The main road winds down from Nago to Torbole in a large bend. Almost everyone who has ever been to Lake Garda has passed by here. What only very few people know: A legendary trail that was once the venue for one of the first enduro races in Europe starts right at the cypress-lined car park with its beautiful view.
The trail at the "Marmitte dei Giganti" is just over 250 metres long. Today, commercially available single trail maps indicate S4. In 2007, at the start of the first race, the trail was considered almost unrideable. Nevertheless, a few brave souls gave it a go. The idea: a timed descent. There were penalty seconds for putting your foot down on the steep and exposed trail. And because you also had to manage the climb under your own steam within a tight time window, you couldn't use downhillers - they would have been too slow for the ascent. A mission for real enduro bikes.
The race ran until 2012, with freeride stars such as Matt Hunter also taking part - and often having to be put in their place by locals who knew the area. It was also dangerous: Matt Hunter himself spectacularly lost control when he miscalculated on the iconic drop over the stone wall and, after a short slide, crashed almost unchecked into the greenery below.
Marmitte dei Giganti uphill: Three trial aces attempt the impossible
Back then, no one would have thought that this trail could also be ridden uphill. Until vertrider legend Christian "Picco" Piccolruaz conquered the legendary trail on an e-bike and then turned up at the 2022 BIKE Festival site all fired up. Picco also thought of two suitable partners. E-bike riding technician Stefan Schlie and trials champion Hans Rey.
Did the three of them actually manage the ascent by e-bike without putting their feet down? The whole report from EMTB 3/2022 is now available here:
They dig their way through deep scree, crash their cranks against vertical rock steps, pull out all the stops on the steep hairpin bends, fall backwards into the depths again and again and pick themselves up again. They gasp, laugh, swear and cheer each other on until the next key section of this rock monster is completed.
"Listen, I've just ridden down the Marmitte dei Giganti trail, that would be a great uphill project." Christian "Picco" Piccolruaz, a veteran vertrider from Innsbruck, had passed me at the BIKE Festival in Riva, completely excited and with shining eyes, and raved to me about his bright idea. The mountain guide, who since the e-MTB era has been looking for his kick above all in the most difficult uphill passages possible, has already come up with two sparring partners: "I'm sure Hans and Stefan will bite their teeth out."
It's the last day of the BIKE Festival, and the two trial artists Hans Rey and Stefan Schlie are immediately on fire for Picco's idea. And so, without further ado, a shootout of the legends takes place on a trail that made biking history 16 years ago.
The steep path above Torbole was the venue for the world's first enduro race. If you wanted to take part, you had to make it to the start under your own steam within a time window, which was almost impossible to do with pure downhillers. Downhill, the race was timed and there were penalty seconds for every foot drop. The race established itself, and over the years, the crème de la crème of downhillers and freeriders - from Wade Simmons to Matt Hunter and Nicolas Vouilloz - have honoured the Marmitte dei Giganti just in time for the BIKE Festival. But probably none of them would have thought it possible that this steep 1.5-kilometre, 270-metre downhill route would ever be conquered uphill.
The first section of the Marmitte dei Giganti: a challenge
The first few metres already seem to push the three pros to their limits. A two-metre-wide gully of slippery gravel, interspersed with hub-high boulders - there's no way through at first. Neither Hans, who favours old-school trial-without-hopping, nor Picco, with his as-much-momentum-as-possible strategy, manage more than a third of the section on their first attempts. Only Stefan, who manages the key sections by hopping and manages to activate his motor with every hop, only fails after about two thirds.
A lively discussion ensues about the best line and the right technique. Hans explains that he tends to ride such tricky sections with a slightly higher saddle and that he then leans so far over the handlebars that he almost kisses his front wheel. Picco, the anti-trialer, on the other hand, favours the round kick and speed. And Stefan attributes his success mainly to the targeted use of his motor. The result after several attempts: In the end, all three riders - using completely different techniques - make it through the first section.
This is followed by the key section of the former enduro race: a rock step that is not particularly high. But anyone who jumped here ended up in a mixture of loose rubble and sharp-edged rocks. The most famous rider to break at this point was freeride star Matt Hunter, who misjudged his speed when jumping off in 2007 and crashed painfully into the gravel field. This step does not work uphill despite motorised assistance - too little traction to build up momentum. However, the less daring were allowed to ride round the rock step via a chicken line at that year's enduro race. This 180-degree hairpin bend offers enough of a challenge for the uphill artists: Hans and Stefan can show off their trial skills here.
They skilfully pull up the front end, circle through the bend on the rear wheel, place the front wheel precisely on a rock and from there hit the path again with a sideways hop. Picco also tries his hand at solid freeriding here. After three attempts and with a lot of momentum, he takes the side rock face as a berm and even manages the manoeuvre without moving the front wheel.
Mastering the key point in the Half-Way-Rey method?
"Cauldron of the Giants", which translates as Marmitte dei Giganti. Over thousands of years, the glaciers have formed these round rock walls and vats between Nago and Torbole. According to legend, giants quenched their thirst here by drinking from these once water-filled pots. The Marmitte are a little off the trail, but the foothills of the glacier are the next challenge on our uphill adventure. The following rock slide is so steep that I have to be careful on foot not to slip off. Back then, during the enduro race, this exposed section was secured with a net. If you braked too hard here, you were immediately penalised and slid off.
Wild discussions break out about which technique is best suited to this type of steepness. The Half-Way-Rey method is "the best of both worlds", explains Hans to the astonished Picco: "Left click and right flat. You can pull well and generate momentum with the clicked-in foot. The back foot is then quickly off the pedal when things get dicey." While Hans, the mountain bike legend, is still rambling on, Stefan, Mr Uphill Flow, is already crouched low over the top tube, crawling up the rock ramp. His rear tyre, whose air pressure he has lowered to well below one bar, kneads over the rock, while the front wheel has long since lost contact with the ground and only finds grip again on the following plateau. The applause from the depths echoes between the rocks.
Hans and Picco are also doing well in the steep section, each with their own personal riding style. Hans rides the key section in a seated position, with the seat post three quarters extended. "That saves a lot of energy and I put more pressure on the rear wheel." Picco, on the other hand, presses up the ramp in third gear and with the seatpost fully lowered. "It hurts like hell, but I simply put more pressure on the rear wheel that way," says the vertrider.
Five minutes later, nobody would have made it up the steep ramp. A brief downpour turns the rock into a slide. The following trial section over nasty boulders is not made any easier by the wet. But giving up is out of the question. Soaking wet and driven by ambition, the three tackle the last hurdles of the course. Only one of the boulders remains unconquerable. Too wet and too slippery.
The final section to the start of the trail on the main road leads up a few steps. After a good hour of uphill staccato, burning arms, howling engines and soaking wet to the skin, the three legends stand by the road and congratulate each other on their first ascent of the enduro classic. A short time later, plans are made over a beer in Mecki's Bar. Could it be possible to do the whole thing in one go? To be continued ...
These three E-MTB experts have taken on the Marmitte dei Giganti:
