“In 2004, I rode in a shuttle for the first time. It was in Finale Ligure back then, and I still remember that I could hardly believe my luck: ‘Blimey, this means I can ride the trail again straight away!’ As an organiser of riding technique and touring camps, Holger Meyer was always on the lookout for the latest trends and trails back then. Social media and Trail Forks didn’t exist back then. Nor did cable cars that allowed you to take your mountain bike on board. So you had to be wide awake and on the ball within the scene to pick up trail tips.
Bolzano was already a talking point back then: it was amazing – there were cable cars all around the city that, just like elsewhere, served as a commuter rail service. Just a perfectly normal means of transport. Word got round very quickly. “Unless you were trying to get on during rush hour, as a cyclist you could easily get a lift for two euros!” recalls Holger. “After that, it was clear: open the map and see where else in South Tyrol there were similar mountain transport options.”
Holger didn’t have to look far: commuter cable cars were also marked on the map in Naturns and Aschbach. But then, on the opposite side of the valley, the cable car to St. Martin im Kofel caught his eye. On the south-facing slope! In other words, it should be snow-free for much of the year. According to the map, there’s also a trail there that crosses the entire width of the mountainside several times – which suggests a particularly long and enjoyable trail ride. And to top it all off, the whole side of the valley is called Sonnenberg – what a stroke of luck! But let’s let Holger tell the story himself:
Monte Sole – the first enduro trail?
“Sometime in autumn, we set off. The weather was absolutely lovely. Down at the cable car station, we treated ourselves to a – or I think even two – cappuccinos at our leisure. We’d never have taken the time to do that if we’d had to pedal the 1,000 metres of elevation gain up to St Martin ourselves. But this way, it felt like pure luxury: a quick ride up there, checking out a really long trail and then – completely mad – maybe doing the whole thing again?!”
However, when the gondola doors opened at the top, the wind was blowing so icy that it almost froze the blood in our faces. We were glad that we were still a few metres short of the trailhead at a farm. We hadn’t quite warmed up yet. That made the first few metres of the trail’s rather rough descent feel all the more precarious. It was only after several uphill sections that we were riding with any degree of fluidity. ‘Ah, so that’s the downside of taking the gondola,’ we thought to ourselves.
Then there were the Annaberg slopes, with their superb view of the snow-capped peaks opposite. The steppe grass almost felt like Colorado or Moab. I still remember how surprised I was by this sandy ground. It looked so crumbly, yet it offered plenty of grip – because it had rained the day before, as I later learnt. Watch out! A rocky section and – wow – a sharp left-hand turn onto a suspension bridge: hold your breath, don’t get caught up in it! When the trail spat us back out into the Vinschgau apple orchards after a descent of 1,100 metres, our forearms were sore from braking. We cycled back along the cycle path to the gondola car park, but only to fetch the car. We saved the second descent for the next day. Looking back now, you’d call it a proper enduro trail. But the term didn’t exist back then.”
BIKE Supertrail No. 1
With the discovery of this trail, which Holger christened “Monte Sole”, we launched the “Supertrails” series in BIKE 2/2008. Unfortunately, it attracted so many cyclists all at once that disaster was inevitable: Whole groups of cyclists turned up, some wearing full-face helmets, and raced through the narrow passage in the upper Hofgut. With no regard for pedestrians. As a result, the trail was closed to cyclists after just a few months. Later, the upper section of the trail was rerouted and the use of the cable car by cyclists was restricted to specific times. The suspension bridge is now also closed to cyclists. There is an official diversion, but this requires riding skills up to level S3.
Nevertheless, it may well have been the spark that set off everything that followed in the Vinschgau Valley: the first trail paradise capable of rivalling Lake Garda, which until then had been the undisputed cycling mecca. Information on all the trails: bikereldorado.com
Opening hours of the cable car to St Martin:
1 April to 31 October, daily from 7 am to 9 am and 3 pm to 7 pm
Gitta Beimfohr
Editor