Transalp 2000 – Imst-Riva
| route |
Imst - St. Anton - Verwalltal - Fimbertal - Val
d'Uina-Prad - Stilfser Joch - Bormio - Gavia-Pass - Pejo Terme -
Madonna di Campiglio - Val d' Agola - Ponte Arche - Riva -
Gardasee |
| length |
400 km |
| elevation gain |
11.425 hm |
| date |
10.-15. september 2000 |
| stages (6) |
| day |
route |
km |
hm |
|
1.day |
Imst - Landeck- St. Anton- Verwalltal - Konstanz
hut - Neue Heilbronner hut - Kops reservoir- Zeinisjoch -
Galtür |
85 |
1826 |
|
2.day |
Galtür - Ischgl - Fimbertal - Heidelberger
hut- Fimberpass - Alp Chöglias - Vna - Ramosch - Sur En |
48 |
1359 |
|
3.day |
Sur En - Val d'Uina - Schlinigpass - Sesvenna hut
- Schlinig - Schleis - Laatsch - Glurns - Prad - Stilfser-Joch-road
- Gomagoi - Trafoi |
47 |
1767 |
|
4.day |
Trafoi- Stilfser Joch - Pass Umbrail - Bocchetta
di Forcola - Malga Pedenelo - Valle Forcola - Bormio -
S.Caterina |
59 |
2371 |
|
5.day |
S.Caterina - Gaviapass - Pezzo - Rifugio Bozzi al
Montozzo - Forcellina Montozzo - Lago di Pian Palu - Pejo
Terme |
53 |
2012 |
|
6.day |
Pejo Terme - Dimaro - Madonna di Campiglio - Val
d' Agola - Passo Bregn de l'Ors - Stenico - Ponte Arche - Dasindo -
Lago di Tenno - Riva - Torbole |
109 |
2050 |
|
| maps |
Kompass:
digital map Austria,
digital map Tirol,
41,
52,
072,
73,
101,
Kümmerly & Frey - Unterengadin
ISBN 3-259-00814-4,
overview: Kompass - roadmap 358 Tirol - Trentino
ISBN: 3-85491-853-4
buy via Amazon: click the number of the map |
| tour planning |
Andreas Albrecht |
| tour guiding |
Andreas Albrecht |
| participants |
- Frank Dietrich (Pirna)
- Tobias Schmidt (Ulm)
|
tour report
| prologue |
 |
|
loneliness und peace in the Alps |
 |
Driving Transalp with the mountain bike is an incomparable
fascination. Since 1994, I have been touring the Alps. To enjoy
this occasion and not to let it become an incalculable risky
venture, own experiences are very essential. Planning Transalp will
always be a compromise between the mobility of the routes and the
immersion into the world of rocks of the high mountains. The main
ridge of the Alps between the Oetztaler Alps and the Hohen Tauern
does not offer completely mobile crossing for bikers. At least one
hour pushing or carrying the bike is always scheduled.
However, the driving should be in the centre of attention at
Transalp. It is also no alternative to fall back on much travelled
pass roads if the majestic event of the quiescent mountain world
should be the centre of attention. More western it seems to be more
favourable. Behind the Fernpass the crossings are very close and
open the way to Lake Garda, the typical last stop of the Transalp,
as well as for normal bikers. The wild and rugged Verwall group is
run through by typical occuring V-valleys, like the Silvretta. They
lead softly in a height of 2400 - 2600 metres and most parts are
passable for biking. If the impregnable glacier fortress Ortler
massif is detoured west the bike track appears almost
automatically. |
Top
| 1. day: Verwall-valley |
|
|
Verwall-valley |
 |
I chose as starting point of the tour the
small Tyrolean town Imst behind the Fern pass. From Lake Garda you
can return here without problems whether by train, bus or bike,
besides it is very inexpensive if you do not purchase international
tickets. The Inn cycle path to Landeck and the distance to St.
Anton at the "Arlberg" brings many, easy kilometres for
"in-rolling". From this point the Verwall valley offers a first
impression what Transalp provides for you. The weather does its
best for us at the beginning of September, glorious sunshine,
pleasant temperatures. The time is well chosen. Often there is a
stable high-pressure weather situation during the first half of
September, it is still warm and the tracks are not overcrowded. We
enjoy the wide plateau in its tranquillity. At the Heilbronner
Hütte, the crossing into the Paznaun - valley, the silence has
gone. The praised mountain hut magic will not appear in the face of
the crowd of ramblers.
