Tracking down a largely unknown route across the Alps and clicking the GPS track into a tour portal - someone like Peter Baumeister can do that. The 29-year-old from Penzberg has been travelling the Alps on his hardtail since he was a child and now undertakes several Alpine and mountain crossings worldwide every year. In principle, he has experienced everything on all these tours and has solved every problem at least twice. He therefore has a wealth of alpine experience that makes the logical staking out of stage lengths, clarifying accommodation, optimising equipment and organising return transport a pure routine.
What is new for him, however, is the team. Eight of his best friends, who he knows from school, sport and university, want to accompany him on this tour. They are all athletes, but about half of them have never attempted a multi-day mountain bike tour before, let alone crossed the Alps. Nevertheless, Peter is certain that all eight friends will achieve their goal in the end - if nothing unforeseen intervenes. And the Alps are the Alps. Terrain and weather are in charge. But the mind and body can also go on strike. Or the equipment, which may never have been exposed to such stresses before. Fortunately, Peter Baumeister had his camera and drone with him and documented the highs, lows and mistakes he made and published them as a mini-series on his YouTube page. Each of these seven episodes shows great landscapes of a rather unusual Transalp route, a lot of team spirit in a rather inhomogeneous group and situations that not even someone like Peter Baumeister would have expected.
Attention spoilers! We list these problematic situations after the following episode links. If you prefer to see them in the film first, click through the clips of the individual stages and then continue reading at the 7 things to avoid on a Transalp.
Transalp miniseries in 7 episodes - from Chiemsee to the Mediterranean
Stage 1: From Chiemsee to Seidlalm/Kitzbüheler Alpen Schönleiten Hütte (1748 m)
- Distance: 75 kilometres
- Uphill: 1800 metres in altitude
- Clip content: Nervous participants at the start, brake trouble in Fieberbrunn, thunderstorms and problems with the accommodation
Stage 2: From the Seidlalm to Gad Gastein
- Distance: 77 kilometres
- Uphill: 1000 metres in altitude
- Clip content: Great ridge trail, Belgian roundabout pulls the plug on some participants
Stage 3: From Bad Gastein up the Hohe Tauern (royal stage)
- Distance: 21 kilometres
- Uphill: 1500 metres in altitude
- Clip content: Migge breaks off, carrying passage of 800 vertical metres to the Hagener Hütte
Stage 4: From the Hagener Hütte to the Lienz Dolomites
- Distance: 67 kilometres
- Uphill: 2100 metres in altitude
- Clip content: Longest descent and dead end in the Lienz Dolomites
Stage 5: From the Anna refuge to the Carnic High Trail
- Distance: 70 kilometres
- Uphill: 1600 metres in altitude
- Clip content: Steve-O gives up, Migge returns. The temperatures rise
Stage 6: From the Rattendorfer Alm to Udine
- Distance: 100 kilometres
- Uphill: 550 metres in altitude
- Clip content: The finale at the pool party
Stage 7: From Udine to the Mediterranean
- Distance: 60 kilometres
- Uphill: 0 metres in altitude
- Clip content: the last two fight their way through the scorching heat to the sea
7 things you should consider on a mountain bike transalp
1. book accommodation: Know where to sleep
When crossing the Alps, it is always a good idea to book your accommodation in good time before the start of the tour. Especially if you are travelling in a larger group, so that you don't end up in front of a fully booked house after a long day's stage and have to look for an alternative. The group can also decide in advance whether they would prefer to sleep comfortably in the valley or in style at the hut. But be careful when booking: in the Alps, huts, guesthouses and hotels often have confusingly similar names. It even happened to Peter Baumeister that he had booked the Schönleitenhaus in Styria instead of the Schönleiten Hütte on the Seidlalm in Kitzbühel. You can clearly see in the film how much such news hurts after a long, tough stage just before sunset.
2. the equipment: be sure to have your bike checked
In the Alps, a kilometre-long ascent is followed by an equally long descent. Several times a day on a Transalp. These are material stresses that you can't really simulate at home in the low mountain ranges. That's why a thorough bike check is extremely important before crossing the Alps. Brakes and gears in particular should be completely overhauled and half-worn tyres should be replaced. If you don't have the confidence to do this yourself, make an appointment at the bike workshop in good time! In the middle of the season, their order books are full and you should definitely run in new brake pads for a few kilometres beforehand. The Baumeister Transalp participant Eal experienced what can happen if you don't have your bike checked before the tour: The brakes on his old bike fail on day 1 and although he makes it to Fieberbrunn, where there are several bike shops, there are no spare parts for his old brakes. So he has to dig deeper into his pockets for a completely new brake, giving the rest of the group an unplanned long lunch break and a very late arrival at the stage finish.
3rd stage planning: thunderstorms
Especially in rocky regions, where the sun heats up the rocks, you have to reckon with heat storms in the afternoon every day. They build up over the course of the day, discharge violently and then quickly dissipate. Nevertheless, they are not without danger and also force you to take unplanned breaks. It is therefore best to plan the length of the stage so that you start early and reach your accommodation by 4 or 5 pm if possible. If you start later and see the thunderstorm approaching, you risk setting too fast a pace and having to get on your bike the next day with unintentionally heavy legs. This happened to the Baumeister group on the very first day.
4. beware of slight valley rollers!
On some Transalp routes, longer valley rollers on tarmac cycle paths are unavoidable. This was also the case on the Transalp stage from the Seidlalm through Zell am See to the accommodation in Bad Gastein. The nine boys completed the supposedly easy, energy-saving flat stage in the Belgian roundabout to save even more energy. Unfortunately, however, in this slipstream group with a changing lead, they were able to build up an average speed of 35 kilometres per hour. Some were able to cope with this quite well, while others found it difficult. This not only had painful consequences on the last climb to the hut, but also on the following days.
5. long carrying passages: pack blister plasters!
On day three, the Hohe Tauern awaited with the royal stage up to the Hagener Hütte (2446 m). This is a pass crossing that is rarely taken by Alpine crossers because the 800-metre carry and push section is long and tough and leads through extremely steep terrain. If you are planning something like this, you should choose comfortable shoes with good grip so that you don't slip on rocky ground. Nevertheless, you will almost certainly get blisters on your feet because the weight of the bike puts additional pressure on your shoulders. That's why blister plasters should always be in your emergency pack!
6. route planning with Open Street Maps?
The more detailed you familiarise yourself with the planned route in advance, the lower the chances of unpleasant surprises. Even if you choose a pre-planned route, you should check it in advance for road closures, landslides, snow fields and fallen trees. The Alpine Club offers a good online service for this.
In the case of the Baumeister group, however, it was difficult to get advance information about the route because hardly anyone had done it before. Peter had clicked together the GPS track in a tour portal with Open Street Maps (OSM) maps. According to this, there should clearly be a good gravel road in the Lienz Dolomites up to the Anna refuge. But the reality was different: After 500 metres in altitude, the ride ended at a path that had been completely overgrown for years. No way through. A search for an alternative route on our mobile phone revealed that we would have to leave everything again and try a new ascent from the valley. This threatened to fail again at a fence, but as it was getting dark, the boys decided to climb over it illegally and reached the hut just before dark.
7. wear a helmet even uphill!
Actually, you shouldn't have to give this advice any more: Helmets should always be worn on your head, even when travelling uphill and crossing the Alps. Unfortunately, falls and falling rocks also occur on particularly hot days. And in an emergency in the Alps, it can take time for the mountain rescue team to arrive!
Gitta Beimfohr
Editor
