South Tyrol 2012: Riding the Dolomites and Italian Alps - Latsch and Stelvio Pass 4 of 4
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Bauer Schürze
After it poured rain in Steinegg we wondered what conditions that had left the trails. Daniel told us not to worry as our next destination was Latsch in the Vinschgau valley. Latsch/Laces is only 71km away from Steinegg and is served by the regional train system but is known for having microclimates of good weather.
The boast of South Tyrol is that they have 300 sunny days. Well the Vinschgau tops even the good weather of the rest of the region as it has 315 sunny days a year. The secret to the weather is the Ortler range (3000m+ mountains) which cast a rain shadow over the valley allowing for a Mediterranean climate belying its northern latitudes. The huge mountains and the warm weather draws tourists to the region as the trails in this area are the quickest to melt out from winter snow allowing orchard and vineyards to flourish.
We pulled into the Hotel Jagdhof under grey skies. It is yet another one of the quality Bikehotel Sudtirol. Owner Martin Pirhofer assured us that tomorrow's trails would be dry. He further assured us that it would be possible to ride in the alpine shortly. Trust the locals we say when we're travelling. With that, off we went to sleep in the luxury of the Hotel Jagdhof.
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Latsch - the Monte Sole trails Sept 20, 2012 from Lee Lau on Vimeo.
________________________________________________________________________________________________Thursday Ride: Monte Sole trails
It turns out that Martin has a very good idea of what's going on. We shuttle to below the St. Martin gondola and took in some views of the Vinschgau Valley. Shuttles are part of the service of this hotel; we saw many people riding the 1000m uphill to the trails and with the views you can very well understand why. However we were reluctant to turn down free vertical.
Note that you can take this gondola with a bike after 4:00 (schedule is here). Of course this is still Italy and it is all very civilized with lots of tourists and particularly hikers of all ages wandering around in the high trails enjoying the sunshine. We had some coffee in the village of Sankt Martin im Kofel. Lee was still one-armed but could shoot video and photo, although with some difficulty, so sat with the shuttle driver on various parts of the trails to document the ride and do the job we were sent to South Tyrol to do.
The Vinschgau valley is an east-west oriented valley with trails on the N and S facing hillsides. The trails in this area in the vicinity of Latsch are generically called the "Monte Sole" trails. If you search there are lots of trails documented in GPS and trip reports (an example here from the local bikeshop - Biker Eldorado). We spent just one day riding two trails; on the South facing side we rode Chilli trail to Monte Sola back to Hotel Jagdhof. Helmut our shuttle driver then drove back up the North side to the Tarscher Alm Hutte for lunch and down Trail #1 to the bottom traversing trail – Red Fountain – and back to Hotel Jagdhof. As with almost every trip we've done our experience is satisfying but also tantalizing. We get to ride fine trails but we see so much more that we want to come back.
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First we had to carbo load at an alpine restaurant at St Martins. Lee got to learn to dress like a South Tyrolean
Daniel starting the ride by dropping the first of 1000m vert
We go trails that wind through villages and past signs that preach trail tolerance
Daniel not being tolerant to some chickens
More snack time and Cheese Dumplings (yes we are tourists)
Seems like endless pine-needled singletrack to rip to valley floor
Martin ripping trails that are perfectly tacky after yesterday's rain
Our second lap started on the North side of the valley following the shuttle with a lunch of traditional cheese and bread at the Berghaus
Then we rode down a sweet 1000m descent, single trail all the way!
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Fridays Ride; Passo Stelvio/Stilfser joch and the Goldsee trail:
On Friday we rode the Goldsee trail. Lee has been going on about it since the Ride Magazine article. Unfortunately Lee once again to play dutiful photographer/videographer due to his dislocated shoulder so it was just Martin, Daniel, Michael (a hotel guest from Zurich) and Sharon who could ride.
