A fantastic view of Bellinzona can be seen from the newly built bike facilities. "We've been hoping for a permanent downhill route on Monte Tamaro for years. Now it's finally a reality," enthuses Caluori. The route in southern Switzerland with its perfect railway infrastructure and motorway access can be reached in around 1:45 hours from Zurich. It is even only 75 minutes from Lucerne. This enables (not only) Swiss downhill cracks to practice as early as March - without having to make a time-consuming and expensive journey abroad.
The downhill course and bike park offer everything a bike technician's heart desires. Fast bends with berms, open bends with drifts, slow and fast passages and 25 jumps with different layouts. And the bike park with Northshore elements, wallriding and kickers with different heights and radii allow for all kinds of acrobatics.
Wide range of tourist attractions
According to Chairman of the Board of Directors Cattaneo, who was also OC President of the Bike World Championships in 2003, the downhill course and bike park are another milestone in the development of tourism on Monte Tamaro. Developed for skiing in the 1970s, the resort soon suffered from a frequent lack of snow. It was therefore decided to convert the mountain for tourism, which Cattaneo describes as "a cultural change". The ski lifts were dismantled. The result is a varied leisure centre for summer tourists of all kinds, which is open for nine months of the year, weather permitting.
The offer is varied with an art park, a summer toboggan run, an adventure climbing park, a 200 metre long zip wire and an impressive church built by star architect Mario Botta. "The new bike buildings appeal to a different target audience, which is exactly in line with our strategy. We really want the whole family to get their money's worth," says Cattaneo, explaining the concept.
Further information: montetamaro.ch
