give us detailed trail advice. NOTE:
European stores and offices tend to close for lunch, and may be open only for limited, hard-to-predict hours the rest of the day, especially in small towns. We tried to arrive in new locales in mid-morning or mid-afternoon, so we could get everything needed to be done in that half-day.

CURRENCY: The biggest hassle traveling country-to-country through the Alps is money. While the euro will eventually supplant the mark, shilling, franc and lira, for several more years you'll still need local currency to buy stuff, operate vending machines, laundromats, etc. Don't expect your credit card or travelers checks to be widely accepted, especially in small towns. The best bet is ATM's, which are everywhere.

LANGUAGE: It certainly helps if you've studied a European language, but if you haven't, relax: You can muddle along without it. Thanks to Hollywood's global impact, you'll find someone who speaks English most places (and certainly in the local tourist offices). Then, there's sign language...

GUIDEBOOKS: The best source for guidebooks (all in German-but hey,
maps, not narrative, are most important) that accepts credit cards by
fax is Delius Klasing Co., www.delius-klasing.de; phone 011-49-5215590; fax 011-49-521559113

EUROPEAN MTB MAGAZINES:
France: VTT Magazine, phone 011-33-147112286;
Fax 011-33-146022311; email:

Germany: Bike Magazine, c/o Delius Klasing (see above)

TOURIST OFFICES:
The national tourist offices are great on general tourist matters, but don't offer much on off-road cycling.

Austria: Austrian National Tourist Office, www.anto.com; Box 1142, New York, NY 10108, phone 212-944-6880;
Achensee Tourist Office, Pertisau, phone 011-43-52435260, fax 011-43-52435939; Hubert Wohl Mountain Bike School,
Pertisau, phone 011-43-52435871, fax 011-43-52435303; Nauders Tourist Office, http://tiscover.com/nauders; Harold Ploner, Hotel Central, Nauders, phone 011-43-54732210, fax 011-43-547322146

Switzerland: Swiss National Tourist Office, 608 Fifth Ave., New York, NY 10020, phone 212-757-5944, www.switzerlandtourism.com;
Scuol Tourist Office, phone 011-41-818649494;
Berner Oberland Tourist Office, phone 011-41-36222621,
fax 011-41-36225716; Daniel Welti, Hotel Alpenrose, Hofstetten, phone 011-41-339511410, fax 011-41-339514481

France: French National Tourist Office Tel. 202-659-7779, www.francetourism.com;
Metabief Tourist Office, phone 011-33-381491679;
Youth Hostel Les Sapins de L'Amitie, Metabief, phone 011-33-381491326, fax 011-33-381492676;
Chamonix Tourist Office, phone 011-33-450530024;
Savoie Tourist Office, phone 011-33-479851245, fax 011-33-479855468

Italy: Italian National Tourist Office, phone 212-245-5027; fax
212-586-9249, www.italiantourism.com;
Lake Garda Tourist Office, phone 011-39-464554444, fax 011-39-464520308, www.garda.com

Germany: German National Tourist Office, 122 E. 42nd St., 52nd Floor, New York, NY 10168-0072, phone 212-661-7200; www.germany-tourism.de;
Jachenau Tourist Office, phone 011-49-8043368, fax 011-49-8043413

SUPPORTED MOUNTAIN BIKE TOURS:
Alps MountainBike Tours, Munich, Germany
(run by Sylvia Rey, sister of Hans "No Way" Rey, the renowned trick-bike handler), phone 011-49-895427880, fax 011-49-8954290118;

Bike Alpin, phone 011-49-91765478;

Jester Bike Tours, phone 011-49-753179279;

Mont Blanc Mountain Biking; phone and fax 011-44-1705233520, www.mbmb.co.uk

CLIMATE: As in mountains everywhere, quick weather changes are the norm. We encountered everything on our fall trip-from hot sun to heavy snow-so pack the gear that will let you layer up and layer down on short notice.

PHYSICAL CONDITION: The better shape you're in, the more you can do. Yet the Alps offer plenty of biking for every level of fitness.

Dave Scull, a lawyer and former state legislator, is the International Mountain Bicycle Association's state representative for Maryland.

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