Legendary MTB Tours, Part 2: The Strada delle 52 Gallerie on Mount Pasubio

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“What’s the Pasubio doing in the guide? It’s not even on Lake Garda,” asked Uli Stanciu, then editor-in-chief of BIKE magazine, when Elmar Moser published his first volume in 1990. “Don’t ask, just do the ride, then you’ll know,” was the reply. “But make sure you take a torch with you!”

When Stanciu was staying at Lake Garda in 1993 to organise the first BIKE Festival there, he set off on the tour together with his friend Paolo Zontini. The latter was armed with a torch – Stanciu, for his part, with a makeshift bike light rigged to his handlebars. They drove up to the Passo Pian delle Fugazze, where the tour began at an altitude of 1,162 metres. “Right from the start, the Strada degli Erol (translated: Road of Heroes) made a big impression on us. It was a wide gravel approach, mind you, but set amidst vertical cliffs. Bend after bend, you cycle past old relics from the First World War. The very fact that a path was blasted into these rock faces to allow supplies through is, from today’s perspective, simply inconceivable.”

A 200-metre free fall lies in wait – in the fog

At an altitude of 1,925 metres, you reach the Rifugio Generale Achille Papa. Formerly a military post, it is now a welcome place to stop for a break before climbing another 100 metres to the start of the famous Strada delle 52 Gallerie. Stanciu recalls those days:

“Thick fog was swirling around the rocks at the time and it was quite chilly. It was already clear that the much-touted view all the way to the towers of Venice wasn’t going to materialise. But it got even worse: the path is mostly 1.5 metres wide, but extremely exposed, particularly in the upper section. Paolo started pushing his way along straight away because of the fog; right next to the path up there, there’s a 200 to 300-metre drop into the abyss. Further down and in the tunnels, too, the path is very rough – much like in the Val d’Uina. After all, it had been driven into the rock in 1917 using a sort of jackhammer and under time pressure. On top of that, there were the dark tunnels, which soon grew longer and longer, and our torches didn’t really illuminate much back then. Tunnel number 20 took us completely by surprise: winding like a corkscrew, it descends vertically down the rock in four twists. I still remember the wafts of mist drifting in through the tunnel windows. Later, in another tunnel, we soon heard a thunderous roar. By the time we reached the end of the tunnel, it was pouring with rain outside!

Well, we were under cover and therefore safe – or so we thought. But shortly afterwards we heard a sound like a rushing stream: torrents of rain were pouring down the tunnel behind us. In no time at all, we were standing with water up to our ankles. And the water kept rising! So we leaned our bikes against the tunnel wall, stood on the top tube and saddle, and waited out the storm like that. The ordeal was over after about 15 minutes. But the whole experience left a lasting impression.”

Two mountain bikers fell to their deaths

The Italian authorities soon realised that the route was too dangerous for mountain bikers. After two cyclists had fallen to their deaths on the Strada delle 52 Gallerie within a short space of time, the route was finally closed to cyclists around 1994. Anyone caught by the Carabinieri, who carried out frequent checks, had to pay a hefty fine of 400 Deutschmarks at the time. A few people still took the risk, but the last reported fatal fall dates back to 2006.

“You simply have to be aware that visibility is often poor on the Pasubio because warm, humid Mediterranean air sweeps in, cools down and forms thick fog. And then there are all the walkers. You simply can’t afford to make any mistakes up there,” says Stanciu, adding: “Yes, the Strada delle 52 Gallerie is something you should experience at least once, but only on foot. If only to gain a better understanding of the history of this route.”

After all, during the mountain warfare, more than 13,000 soldiers lost their lives on Pasubio alone. The Italians and Austrians had entrenched themselves up here on two peaks. Both sides had the idea of tunnelling under the other’s positions and blowing them up. It was a race against time, which the Austrian Kaiserjäger ultimately won by a matter of hours. On 13 March 1918, they detonated 50 tonnes of dynamite in a single blast. Half of the Italians’ mountain peak was blown to smithereens, along with hundreds of soldiers. Yet the Strada delle 52 Gallerie, over six kilometres long, which the Italians had carved into the mountain in just six months as a supply route, survived the inferno.

In Volume 3 of the Moser Guide, the author quotes the eyewitness account of a lieutenant who was involved at the time: “The earth begins to shake; it breathes heavily like a dying man – a terrible subterranean rumbling, rumbling and rumbling – a clamour – a furious trembling and cracking roars through the air – the stones are coming: In an instant, everyone takes cover as the hail of stones rains down. Then deathly silence and the sight of a strange spectacle: the Italian plateau is a sea of fire! Green, red and blue flames licked out, gases exploded from the black heap of rubble – piercing cries of agony!”

Our recommendation as an alternative to Pasubio

Take the long The Pasubio Circuit by BIKE tour writer Matthias Rotter. This way, you can explore the whole mountain with all its old fortifications, military cemeteries and spectacular military trails. A three-day hut-to-hut tour that also takes you past the entrance to the Tunnelweg. Leave your bike up there and take the detour on foot!

Legendary MTB rides, Part 1: the Eisjöchl

Question: Has any of you actually cycled the Strada delle 52 Gallerie yourselves?