Mountain biking in the Dolomites? There are probably few terms that switch on the cinema in your head as much as these. It is debatable whether the Dolomites really are the "most beautiful mountain range in the world", as is often claimed. However, the fact that the Dolomites were recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site a few years ago underlines the special nature of this area. Biking in these mountains involves stunning panoramas, hidden single trails, wild military paths - and often long and agonisingly steep climbs. The fact that there have been far fewer offers for gravity-heavy mountain bikers here in the past than in other regions of the Alps may be welcomed in view of the sensitive nature. However, as an increasingly lazy mountain biker, hearing about brand new flow trails in the Dolomites still makes you sit up and take notice.
This year it was that time again: Plose and Kronplatz, two already established trail spots in the South Tyrolean part of the Dolomites, significantly expanded their offerings. And with nearby Alta Badia, a completely new destination jumped on the flow trail bandwagon. All three areas are in the immediate vicinity and are therefore ideal for exploring on a short road trip over a long weekend. But beware, the window of opportunity for such a fun project is short. Some cable cars only run until the middle or end of September.
THE PLOSE
With three brand new lines above the Palm Castle, Brixen's local mountain Plose has finally joined the ranks of the few Dolomite bike parks. A successful expansion of the offer. The Plose is one of those mountains that has been on your radar for ages. And yet somehow you don't know what label to put on it. Downhill? Fits with some justification. After all, the Caidom Race, a slightly crazy race format, was created here back in 2004. After a strenuous climb (with downhill bikes) to the summit of the 2486 metre high "Telegraph", the race went down in a mass start. The race took place nine times with a whopping 1800 metres downhill to the finish at the cathedral square in Brixen. A rough route that changed every year, sometimes over challenging single trails, sometimes just freestyle through the middle of the forest. Since the Caidom 2008 as part of the Avalanche Cup series, the Plose has mutated into a pilgrimage destination for downhillers. However, those who wanted to take on the Caidom course outside of the race literally found themselves in the forest. Unfortunately, the Caidom race was cancelled at around the same time as the enduro wave began.
"Gateway to the Dolomites" would also be a fitting label. After all, the Plose cable car brings a whole series of rewarding single trails within easy reach, for which you would otherwise have to put up with hours of climbing. Not to mention the fact that you can enjoy unobstructed views of Dolomite massifs such as the Peitlerkofel or the Geissler peaks from above the tree line. And there's no doubt about it: the Plose hinterland offers a rewarding touring area that will take even the most diligent bikers some time to explore.
Only the label "bike park" didn't really fit for a long time. The foundation stone for this was laid in 2014. The trail, originally called 666 (now Skyline), clearly followed the flowline concept, which was still quite new at the time. With a length of 6.6 kilometres and a depth of 1,000 metres, the Skyline was no walk in the park, but that's probably why it found so many fans in such a short space of time. However, although the area still had room for dozens of such lines, it stayed that way for a while. In order to guarantee maximum fun on the brand new lines around the Palmschloss chairlift, extra support was brought in from Whistler. The well-known trail builders from Gravity Logic were allowed to really let off steam. The shapers had a maximum of 300 vertical metres of terrain at their disposal. And yet they managed to hone a whopping 4.2 kilometres of flow trail par excellence on the Jerry Line. It is never too steep, never too narrow or rough and is suitable for trail beginners as well as more advanced riders. Of course, this applies all the more to the Hammer and Palm Pro Lines. While the former promises airtime even for beginners with its well-shaped tables, the latter is a hand-shovelled single trail where even good riders can let off steam.
INFO / RATING
The precinct
Brixen's local mountain, Plose, offers the first freeride/bike park area after the Brenner Pass. The Plose is conveniently located and can be reached quickly from the Brenner motorway: take the Brixen/Pustertal exit to the valley station and head towards Brixen. From there, the Plose cable car and the village of St. Andrä are well signposted. At lower altitudes, biking in the Eisack Valley is possible from as early as March. The cable car is open from the end of May to mid-October.
