MTB Transalp miniseries: Crossing the Alps from Chiemsee to the Mediterranean

Does a good tennis player have the skills to spontaneously cross the Alps? Sure, why not, thought Peter Baumeister, who at the age of 29 has already seen and conquered the world's highest mountains on foot or by bike. He even crosses the Alps several times a year. He can't imagine anyone not being up to the sporting challenges. At least not in his circle of friends.

After my mountain tours, friends from my school and university days kept calling to ask if I would take them with me. And this time I asked them. All of them. I had no idea that almost all of them would say yes.

So on 30 July, nine men met at the starting point in Übersee am Chiemsee, some of whom had only just met there. The only thing they had in common up to that point was that they were all around 30 years old, did sport regularly and now shared the ambition of crossing the Alps in seven days. The experienced mountain bikers among them knew at least roughly what to expect, the climbers and marathon runners thought they could guess and the tennis player - he was at least able to cover up his nervousness and self-doubt.

Route of the MTB Alpine Crossing: From Lake Chiemsee via the Hohe Tauern to the Mediterranean

Occasional bikers in good physical condition, but with no experience of multi-day tours or high mountains - a professional transalp organiser would probably have advised an easy to moderately difficult tour. In other words, 800 to 1000 metres in altitude per day, the main ridge without a carrying passage and as little single trail as possible.

But the boys didn't call an organiser, they wanted to accompany Peter Baumeister on his next tour, and he is an adventurer. When he crosses the Alps, he wants to experience new routes and landscapes. So Peter planned the route of the Transalp on the map in such a way that it would also take him through completely new territory: from Chiemsee via the Kitzbühel Alps to Bad Gastein and over the main ridge through the Hohe Tauern. There he spends the night at the Hagener Hütte at an altitude of 2446 metres and then continues on the southern side of the Alps via the Lienz Dolomites and the Carnic border ridge to Udine and on to Bibione on the Adriatic beach.

The tour dates of the MTB Alpine Crossing:

From Chiemsee to Bibione on the Adriatic Sea

• Length: 468 kilometres
• Uphill: 8500 metres altitude
• Stages: 7
• Difficulty level: difficult

8500 metres in altitude spread over 468 kilometres and 7 stages doesn't sound like steep, long climbs at first. But when you consider that the last 100 kilometres of the Bike-Transalp lead through the flat Po Valley, the profile of the daily stages is pretty tough. Then there are the rough, merciless Hohe Tauern mountains. They are among the most difficult main ridge passages in the Alps. The race course of the BIKE Transalp once led through this high mountain world with its sharp-edged ridges and vertical rock faces. Back then, some exhausted participants had to be taken off their bikes by helicopter so that they could make it to the next stage location unharmed and in daylight. In this respect, it was perhaps a good thing that not all of the participants in Peter Baumeister's team knew what to expect. Otherwise they might not even have got to the Crossing the Alps would have started. On the other hand, perhaps they would have reconsidered their equipment...

Without wanting to spoil anything: Not everyone made it to the finish, of course. There are simply too many factors involved in crossing the Alps. But of course Peter himself wants to tell us which of these led to tour cancellations in his filmed stage diaries, which he will be publishing from Saturday, 29 October at 6 pm on its YouTube channel as a seven-part series.

Episode 1, stage 1: From Chiemsee to the Seidlalm in the Kitzbühel Alps,
75 kilometres and 1800 metres in altitude - the first material problems

The other stage episodes of the Bike-Transalp will follow in a two-day rhythm at 6 pm.

Stage 2: From the Seidlalm to Bad Hofgastein
76 kilometres, 900 metres in altitude
Broadcast: Monday, 31 October, 6 p.m.

Stage 3 From the Gastein Valley up into the Hohe Tauern
21 kilometres, 1500 metres in altitude
Broadcast: Wednesday, 2.11.

Stage 4: from the Hagener Hütte to the Lienz Dolomites
66 kilometres, 2100 vertical metres
Broadcast: Friday, 4.11.

Stage 5: From the Anna Schutzhaus to the Rattendorfer Alm
70 kilometres, 1600 metres in altitude
Broadcast: Sunday, 6.11.

Stage 6: from the Rattendorfer Alm to Udine
100 kilometres, 550 metres in altitude
Broadcast: Tuesday, 8.11.

Stage 7: from Udine to the Adriatic Sea near Bibione
60 kilometres, 50 metres in altitude
Broadcast: Thursday, 10.11.

Transalp with the MTB: Portrait of the filmmaker Peter Baumeister

Peter Baumeister (29) grew up in Penzberg in Upper Bavaria. He has been exploring the mountains on his doorstep on his hardtail for as long as he can remember. As he got older, his touring radius increased and took him not only to the Alps, but also to the Caucasus, the Andes and the Himalayas. After studying business administration in Munich, he set off alone on his longest European tour: from Penzberg to Portugal. He not only had to cross the Alps, but also the Pyrenees. The current South Tyrolean by choice taught himself how to film and edit his tour videos.