"Well, have you ever driven a gravel ripper?" Martin had a strange twinkle in his eye when he asked me that. He looked a bit like the little devil on the shoulder. And he really seemed to mean it, because his gaze just wouldn't let up. Gravel ripper? I didn't even know the word.
That was in 2003, and Martin Falkner has always been one of the wildest bikers in Tyrol. Even back then, he was reverently known as the "Hausmasta". No matter how dangerous and exposed - there is probably still no trail in the whole country that Martin doesn't know by heart. I was just visiting Tyrol in 2003 and had my first experience of balancing and standing on alpine single trails. I learnt that gravel tears are scree slopes that often spread out like carpets below landslides. A natural accumulation of loose stones and pebbles, often up to 45 degrees steep. And it was just such a scree slope that was part of the tour with Martin. To be honest: I was scared.
But then as now - thank goodness - the first step is uphill. If you want to have fun in Tyrol, you have to be sporty. The route leads through the forests of the Grünberg to the disused lift in Finsterfiecht and then on to the Zwischensimmering, which is quite steep and sweat-inducing. If you like that, you can torture yourself with even more steep uphills on a detour to the Simmeringalm. The reward is a delicious snack at the mountain hut.
Unfortunately, we had already eaten by the time of my first ascent, so we took the short route to the trail entrance - which was almost 800 metres uphill.
On the first half of the descent, you can really take it easy. By Tyrolean standards, the route here is exceptionally flat. Back then, this section was exactly to my taste, which was characterised by flow routes in central Germany. Just roll along and - if at all - only brake very gently. Bends instead of hairpin bends and rounded waves instead of steps and steps. A prototype trail. As if built for bikers.
While the path invites you to play and accelerate, the view down into the Inn Valley sometimes flashes up. Like a small surge of electricity, adrenalin briefly shoots into your blood and instils the necessary respect. But then the forest opens up and you suddenly find yourself in the middle of a steep slope. Down here now? The Hausmasta left no time to ask and shot straight into the fall line. Dust and pebbles flew up - and he was gone. Okay ...
Surfing over gravel like on skis
At the time, I didn't realise that you could simply ride down the steep slope on a flowing trail in several hairpin bends. That's the only reason I simply followed behind. Today, I wouldn't dream of avoiding this fun! The entrance always leaves you breathless. But you shouldn't let that put you off, it's normal. It's a big hurdle to overcome, but it's quite easy to navigate. If you imagine you have skis on your feet instead of a bike, it immediately feels better. Because that's exactly how it feels: like skiing in powder. While you sink about ten centimetres into the gravel, you can brake or accelerate simply by shifting your weight. With a little practice, turns and even turns can be made. The gravel in this channel is comparatively fine and allows for high speeds. Experienced gravel riders can cover the 250 metres in altitude in just under 40 seconds.
Arriving at the bottom, pumped full of happiness hormones and a beaming face, I roared my joy out of me and had to hug Martin. I had never experienced anything like it on a bike.
Martin rides even harder today than he used to and is now my best bike buddy. Because this tour with him made such a deep impression on me back then that I didn't want to live anywhere else but Innsbruck. Since then, this route has been my favourite - along with countless others. And today I sometimes show it to my guests as a bike guide. But always with Martin's introductory sentence: "Well, have you ever ridden the Schotterreiß'n?"
You can also find the entire article on the Schotterreiß'n Supertrail as a PDF download below.
