Hardly any other bike region is as important for Italian mountain bike tourism as the steep slopes of Lake Garda. German bikers in particular enjoy the mixture of Alpine trails and Italian Flair the status of a top holiday destination. No wonder, as mountain bike history was written on the trails on the northern shore. For example, the very first BIKE test took place on the legendary Tremalzo Pass. A memorial stone still commemorates this historic event today.
On the other hand, the Lake Garda trails have long had a rather adventurous reputation. Many of the narrow paths are rocky and exposed - supposedly nothing for a relaxing holiday tour. Above all, however, the sheer number of trails used to seem overwhelming. Anyone who wanted to cobble together a tour at the Lagohad to know his way around the dense network of narrow paths or at least invest a lot of time in reading guidebooks. But even then, you weren't always safe from unpleasant surprises. The Garda Trentino tourist region has recognised the problem and analysed its target audience. Adventurers can still find extreme routes, but the vast majority of mountain bikers want to have safe and carefree fun on great trails on holiday.
As part of the "Outdoor Park Garda Trentino" project, which has been running since 2009, a new tour concept and new signposting will allow all guests to enjoy the legendary trails in future. A test phase is running around Lake Ledro this year. If this is successful, the new MTB tour system will be extended to the other regions of the province of Trento. This means that the new concept will also be relevant for other popular MTB holiday regions such as Val di Sole, Val di Fassa and Paganella. We asked those responsible in an interview what the realisation of such a major project looks like in detail.
Interview on the new MTB route concept at Lake Garda
Stefania Oradini, project manager at Garda Trentino, answered all the exciting questions BIKE had about the new MTB tour concept on Lago di Garda.
BIKE: The tours on Lake Garda are legendary, why is the mountain bike concept now being redesigned?
Stefania OradiniLake Garda is a mecca for mountain bikers, especially for holidaymakers from Germany. We have very good trails here, but we hadn't really looked after their maintenance in the past. Instead, we just signposted new routes. At the moment, we therefore have an incredible number of routes with different, sometimes unclear signposting. Now we want to take a closer look at which routes are the most important for bikers, maintain them as well as possible and improve them. The latter primarily concerns the information situation, safety and orientation.
So far, the signposts have only featured large numbers. What will the signposting system look like in the future?
The numbers are specified by the province and will therefore remain the same. A new feature will be a coherent designation of the routes: "Tour" for the routes that are less technically demanding and "Trail" for those that are more technically demanding. This will allow bikers to immediately recognise whether a route is the right one for them. We have also recently introduced the International Trail Rating System (ITRS) of the International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA) Europe. The various rating systems from Switzerland, Austria, Germany and France have been combined for this purpose. The system uses the colour coding of ski slopes: green, blue, red and black. This means that different levels of difficulty can also be seen on the signposting.
Four elements are assessed in each case: technical demands, physical demands, exposure and "wilderness". The latter assesses, for example, mobile phone reception and accessibility for rescue services. We have brought an Austrian company on board for the project that already has experience with MTB concepts in South Tyrol. The signs will also include information on intermediate destinations and rest stops. Previously, we had one sign for each route and therefore many small signposts on one post. For the sake of clarity, we are now increasingly using combined signs. The number of suggested routes has been reduced so that there are now main routes with different variations. This information should help bikers to plan their tours better.
Will there be a complete overview of the new tours?
All the information about the routes can be found on the Garda Trentino website. The new GPS files for the tours in the Ledro Valley can also be found there. We are currently working on a traffic light system called "check your tour", which will provide information about the accessibility of trails at a glance. Green means that the trail is open, red means that it is currently closed and yellow trails are passable but are currently undergoing maintenance work. The corresponding reason will always be listed.
That sounds like a really big project. When will the new concept be realised?
The current signage is based on an existing provincial government law. An amendment to the law must therefore first be passed before it can be implemented. We have initially developed a pilot project in the Ledro Valley, around the Tremalzo area. In contrast to the slopes directly on Lake Garda, it is somewhat easier there because the valley is somewhat more isolated and there are no routes that cross routes under other jurisdictions. The new signposting in the Ledro Valley was installed before the winter. We want to evaluate how well it works with the help of an online form in which bikers can give us their opinion. At the end of 2023, the results should then convince those responsible at the province and help to further improve the system. If the province gives its approval, the concept will be extended to the whole of Trento. This includes the northern area of Lake Garda, as well as Val di Sole, Val di Fassa and Paganella. However, it will take some time before this happens, as the tourism regions will have to invest a lot of time and money.
Something like this is particularly worthwhile when demand changes. How does the target group of mountain bikers on Lake Garda differ from ten years ago?
The target group has definitely changed. We used to have mainly bike purists on Lake Garda. Today, there are significantly more mountain bikers and e-bikers here. Among them are many newcomers with less experience. For this reason, we have also seen more accidents in recent years. The downhill challenge in particular is a problem. It is therefore important to make the difficulty system of the routes clearer, to provide more information on the signposting and to keep the routes in good condition.
What else is being done to make the trails on Lake Garda in particular safer?
We have intensified our efforts to maintain the mountain bike trails. Since last year, we have had a team responsible for this called the "Garda Rangers" and since March we have had an additional team. There is now a group of six people who look after the maintenance of the bike trails 365 days a year. We have noticed that not only tourists but also the locals are happy about this, because even technically challenging routes are only fun if they are in good condition. Specifically, this involves removing loose stones and mowing trails clear, for example. Trails that were thought to have disappeared reappear. Last year, we were already able to take care of individual "problem cases". Now the Garda Rangers are to routinely check the trails.
What are your personal route highlights?
I'm not quite as strong a cyclist, but I regularly ride my mountain and gravel bike. I like to ride up, have a wheat beer at the top and then take it easy on the way back. I regularly cycle to work on my e-bike from Ledro Valley to Riva. At seven o'clock, everything is still completely empty, which is wonderful. Among the new routes, the Tremalzo tour is definitely one of my favourites.
Test the new mountain bike trails on Lake Garda now
All official bike tours on Lake Garda can be found under this link. The pilot project in the Ledro Valley includes the following routes:
- Val Concei Tour
- Lago di Ledro Tour
- Ledro Dromae
- Tremalzo Big Tour
- Caset Rinalt Trail
- Caset Pubregn Trail
- Rifugio Pernici Trail Tour
- Dos De Preghent
- Tremalzo Garda XXL
- XXL Leano
- Bocca Dei Fortini Tour
If you want to try out the new route concept, you can do so on the Tremalzo Big Tour, for example. The day tour with 43.5 kilometres and 1720 metres in altitude leads to the iconic Tremalzo Pass, among other places. Its hairpin bends take bikers to Punta Larici, one of the best viewpoints over Lake Garda. Downhill, there is a choice between the old military road and the Caset Pubregn Trail, which is maintained by the Garda Rangers.
Jan Timmermann
Editor
