Late at night in a dimly lit pub in Innsbruck's old town. Crossed elbows rest on an open map of the Alpine Club, glasses of beer move to the side, heads jostle together, fingers fly over the red lines. There's a comment for every line. At least one person at the table has already ridden even the most finely dotted line on the map - and lines that even the map doesn't recognise. The true Innsbruck bike map doesn't exist in print, it's in these heads. One of these minds belongs to Christian "Picco" Piccolruaz, geologist, mountain guide and passionate biker. Together with his colleagues from the company Trailsolutions, he develops trail concepts. He is also one of the figureheads in the endeavour to create more official bike trails in and around Innsbruck. He holds a treasure in his hands here, a huge network of hiking trails that are largely off-limits to bikers. But one or two taboos are soon to be broken.
Another finger flitting across the map belongs to Roland "Roli" Noichl, a bold Tyrolean with long, curly hair. The letters G.A.M.S. - Group of Exceptional Mountain Bike Specialists - are emblazoned on his T-shirt. Roli is the "Green Keeper" of the Innsbruck bikers. He works in the forestry department of the Tyrolean provincial government. There he sits at a key point and patiently carries out development work.
The scene is gaining influence. As recently as July, they demonstrated in favour of an official bike route on the Lanser Kopf, a low mountain hill just outside Innsbruck. There were a lot of them, and they were convincing - it seems that there is movement in the political mill. And perhaps there will soon be official bike trails on the Lanser Kopf.
Meanwhile, Picco's finger almost disappears over the edge of the map. In the north, near Scharnitz on the border with Germany, he discovers a trail that could also be featured in BIKE. "It has flow," enthuses the expert and draws a line from the Oberbrunnalm, which is still easily accessible on forest tracks, up to the Zäunlkopf. "You have to carry it up there," he says. "Yes, the trail has flow," Roli adds and maps out the tour from Zäunlkopf down to Scharnitz. The tour for tomorrow is booked!
You can download the complete Cityguide Innsbruck and this GPS data below:
- Tour 1: Zirlerberg trails (12.1 km / 550 m elevation gain / 1:45 h)
- Tour 2: Patscherkofel (29.0 km / 1420 vertical metres / 3:45 h)
- Tour 3: Oberbrunnalm Extreme (13.3 km / 820 vertical metres / 2:30 h)
More tours in the article PDF:
- Tour 4: Maria Waldrast (11.9 km, 765 m elevation gain, 2:00 h)
- Tour 5: Rauschbrunnen (7.2 km, 490 m elevation gain, 1:30 h)
- Tour 6: Hungerburg Trail (1.2 km, 350 m elevation gain, 0:15 h)
