YOU HAVE TO IMAGINE IT LIKE THIS: IN AOSTA YOU ARE SURROUNDED BY MOUNTAINS THAT ARE 2000 METRES HIGHER THAN OUR ZUGSPITZE - AND IT SMELLS OF CHEESE.
Fontina can be found on practically every street corner in the Aosta Valley - in the cheese dairy in one piece and served in restaurants with crêpes, pasta or potatoes. The nutty, flavoursome alpine cheese seems to be a kind of staple food for the people of Val d'Aosta. Even through the streets of the capital Aosta, there is always a whiff of fresh cow's milk and hay. Most of the language spoken here is Italian, but French is also spoken. The valley still belongs to Italy, but is only a few pedal strokes away from the French border. But it does not belong to Piedmont, as many people think. The inhabitants of the Aosta Valley are proud of their autonomous status, including certain peculiarities. For example, high school graduates have to take their exams in Italian and French.
So it amazes Karen, Mattias and me all the more every time that Bubba speaks English so well. Bubba is just his nickname, of course. Our guide is actually called Massimo and used to be a professional snowboarder. Without English, he would probably have been lost on his World Cup trips. Today he earns his money with a skateboard shop and has also founded the company "Aosta Valley Freeride" together with his mate Fabrizio. To finally show bikers the true treasures of his homeland.
"It's crazy: we have the greatest mountain scenery in the Alps here and hardly anyone knows our trails!" Bubba looks uncomprehending when he says this. We, on the other hand, are quite happy that we practically have the trails here to ourselves. We've often had Bubba and Fabrizio guide us through their homeland. And the list of great peaks is long. To the west towers its majesty, Mont Blanc. Monte Rosa and Grand Combin reside in the north. And to the south, the icy flanks of the Gran Paradiso flash into the sky. But these are just the famous cornerstones of this backdrop. They are connected by four- and three-thousand metre peaks that wrap around the valley like garlands. On a bike, you can quickly scratch the 3000 metre mark on the passes. And we have just pumped our legs over one of these passes, the 2484 metre high Col Citrin.
This time we're going round Mont Fallère. The 3061 metre high mountain rises south-west of the Great St. Bernard and is something like Aosta's local mountain, as you can enjoy the most magnificent view of the Western Alps from its summit. We can't get up there by bike, but we can get round it in two days.
"Which is nicer anyway, because the trails are better there," grinned Bubba when he picked us up from the hotel this morning. The first 1000 metres of the tour flew by thanks to the shuttle service. From the small mountain village of Vens, we had to pedal ourselves. Just behind the village, a fine path led into the valley floor until it met a gravel road. We crawled a good 800 metres uphill on it while the sun blazed down on our helmets. We finally had to drag the bikes up a mountain path for the last 350 metres. Then the Col Citrin was finally done.
"You can only get this special view of the Grand Combin and Monte Rosa from here!" Bubba enthuses. He doesn't seem to have minded the climb. He is used to this kind of uphill. Because that's how it works in the Aosta Valley: the tours always start very comfortably with a shuttle ride. Then you continue on gravel roads into the high Alps until the gradient stops. You then have to hump your bike up the last few hundred metres to the pass. But the reward is worth the effort: trail descents with up to 2500 metres of descent and gigantic views. The glacier flanks of Mont Blanc even peek out of the clouds. But Bubba only allows us a short break. After all, one of his favourite descents awaits. We roll through barren, lonely terrain that resembles a lunar landscape. A few mountain goats look up in bewilderment as we pass them on the hairpin bends. The tight bends merge into one another. Then we glide through alpine meadows. In the larch forest that follows, it is not the gentle forest floor that awaits, but an obstacle course of melon-sized boulders. If you don't hold on to the handlebars here, you will inevitably be thrown off. It takes a while to get used to the bumps, but then the descent down to Etroubles is fun. In the village at the foot of the Grand St Bernard, we head for a restaurant. A refreshment is just what we need, and I can imagine something with Fontina.
