Stefan Stuntz enjoys travelling, preferring to cycle over mountains in his free time. But his last "crossing" took five months: from the Canary Islands to Lake Garda. He not only took the highest peaks with him, but also his 5,000 fans who followed his live reports on the internet. We caught up with him at home and asked him about the highlights.
Who is the "Alpenzorro"?
A cyclist from Munich, for whom the route across the Alps to Lake Garda has become too short after a few years.
And how did the name "Alpenzorro" come about?
Oh, that was just an idea. Three years ago, I really wanted to go to Fuorcla Surlej in the Engadin because there are supposed to be such great trails there. But I didn't know the best way to get there. So I took the train to Lake Garda and got on my bike there. At Tremalzo, I posted a question on the MTB news forum on my pocket PC on a whim, asking if anyone knew of a particularly exciting route into the Engadin. The answer came promptly and so I let the guys in the forum guide me completely across the Alps and posted live pictures in return. At home, I finally looked at the route I had travelled on the map: It was a big Z across the Alps ...
On your last tour from La Palma to Lake Garda, you spent a whole five months travelling. Which route did you take?
The route from the Canary Islands to Lake Garda is actually relatively clear from a mountain biker's point of view: You take a satellite image and simply connect the areas with the highest mountains and you have a rough route.
You can find the entire interview as a PDF download.
Interview: Gitta Beimfohr, Photos: Stefan Stuntz, Daniel Simon
