What is Vertriden?
The subscript "Vertriden" is made up of "Vert" for vertical and "riden" for riding. It therefore describes travelling on extremely steep and exposed high alpine paths and trails. It's not just perfect riding technique that counts here, but also mental strength: if you allow yourself to be distracted by the abyss, you will fall several hundred metres.
Who does that?
Christoph Malin has the Innsbruck representatives was founded. Together with Christian "Picco" Piccolruaz, he is one of the pioneers of vertriding. The two of them are constantly discovering new spectacular descents and capturing them on video - the only way to publicise vertriding. After all, there are no competitions or anything like that.
What use is the e-mountainbike?
Anyone who has ever seen a video of vertriders knows the scenes well enough: the protagonists often lug the bikes on their shoulders for hours towards the summit. You wouldn't really want to do that with a 20-kilo e-MTB. But in Innsbruck (574 metres above sea level), the vertrider territory only begins far above the rooftops of the city - this is where the e-mountainbike helps enormously. Technically demanding and, above all, steep uphills are no problem.
The EMTB tour
A fortnight ago, Christoph Malin set off to explore the tour. The extremely steep climb puts the motor through its paces, but all his efforts come to an abrupt end: Malin is faced with a vertical ladder. It would be impossible to get the e-MTB down there alone and without equipment. So Malin turns back.
Last Saturday, he set off together with Picco. In their luggage: a rope with which the two of them want to abseil down the e-MTBs - real vertrinden. The steep climb requires plenty of battery power, so a spare energy reservoir is a must. With two people and equipment, the ladder is no problem this time. This is followed by the obligatory shouldering of the bikes until the highest point of 2,800 metres is reached. This is followed by a breathtaking twelve-kilometre trail descent.
According to the Vertrider Code, there is of course no GPX track or detailed road book. If you are still interested in e-vertriding, you can contact Christoph Malin - assuming you have the best riding technique and mental strength. Alternative offers are available here.