We cover the last 600 metres of altitude difference of the day at a leisurely pace on a gravel road. The mood is good, only the Fontina is a little heavy on the stomach. We are all the happier when the Rifugio Chaligne finally comes into view. The hut with its slate roof has been freshly renovated and even has a sauna. The cuisine is also excellent: morcetta, a type of dried meat, is served as a starter - and of course fontina. This time, however, from our own production on the mountain pasture. We can see for ourselves what makes the difference tomorrow morning, offers the hut owner. That's when the next cheese will be made. As we shuffle into the cheese dairy at five o'clock in the morning, still very sleepy, there is already a lot of work going on. A large pot of milk is bubbling over the fire. Two young Romanians are skimming off the cream. In the end, a finished wheel of raw milk cheese weighs eight to twelve kilos, and there are quite a few of them stacked on the shelves here. Every day, these big cheeses have to be turned and rubbed with brine. It must be a tough job. And what makes the cheese from the mountain pastures so special? It's the alpine herbs that the cows eat up here all day long, reveals the hut owner. The alpine cheese then tastes much richer and more flavoursome. Of course, Fontina from the mountain is also more expensive. A whole wheel costs around 180 euros.
When we throw our bikes off our shoulders at lunchtime on Punta Chaligne, our guide has already laid out a picnic under the summit cross. He has even thought of a bottle of wine, because: There's something to celebrate. From up here, it's all downhill to the Aosta Valley. Almost 2000 metres in altitude in one go. The trail ribbon runs just a hand's breadth around the mountain flank. The view of the Grivola peak distracts you from the small counter-climbs that stifle the speed rush every now and then. Then it really goes downhill. The steeper the terrain, the faster the change of surface. Still high alpine at the top, then forest and coniferous soil, and suddenly hard rock and blocked passages like on Lake Garda. On the way, we pass small villages and hamlets - which calms the suspension and brakes a little - but behind the houses, we immediately rejoin the trail. On the last few metres of elevation gain, we coast along old, cobbled paths. Two days of Aosta trails feel like a whole week. And you wouldn't believe it, but with an Aperol Spritz in the old town of Aosta, even the Fontina tastes good again.
INFO AOSTATAL
THE TOUR
The hut tour covers a total of 55 kilometres, 2100 metres of ascent and 3100 metres of descent and can easily be completed in two days. The shuttle from Aosta up to the small mountain village of Vens saves 1000 metres in altitude on the first day on an often steeply ascending pass road.
- Overnight stay: Rifugio Chaligne. The hut is run by friendly hosts and has very good cuisine with its own cheese dairy. Make sure you book in advance! Info: Tel. 0039/348/3366924, www.chaligne.com
- Guides and shuttle: www.aostavalleyfreeride.com and www.mtbexploring.it
INFO AOSTA
The capital Aosta is a good starting point for all tours in the valley.
Journey: from Munich either via Switzerland (via Lindau, Bern, Martigny and the Great St Bernard Pass) to Aosta (638 km). Or via the Brenner Pass, Verona, Milan and Turin to Aosta (729 km). Travelling time on both routes approx. 7.5 hours.
THE REVIER
Aosta is not only surrounded by the highest Alpine peaks such as Mont Blanc, Grand Combin, Monte Rosa and Gran Paradiso, but also by exciting bike parks. From Aosta, for example, you can take the gondola directly up to the Pila bike park. Various high mountain trails await here, including the longest bike park descent in Europe (2000 metres in altitude in one go). Info: www.pila.it
Also good park addresses:
- Cervinia: Bike park at the foot of the Matterhorn with spectacular scenery and flowing trails, info: www.cervinia.it
- La Thuile: very naturally designed bike park with a high proportion of trails, venue of the EWS, info: www.lathuile.it
ACCOMMODATION
There are hotels in all star categories in Aosta and the surrounding area.
- We can recommend the Hotel La Chance in Pila. The terrace offers views of Mont Blanc and sensational sunsets. Hotel manager Natasha also runs the local bike club. Info: Tel. 0039/0165/1773022, www.hotellachancepila.it
- The Hotel Le Charaban is also very nice and is located right at the entrance to Aosta. Very good cuisine!
Tel. 0039-0165-238289, www.lecharaban.it
GENERAL INFORMATION
Information on accommodation, bike parks, tours and maps at the tourist office: www.lovevda.it
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