A freeride expert like Julien Absalon needs a full 22 minutes for a descent from the Plose to the cathedral square in Brixen. At race pace, mind you. Although he still has to elbow his way out at the start to clear the competition out of the way, he had a clear run on the remaining 13-kilometre descent.
The Plose is Brixen's number 1 local mountain and its three bare summits are clearly visible from the Brenner motorway. At 2562 metres, the Gabler marks the highest point. You could crank up there now. But you can also take the bus to the lift station and then save your energy for the descent in the gondola. However, you still have to fight your way up the remaining 500 metres to the summit plateau. At an altitude of 2050 metres, we peel ourselves out of the cable car and take the gravel road towards the morning sun. It's pretty windy up here. Freshly mown alpine grass flies around our ears. But that soon becomes a minor matter, because there are teeth growing on the horizon. With every metre of altitude that we now gain from the Plose on this wide path, we push down the visual protection of these Dolomite giants until they finally stand completely naked in front of us: the Geisler peaks.
The entire article and the GPS data for the MTB tours around Brixen can be downloaded below:
- CaiDom 2009 / Kreuztal-St. Andrä
- Freienbichlweg
- Gitschberg