My tour companions Frank from Dresden (he already has been to the
"Ronda Dolomiti" this year) and Tobias from Ulm (he met with us via
Internet) and I decide because of that to run down into the valley.
Here, the advantage being on the way with the bike is visible.
Hardly one hour later we are about 800 altitude metres deeper in
the Paznaun - valley and move into our first accomodation. |
Top
| 2. day: Fimber-valley |
|
|
Fimberpass (Andreas and Frank) |
|
The following day, another V-valley, the Fimber - valley, is
waiting for us. After a powerful incline behind Ischgl the way
leads us relatively gentle to the Heidelberger hut. Before that, we
pass the border of Switzerland in an unspectacular way. Only a
stake on a sign shows that we leave Austria. The way to the
Fimber-pass requires some parts pushing the bike, but it only takes
one hour and on the top, it is even passable again. During the
Middle Ages dead persons from Ischgl have been brought over this
pass to the graveyard to Sent in the Engadin, because the
Paznaun-valley belonged to the community Sent for centuries. During
the winter the path could not be used. That is why, one let the
corpses deep-freeze and they have been the death in Sent in
springtime.
We enjoy the demanding Single - Trail into Unterengadin in the
Rhaetian part of Switzerland. The "Graubuendner language idiom" of
the Rhaeto-Romanic ("romantsch grischun") is the fourth official
language of Switzerland and has its origin in the Latin language.
Other cognate language groups you find in South Tyrol. ("ladinisch"
for example in the Grödner-valley) and the numerically biggest
group in the Italian Friaul ("furlan") - source: Robert
Thätig. But here the ramblers and bikers greet with "Allegra".
Although, during the whole tour we only meet a few people, so we
seldom can use the new language skills. |
Top
| 3. day: Val d’Uina |
 |
|
Val d'Uina |
|
Today, the next highlight of the tour is waiting for us. If you
keep in mind the impressions of one of the most dramatical crossing
for bikers in the Alps, many ramblers should not be on the way. At
the alpine cheese dairy, we feast on buttermilk. Then, the track
will be more narrow and the rock faces rise up vertically into the
air at the end of the valley. Coming through only seems possible
for alpine climbers.
|
|
Drehkreuze am Schlinig-Pass |
|
If you look exactly, you can see the cliff gallery which was built
in 1910. On the German Alp club´s initiative, a half tube has
been carved into the cliff, 1.30 metres wide and a length of 600
metres. So, long detours to the Schling pass and to the
today´s Sesvenna hut are passé. You should have a good
head for heights. The steep track runs about 150 - 200 metres above
the ground of the narrow gorge where the water is forming through.
The dicey points are secured. This trail you will not forget until
the end of your days. Above the gorge you cross the border to South
Tyrol at the Schlinig pass. Again, you reach a new language area.
We decide to take the way over the Stilfser pass because of the
still stable weather situation. Fast it goes into the Etsch-valley
and further to Prad and still some altitude metres up to
Trafoi. |
Top
| 4. day: Stilfser Joch – old war paths Kriegspfade |
|
Stilfser Joch:
turn 24 of 48 |
|
The morning promises a clear day. The Stilfser pass with its 48
hairpin bends is one of the classic biker - pilgrimages in the
Alps. In good 2 hours we are up there. Unfortunately, this place
suffers from the crowd of people, so we go by bike further on and
at the pass Umbrail we dive into the loneliness of the mountain
world again. We follow the stone traces of the bloody fights from
World War 1 in the Ortler area. Austrian mountain fighters and
Italian "Alpinisti" fought face to face here, the Swiss cordoned
their border at the pass Umbrail. The suffering of the soldiers had
to be immense during the wintertime.
 |
|
military road in Valle Forcola |
|
At the Bocchetta di Forcola, in the height of 2768 metres, rests of
the old fortifications are still to be seen. 50 altitude metres
deeper, you find the rests of the military hospital of the
Italians. Till up to about 3000 metres you can find the rests of
the old army route. For us bikers the old tracks are ideal. Wide
enough and in winding roads, they meander most in a passable way at
the mountain ridge and through steep rock faces down through
Terrain, which is usually reserved for ramblers and climbers.