Built trails
The Plose offers a total of four trails built for mountain bikers, the longest of which is an impressive 6.6 kilometres long. Due to its length and some somewhat rough passages, this is also the most challenging trail. The newly built trail sector at the Palmschloss also offers bike park beginners a great opportunity. Info: www.plose.org
Touring area
The Plose is the starting point for numerous single trails and offers many tour options. However, the tours are usually at least physically demanding. The Würzjoch or the Gömajoch, for example, which connect to Alta Badia, are frequently accessed from here. Information on day tours: www.eisacktal.com
Shuttles / guided tours
The Brixen bike school Brixbike offers a fixed weekly programme of guided tours and riding technique training for all ability levels. Info: www.brixbike.it
THE KRONPLATZ
The mountain near Bruneck is not necessarily suitable for families. However, those who want to let off steam on challenging, well-developed trails will find plenty of kilometres of fun on Kronplatz.
In winter, Kronplatz is a panoramic ski mountain with many blue pistes. In summer, it plays a pioneering role when it comes to freeriding. The first official downhill trail in South Tyrol was opened here back in 2010, when cable cars everywhere in South Tyrol stopped transporting mountain bikers due to the wild activity on the trails. The Herrensteig was a network of existing hiking trails that were simply linked with newly built sections and officially opened to freeriders. The result was an "old school" single trail. Respectable steep sections and blocked passages alternated with sections that were considered flowy by the standards of the time. Until then, the Herrensteig had little in common with what bikers today understand by the term flow trail. Despite this, or perhaps because of it, the trail quickly made friends. It was recognised locally that bikers could be channelled excellently on such trails. As a result, there were hardly any problems with hikers.
This is how the expansion of the Herrensteig trail began. The aim was to make the trail suitable for a wider range of users. A completely new route was created in the steep centre section, which has the character of a flow trail with steep berms. Fortunately, the "old" Herrensteig trail remained open at this point. So if you like it a bit crisper, you can still turn into the Direttissima and use the bike's suspension travel for its intended purpose. User numbers increased and biking began to make a modest commercial contribution to the summer business. New trails were approved and built in 2014. As the first expansion stage, the almost five-kilometre-long Furcia Trail was intended to offer an easier alternative to the Herrensteig trail. Despite the flow trail elements and steep berms, the Furcia is by no means trivial. It takes a certain amount of courage at the beginning not to pull on the brakes at the entrance to the bends. However, you need the momentum after the powerful compression at the exit of the bend to overcome the counter-climb before the next bend without using the pedals. If you get the hang of it, you can expect a nice game with the acceleration forces. A perfectly constructed cream trail!
Since 2015, two more highlights have been waiting for mountain bikers: the Piz de Plaies and the moderately difficult Gassl Trail. The latter offers the longest descent on Kronplatz at 8.6 kilometres. However, the potential on this mountain has not yet been exhausted. Kronplatz still has room for further evolution, especially for challenging singletrail descents. The almost one kilometre long runs over the Korer or Andreas trail offer a good foretaste with their rooted and steep terrain. But Kronplatz is already considered the top address in the Dolomites for fans of more challenging trails.
INFO / RATING
The precinct
Four cable cars open up the Kronplatz trail network. They start in Reischach, Olang, St. Vigil and at the Furkelpass. The cable car in Reischach is the most conveniently located in terms of transport. It can be reached via the Brenner motorway (exit Brixen/Pustertal). From there, continue in the direction of Bruneck. The cable car is signposted on the state road.
Built trails
Kronplatz offers freeriders six built trails, some with various small variants. The flagship Herrensteig and Gassl-Trail are a good eight kilometres long and can therefore be considered physically demanding. Freeride beginners should perhaps not tackle Kronplatz straight away. Although exceptions prove the rule, most of the local trails do require some skills despite their flow trail elements.
