Vacation on thousands of vertical meters of trails, where your brain will not have a chance to relax. For climbers, freeriders and all-mountain kings.
For a rider like me who swears by using a mountain bike in the woods of softly shaped middle mountains, the real bike holiday is the one that is not routine. Let's go to the Alps, in the steep high mountains. Let's go to Austrian Tyrol.
Zillertal is the biggest of the valleys branching off the main Tyrol valley Inntal with the city of Innsbruck. And you've guessed right, the river Ziller flows through Zillertal. It is surrounded by the Zillertal Alps to the south and east, the Kitzbühel Alps to the northeast and the Tuxer Alps to the west. There is also a popular glaciated ski resort Hintertux. The largest settlement in the valley is Mayrhofen.
The locals who consistently foster the Alpine culture of living would most definitely be very upset to hear about my first impression of the valley: for a mountain valley it is too populated, tourist industrialized mountainous resort for the retired from all around the world. That is the impression I got in summer; however, during the winter season the population is probably younger and the snow drives away every doubt about where you are – in the middle of the Alps.
But when a biker ascends at about 500 meters above the valley, above 1000 meters, and then beyond the forest frontier, everything what might distract him or her in the valley is forgotten. The mountain paradise begins. On any kind of a mountain or road bike.
Seasonality
Marcel, an experienced Dutch biker in his late thirties, and Alexander, a ten-year-younger local, started a guiding agency called Seasonality – Bikeguides 4 U. In a store in the middle of Mayrhofen they have a selection of Bionicon bikes, helmets and other protection gear. They are hired by experienced riders – from freeriders to XC experts – as well as by less experienced riders who just want to enjoy downhill with rented gear.
There are various places in Zillertal where you can rent a bike. You can find guides, too. The major players are members of the branch of a big Swiss agency Hürzeler, but they mainly offer road biking services. The only real mountain bikers who take you on the mountain biking tours and lend you a bike, if needed, are Alex and Marcel.
Alex is a new-school freerider, an excellent technical biker. Marcel is at home on either a road or BMX bike or a downhill bike. The Netherlands have been a country too flat for him. After he had been traveling around the world he came to Zillertal about ten years ago, where he has been teaching snowboarding in winter and is an excited freerider.
The Dutch are an interesting nation, indeed. So in love with biking and mountains that they don't have. I got to know Marcel and Alex through Jarno, another Dutch who lives in Klagenfurt and sends his fellow countrymen on biking holidays to Zillertal, to Dixy in Slovenia and elsewhere via his FB Travel Agency.
Riding
At home I rarely bike in the high mountains, because of two reasons: one, I don't like to push or carry the bike uphill and second, I don't like fighting with mountaineers and various defenders of funny laws or the National Park. But there is no other kind of riding in Tyrol. Mayrhofen is located 633 meters above sea level. The glacier valleys cut through the mountains with peaks at height of 2500 meters and above, some reaching even above 3000 meters in the background.
Marcel and I agreed to go on a ride the third day I was in town, so on my first day I only tried to gather some good advice. I climbed the slopes of the Kitzbühel Alps, starting from Zell in Zillertal. At about 1300 meters above sea level there were fewer mountain farms, and the asphalt was replaced with good dirt road. Here and there you could see a tourist hut that really revives in the winter time, and of course the cable railways which were standing still. Very relaxed, I climbed beyond the forest frontier and even higher, at 2000 meters and above. With such a panoramic view, cows and horses on the pasture, the vertical meters were flying by. I descended on a marked path which Alex recommended (he never thought I would go this high). It wasn't easy (nor legal), so I had to walk in the upper part, in the middle and lower part a little less, at some sections I just closed my eyes for a quick second. It was a steep and narrow trail with lots of roots and rocks, where the soil was washed away during rain showers. I really deserved the Tyrol schlutzkrapfen, a local specialty, similar to filled ravioli pasta. I recommend it, with the Zillertal beer.