Overwhelmed by these impressions we finally reach the old Italian
town Bormio. A sudden change in the weather is appearing. The last
kilometres to Saint Caterina in the Valfurva are a race against the
impending rain. Today, we are still the winners.
In S. Caterina the are a lot of hotels. I recommend: Hotel "Baita
Fiorita"
www.compagnoni.it -wellness area with sauna and jacuzzi,
fantastic cuisine
|
Top
| 5. day: Gavia pass |
 |
|
thunderstorm at Forcellina Montozzo
|
|
Today a classic of the Giro d'Italia is waiting for us - the Gavia
- pass. The asphalt road, for cars more or less blocked, meanders
up to 2652 metres, always having the glacier mountains in your
view. During the break on the mountain peak, I inspect with
interest the pictures of the heros of the Giro. Often they reached
the top in a heavy snowstorm even in summertime while wearing only
short jerseys. A sudden change in the weather in the high mountains
met us today, too.
After the fast mountain glissade into the Pezzo valley another
executioner is waiting for us. The crossing to Pejo over the
Forcellina Montozzo is tough. Again, we have to surmount about 1000
altitude metres up to the Rifugio Bozzi al Montozzo. Dark clouds
were brewing and we rushed off. The moment I was reaching the
embrasure pushing my bike, it became dark and it started to hail.
In the distance you could notice flash of lightning. Dangerously,
the thunder rumbled through the mountains. A screenplay could not
have been written in a better way. However, I am not interested in
the cooperation of the film. The upper part of the usually passable
way changes fast into a torrent. We have to come down to Pejo. I
know this area because of a ski vacation as the crow flies it is
not that far away. The Lago di Pian Palu is situated blue
shimmering some hundred altitude metres underneath us. Down there
the sudden temperature drop is over. The picturesque view of the
lake cannot warm us up because within a few minutes we arrive
totally snoaked and filthy at Pejo and find accommodation in my old
ski hotel. |
Top
| 6. day: Lake Garda |
 |
|
Riva Transalp 2000 |
|
The clouds have gone. The breaks at the bike are adjusted and we
are on the way into the valley di Solo, which today is a credit to
its name. Beginning our way from Dimaro the route leads along the
steep Brenta group to Madonna di Campiglio, the famous skiing
place. Another pass is still waiting for us, the Bregn de l'Ors. It
requires a last thirty minutes way of pushing the bike. Then it
rewards us with a incredible long gravel downhill. Easily, we roll
down to Ponte Arche. We still can manage for Lake Garda today.
Although, it will be a forced ride on the street, the last run
starting from Tenno lake over the old street to Riva brings us a
feeling of elation which lets us forget the stresses and strains of
today. Exactly at 7 p.m. we "freshly-baked" bikers we touch our
glasses with beer at the central place at the harbour of Riva
(picture). 400 kilometres and 11400 altitude metres divided into
six stages lay behind us. Everything was all right, on the way we
had just one flat tyre. We are ready for Transalp 2001... The tour
took place during the 2nd September week in 2001. |
Top
| conclusion |
 |
|
trail to Bocchetta di Forcola |
|
This transalp is a real dream tour. The weather was fantastic, it
could not have been better. Because of such conditions the trails
over the tree-border became a great enjoyment. Especially, the
phase after the pass Umbrail to the Bocchetta di Forcola was a
highlight. In combination with the route of the Transalp 2001
beginning from Lago Cancano to the Passo dell'Alpe and further
crossing the Gavia pass and Montozzo, there is
probably no nicer route in the high alpine area, which is
completely passable. On the last day, the phase was a little bit
too long. Here it is advisable to have one more overnight stay to
reach the Lake Garda via Val di Lomasone (review to Transalp 1996)
at the last day.
If you are on the way in the Alps, once you have to negotiate the
Stilfser pass by bike. Although, there is mostly much traffic on
the street in the summertime starting from 10 a.m., it is a great
experience. If you have an appropriate phases plan you will arrive
up there just in time. At the end of August, the street is
completely blocked for cars for one day and only belongs to the
cyclists.
Information about that: www.stelviobike.com |
Top