Touring area
A number of classic mountain bike tours await in the immediate vicinity, for example on the Fanesalpe. Also worthwhile: the Tauferer Ahrntal to the north. A selection of tours with GPS download is available at www.kronplatz.com
Shuttles
Two bike schools offer a comprehensive bike programme. Outdoor Kronplatz (at the valley station in Reischach) organises trips for freeriders. On the other side of the mountain, the Bikeschool San Vigilio mainly caters for touring bikers. Info: outdoor-kronplatz.com, www.mtb-sanvigilio.it
THE ALTA BADIA
Until now, Alta Badia has mainly been home to racing cyclists. But with the opening of two flow trails on Piz Sorega, mountain bikers now seem to be flourishing here.
The fact that Alta Badia (or in South Tyrolean: Val Badia) is a bit of a special case can be seen from the entrance. Unlike everywhere else in South Tyrol, all the signs here are not bilingual but trilingual. Almost all the inhabitants of Val Badia speak both German and Italian. When communicating with each other, however, they use Ladin, which sounds as endearing as it is incomprehensible to outsiders. Ladin is not a dialect, but a language in its own right that is only spoken in the four valleys around the Sella massif. In addition, there is a certain centrist view of the world that seems to be centred on the dominant massif of the Sella Group. This applies to both culture and cycling.
The Sellaronda is the measure of all things here: the great circumnavigation of the Dolomite massif on two wheels was a purely road bike affair for a long time and still is to this day. Nevertheless, for some years now there has been an MTB Sellaronda with the use of a cable car, which also has sections specially built for bikers. With the Sellaronda Hero, the region offers one of the toughest MTB marathon competitions in the Dolomites. But freeride? Okay, the chairlifts to the Heiligkreuzkofel hospice have been transporting mountain bikers for some time, which fans of the single trails there are happy to take advantage of. And on the opposite side of the valley, at the Gardenaccia chairlift, there were even two lines built especially for freeriders in 2011. But without wanting to offend anyone: After the second bend, anyone who has ridden in this bike park has realised that the builders of the lines do not necessarily have trail building as their core competence.
In contrast, the new trails on Piz Sorega are completely different. In June 2018, two flow lines were opened here above San Cassiano specifically for freeriders. These descents really don't need to shy away from comparison with the trails mentioned above. Neither in terms of quality nor quantity: on the 500 metres of altitude difference between the mountain and valley stations of the Piz Sorega cable car, 4.8 kilometres of thrilling curves are already winding their way down. And along the way, there's everything a bike park rider's heart desires: well-shaped banked turns with clean radii, doubles and tables that offer opportunities for airtime, but can also be easily rolled over. In addition, Northshore elements defuse various steep steps in the terrain. So a promising start has been made and further construction plans are in the drawer. In fact, this mountain still offers enough free flanks for further creative lines. We wish the project managers every success and an open ear from the authorities. It would be great if Alta Badia continued to gain ground in terms of bike trails.
INFO / RATING
The precinct
Two routes lead to Alta Badia: either via the Pustertal Valley and the valley floor, or via Brixen and the Würzjoch Pass. The latter is clearly the more scenic route, but it is usually faster via the Pustertal valley. La Villa, the main town in Alta Badia, lies at an altitude of 1400 metres. The cable cars run from mid-June to the end of September.
Built trails
The trails on Piz Sorega near San Cassiano are flow trails built to modern standards and are also suitable for beginners. Advanced riders will find a few jumps and obstacles, but these are never compulsory.
Touring area
There is a wide range of tours on site, including some classic tours, such as over the Fanesalpe, to the Peitlerkofel or to the Heiligkreuzkofel hospice. Some worthwhile tour suggestions can be found at www.altabadia.org
MTB Sellaronda
One of the local highlights is the MTB Sellaronda, which can be accessed from Canazei. Depending on whether you are travelling clockwise or anti-clockwise, you will have to pedal more or less yourself. Some sections of the tour are specially designed for mountain bikers. Info: www.sellaronda-mtb.com
Shuttles / Tours
The Dolomite Biking guides regularly offer guided tours, including on the Sellaronda. Info: www.dolomitebiking.com
You can read this article or the entire BIKE 10/2018 issue in the BIKE app (iTunes and Google Play) or buy the issue in the DK shop reorder:
>> Read in the Apple App Store
>> Read in the Google Play Store
>> Order in the DK-Shop