The next day I had some work with a serious damage on my bike, which appeared after the wild downhill the previous day. I realized that there is no bike and repair shop in Mayrhofen. Everyone recommended repair services at the local hardware store Eisenbacher. At Rudi's, the master who fixes tourists' bikes and mopeds. My expensive bike … I got a headache, I already saw him hammering on my bike, but he convinced me that he knows what he has to do and I do not have to stand there and watch. He fixed it quickly, efficiently and cheap. I only took a short ride on the near slopes to get some fresh air in the evening.
The third day was the Marcel project. He knows so many trails that he had hard time deciding which one to pick for me. So we went for the classic one, the Kotahom Alm, 1000 meters above Mayrhofen. First we had to ride on asphalt; that was a good chance for chatting and challenging each other at what heart rate we could still talk. An extraordinary view on Mayrhofen and the valley from Steinerkogelhaus followed; a few more kilometers of dirt uphill before we entered a singletrack to the mountain hut Kotahorn. We indulged in marble cake, apple pie and a drink; then came the downhill which he described as "quite technical". It's great that he trusted me and my light all-mountain bike. Marcel rode through almost-almost-everything with his Bionicon Edison and I rode through almost-everything (meaning he rode a little more). Again a few steep parts, rocks, roots … lots of beautiful more flowing sections where I had to try to yodel the Tyrol way. It's obvious that the descent was endless due to low speed riding. Without a map I would guess at about 2000 vertical meters of descent.
The fourth day was action with Alex. I joined a group of teenagers that Alex took on a tour, first by cable car to Penkenalm and a little bit higher on foot, and then on a fairly easy trail down to the village. There was a driving technique course in between, so the whole trip took quite a while.
1300 meters by cable car and another 200 on bike and we were on Penkenjoch, 2095 meters above sea level. Hikers parade from the top station of the gondola lift to the restaurant in large numbers. But they take the same route back; they do not simply jump off the edge back to the village like we did.
Two Germans and a British. The latter being the bravest. Alex is lecturing; I’m taking photos of the scenery and action. The British kid fell quite hard, but he did not quit and continued to ride the terrain hard. It was obvious that Alex enjoyed working with young clients. In Mayrhofen Penken is advertised as a hill for mountain biking. It is almost like a park, since biking (read downhill) on the hiking trail from Penkenjoch to Mayrofen is permitted by law. It is a nice one meter wide old beaten mountain trail. In most parts you can ride it with an XC bike as well. It has sections on open meadows with amazing views at the 2973 meter high Ahornspitze on the other side of the valley, lower there are sections of nicely flowing trails in the woods, switchbacks… Only in the lowest part of the trail where there are various possibilities (one is named after Leonhard Stock, a local hero and an Olympic winner in ski downhill) the roots make it tougher to ride.
This hill on the west side of the valley is a little easier for biking as most of the trails I rode on the east side alone or with Marcel. And it's not illegal.
You get what you want
In Zillertal there are not many fairytale smooth singletrails such as those I discovered in Tuscany at the beginning of the year. Trails where you shut off your brain and dream through turns. At least if you are an average all-mountain biker you can't. But there are epic tours with huge vertical differences, which you can manage via a gondola lift. You can climb to 2500 meters, with a little carrying and pushing (just what Alex likes to do) you can go even higher. There are descents that are a little bit more difficult and only allow you to lose your concentration for just a quick second. Of course, there are parts you just want to take with you and add to your own loop at home. There are many of those on Penk. It is suitable for “climbers", all-mountain experts, technical freeriders… I can only guess what else is hiding in those mountains. I have only been on three serious rides.
You can also descend on dirt roads and trails if you do not feel guilty about it. The views are the same as on singletrails. This is also the home of road cyclists who have a wide selection of asphalt roads in the valleys and on the hills at their disposal. The highest goes up to 2000 meters. Only two days after I left, the first stage of the Tour of Germany came through here, starting in Kitzbühel, continuing through the Turn and Gerlos passes and finishing in Hochfügen.
Links:
www.seasonality.eu
www.fb-travels.com
