Mountainbike

What does Pia Widmesser actually do in summer? The all-round sportswoman is drawn to the mountains even without snow.

Most of our local mountains are now either stone gray or green, as the snow has now retreated to the glacier regions. We set off for the snowy mountains of Zermatt in the canton of Valais to replace freeride abstinence with trail exhilaration.

1999 – 2009 was the era of the New World Disorder series. A decade of films that shaped the face of MTB sport and lifestyle with all its facets. With "Dust and Bones", the crew bids farewell with a – how could it be otherwise – smash hit.

Kranked has stood for MTB freeride since the very beginning. Many" years ago, when a group called the Froriders – did the most extraordinary things with MTBs, Kranked was the talk of the MTB scene. Gentlemen such as Richie Schley, Bred Tippie, Carys Evans etc. bravely let themselves out over rocks, rode scree and much more. These were the golden years of the Frorider - the Rocky Mountain team of the time - which had already been overtaken by the new generation a few years earlier. Kranked "Revolve" is the 2009 film by Radical Films.

Mountaineers consider the Bishorn to be one of the easiest four-thousand-metre peaks in the Alps. However, climbing it by bike is anything but an everyday bike tour. In addition to rope safety, crampons, glaciers and mountaineers, there is still enough room for a proper bike descent. Directly from the summit at 4153 m, of course.

In 18 days from the Watzmann to Lake Geneva. Four main ridge crossings, 50,000 vertical meters, 1300 km route, 16 times over 2400 m and 8 times over 3000 m. These are the pure facts of a crossing of the Central Alps by bike. Trudging along hiking trails with an 18 kg bike and 14 kg of luggage are rather unsuitable conditions for such a sporting record hunt. However, the fun factor is record-breakingly high. The fact that "coincidentally" half of the uphill meters can be done with climbing aids naturally also helps

The Val Durance lies in the far south-east of France, between the Dauphiné and the Cottian Alps. Some of the passes are well-known from various Tour de France broadcasts. But hardly anyone knows about the magnificent trails and rugged descents over miles of scree slopes in this remote area... That's why we set out to explore the Val Durance by mountain bike.

Location: The river Durance, which rises near Mont Genevrè in the Hautes-Alpes department, close to the Italian border, separates the Dauphiné from the Cottian Alps with its picturesque valley, the Val Durance. On its way to the Rhône, it crosses the towns of Briançon, Embrun and Sisteron before flowing into the Rhône in the Vaucluse department south of Avignon.

The late summer light makes for unique colors at this time of year. Under a steel-blue sky, lush green patches of mountain forests alternate with meadows and brambles in all shades of brown on the colossal mountain flanks. The walls and rock towers in between shine brightly in the sunlight and the air is almost as clear as in winter. On small hills and along the small rivers, crooked and crooked stone houses huddle together to form hamlets or small villages.

After our well-earned beers last night, we sleep in until 8.00 am...

The sixth day of our trip takes us further west from Merano...

The ideal starting point for this challenging 1300-metre tour is the small village of Murbach, located northwest of Guebwiller in a side valley of the Florival (Blumenthal).