You can download the GPS data for the Dalco Supertrail free of charge in the download area below.
Dalco - since the early nineties, this name has inspired awe in entire generations of bikers. Since cult tour author Elmar Moser described the trail back then, it has become a legend over the years. "Dalco is the summit of all bike downhills and by far the toughest kamikaze trial on the lake," was Moser's headline at the time, and it has been a talking point at regular bikers' tables for decades. Everyone knows someone who in turn knows someone who claims to have ridden the steep, exposed path, always close to the fall line through the rugged slopes down to Limone. However, there was never any proof of this.
We wanted to find out what the infamous Dalco Trail feels like on an E-MTB. We, that is Vertrider founder Christian "Picco" Piccolruaz, e-MTB riding technique expert Stefan Schlie and yours truly. But the real, much more exciting experiment was to be a new route to the start of the trail through the narrow Valle del Signol. Just under six kilometres are squeezed into 1150 metres of altitude, first on a steep paved path, later on a narrow trail. If this section could be ridden on an e-MTB, it would open up a completely new approach to the high alpine Lago trails such as Tremalzo, Val Pura or Dalco. Instead of spending hours rocking up the busy pass roads in a stuffy shuttle, you could simply ride up in your own saddle.
The path shows its teeth
We start at the Bar la Milanesa, and after just a few metres the path shows its teeth. The paved concrete road climbs extremely steeply, but offers enough traction. Leaning far over the handlebars, we crawl upwards in first gear and turbo mode. Always endeavouring to keep the front wheel on the ground. An elderly couple of hikers applaud us. "If we were young, we'd have these things too." Funny, we always hear the opposite from the classic bikers. We climb over 500 metres in altitude to the first floor. And after just half an hour, the steamers on the glistening lake look like miniatures.
But now it's time to get down to business. The paved road becomes a typical Lake Garda trail. Partly interspersed with scree, partly on forest floor and over dozens of hairpin bends. Picco and Stefan are in their element. While Stefan takes the hairpin bends in trial style, Picco, as an old freerider, tries to take them in his stride. By the time we reach the small Casa Mughera refuge at an altitude of 1150 metres, we've both ridden 100 per cent of the ascent. My average looks a little worse because some of the hairpin bends forced me to dismount.
Highlight in the list of great deeds
The rest of the tour is quickly told. You pedal easily along gravel paths below the Passo Notas. Then the path narrows to a trail and leads through several rock tunnels in a fairly flowing manner. After a short stretcher section, you're off to the real Dalco Trail: steep, exposed, but rideable, you circle in a kamikaze descent towards the Dalco Alm. From here, however, the fun stops. The trail has been so washed out and eroded over the years that even Stefan and Picco can only ride a few sections smoothly. Sometimes you even have to climb over metre-high rockfalls. We can only recommend the fun to sure-footed bikers who want to add another highlight to their list of great deeds.
Why are we presenting the tour here anyway? Because the ascent through the Valle del Signol is a real highlight for technically fit e-MTB riders. And because you can reach other Lago classics such as the Tremalzo, the Val Pura or the unspoilt Val Piana on an unconventional uphill route.
You can download the GPS data for the Dalco Supertrail free of charge in the download area below.
