Transalp: Innsbruck-Lake Garda

490 km/17 300 hm - 8 stages - Difficulty: ****
(max. 6 stars)
The route is suitable for: mountain bikers interested in history with medium to good riding technique

The highlights: Brenner border ridge, Pfunderer Joch, Seiser Alm, Karerpass, Kaiserjägerweg with fortresses, Pasubio

The Pasubio, a mountain range to the east of Lake Garda, is still known as "Blood Mountain" and "Mountain of the 10,000 Dead". From 1916 to 1918, Italian and Austrian troops fought a bitter trench war here: they drilled tunnels into the rock, filled them with almost 55 tonnes of dynamite and blew each other and the mountain up. The trenches and shell holes are still clearly recognisable today. The old Cherle and Belvedere fortresses along the famous "100 Kilometri dei Forti" route also tell of the mountain war that claimed so many lives.

In the footsteps of the grandfathers

This Transalp route leads along the former theatres of war. It climbs over old military roads that were built for supplies and passes fortresses and positions that bear witness to the fierce battles.

The tour starts in Innsbruck and winds its way over the Brenner border ridge up to the Schlüsseljoch and Pfunderer Joch (the northernmost military roads in South Tyrol). Both climbs require a good level of fitness, as they are steep and rough throughout. However, the 2,568 metre high Pfunderer Joch is the highest point of the tour. You will be rewarded with an exciting downhill trail and two very moderate daily stages via Nauders, the Bannwaldweg and St. Vigil to the Ritjoch. It is only here that the gravel path builds up again into small ramps. But now your eyes are distracted by a breathtaking landscape: the vertical Dolomite walls jut out of the lush alpine meadows like teeth. Views that provide energy for the Gardena Pass, Mahlknecht Pass, Karer Pass and Reiter Pass.

The Catena di Lagorei theatre of war can only be crossed by one consistently passable route: the asphalted Manghen Pass. The Kaiserjägerweg is also asphalted, but its hairpin bends were blasted so adventurously into the rock by the Austrians that they are barely recognisable from Val Sugana. You should really take your time for the following "100 kilometres of forts" with their fortresses and the subsequent Pasubio. Along the rough gravel roads and trails, you stop again and again. It's hard to believe that cannons and grenades once thundered in this peaceful mountain landscape ...

Eisjöchl variant

There is a second variant of the classic military road from Innsbruck to Lake Garda: it leads west of the Wipptal valley via the old mine at the Schneebergscharte (2,690 m) and the famous Eisjöchl (2908 m) in the Texelgruppe Nature Park. But this old supply road really packs a punch: 2,500 metres of ascent in one go! But then the never-ending trail serpentines follow down into the Schnalstal Valley - one of the most beautiful descents in the Alps. With the Tarscher Pass and Rabbijoch, the route climbs well over the 2,000 metre mark twice more before another dream landscape comes into view: the Brenta. Related to the Dolomites, the rocky peaks here tower vertically into the sky. Now one more night at the Rifugio Graffer, then you have reached the lake.
Total: 323 km/12,871 metres in altitude.

Tour info
Stage 1: Innsbruck - Patsch - Matrei - Steinach - Nösslach - Vinaders - Sattelalm - Silbergasser - overnight stay: Enzianhütte (tel. 0039/0472/631224).
Stage 2: Enzianhütte - Schlüsseljoch (2 215 m) - Fussendrass - Pfundererjoch (2 568 m) - Weitenbergalm - overnight stay: Pfunders (FVA. Tel. 0039/0472/869100).
Stage 3: Pfunders - Vintl - Mühlbach - Nauders - Bannwaldweg - Ellen - Zwischenwasser - overnight stay: St. Vigil (FVA, tel. 0039/0474/501037).
Stage 4: St. Vigil - Ritjoch (1,876 m) - Armentara Wiesen - St. Leonhard - Corvara - Grödnerjoch (2,137 m) - Wolkenstein - Saltria - overnight stay: Seiser Alm-Haus (tel. 0039/0471/727904).
Stage 5: Seiser Alm - Mahlknechjoch (2,204 m) - Campitello - Moena - Karerpass - Obereggen - overnight stay: Epircher Laner Alm (tel. 0039/0333/5986253).
Stage 6: Epircher Laner Alm - Reiterjoch (1,996 m) - Stava - Cavalese - Molina - Manghenpass (2,042 m) - Borgo - Santa Giuliana - Kaiserjägerweg - Forte Belvedere - overnight stay: Carbonare (FVA, tel. 0039/0226/830102).
Stage 7: Carbonare - Forte Cherle - Folgaria - Forte Dosso del Somme - Zoreri - Geroli - Malga Bisorte - Malga Campobiso - Malga Valli - Rovereto - Passo Bordala - Santa Barbara - Carobbi - Arco - Riva del Garda.

Maps: Kompass maps (scale 1:50 000): Nos. 36, 44, 56, 57, 59, 75, 76, 101.

Literature and info: The tour is described in the "Traumtouren-Transalp" book by Uli Stanciu (Delius Klasing Verlag).

Under www.bike-gps.com you will find the corresponding GPS data.

Guided tours: The following tour operators offer a route variant of this Innsbruck-Lake Garda tour: www.jester-tours.com and www.seracoje.de