We ended up just doing a half Goldsee. The full Goldsee trail is described in the above link adding a 600m climb and hike-a-bike from the mid-way point at the Furkelhutte Trafoi (a small family ski area) to Piz Chavalatsch. Due to the fact that the high alpine there would probably still be drying out from snow and due to our extreme laziness the pictures and GPS just depicts the half trail dropping down from the Furkelhutte then back down to the town of Spondigna.
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The Goldsee Trail and Passo Stelvio - Sept 21, 2012 from Lee Lau on Vimeo.
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This is a long day no matter how you do it. Because bikes have to get off the first part of the trail by 10am we started early from the Hotel Jagdhof at 6.00am to be at the pass by 7am. We drove up to Stelvio pass/Stilfser joch, the old border between Austria and Italy; now the border of Bormio and SuedTirol. The top of the pass was at 2800m and cold (below freezing) so dress warm whatever time of the year you are there. However it quickly warmed up as the trail wound back down to subalpine
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This pass is the Border of Bormio and Suedtirol or Italy/Austria pre-World War 1
The road to the pass on the SuedTirol side was originally built in 1820. Starting at 1250m and ending at 2800m it climbs 1550m in 42 switchbacks
Old Castle structure at the top with the Swiss and Italian Flag. The Swiss border also touches on this pass and they were a bit pissed during WW1 when the Austrians and Italians shot at each with live rounds whizzing over their country. Over 40,000 people died here during the war mostly due to human and naturally triggered avalanches
There was a recent news article talking about the receding glaciers exposing some of the bodies of the soldiers killed during this time. Fortunately we didn't come across any macabre discoveries as we were riding
Ho hum - more outstanding views
At 3,905m Ortler Peak behind Sharon is the highest mountain in the Eastern Alps outside the Bernina Range. It's huge
Martin dropping off some scree sections
The trail is pretty buff with some rocky sections to navigate. Photo by Martin Pirhofer
The trail then winds through more alpine sidehill with stunning views and through sheep grazing grounds (South Tyrolean sheep are tough!). You should be through the sheep grazing grounds by 8:00am to have mimimal impact; per an agreement to allow mountain bikers to use this trail. You should be at the FurkelHutte/Trafoi ski area by 10:00.
It was still muddy in some spots in the alpine sidehill before we got to the treed subalpine just before the FurkelHutte area where we then stopped to have high breakfast. Following the Trafoi/Furkelhutte area the trails are basic singletrack descending gently and traversing meadows.
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Martin descends through the meadows. The climb and hike to Piz Chavalatsch follows the ridgeline on the top of the picture
Daniel railing singletrack with the Ortler Range in the background
Velo verboten (actually in the other direction Daniel is riding and only after 10am)
Furkelhutte views. Of course there is a gondola to the restaurant so Lee could run around and take pictures of us
Buff meadow trails to Spondigna. Photo by Martin Pirhofer
Dolce Vita Hotel Jagdhof
This is probably getting repetitive but this is yet another amazing hotel. It sounds so bourgeois but by now we were expecting such comfort. Part of the Dolce Vita family of Hotels they also have awesome food, a spa and swimming pool and are great people! Martin’s brother and sister also own hotels in Latsch so it’s obviously in the family blood. It is also a Bike Hotel Sud Tirol.
As do other Bike Hotels they also offer bike programs HERE with Martin and others guiding. Check it out for a very affordable guided bike vacation in this unique area.
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Hotel Jagdhof
The food!
Lee became very popular with the pastry chef
Latsch/Vinschgau valley rides
For more pictures of the area see the entire photo album set here - includes photos of landmarks and notable features. Apologies for the geo information all being wrong; there was a bug in the photo upload so everything's tagged as being in Canada.
(Click on the links to bring the maps up full-page. You can download GPS also if you want to replicate the loops)
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Day 1 Ride: Monte Sole trails
Length: 23 km
Duration: 5 hours, 25 minutes, 45 seconds
Vertical up: 1607.3 m
Vertical down: 2334.1 m
Average Speed: 4.2 km/h
Sud Tirol - Latsch
Day 2 Ride: Passo Stelvio and the Goldsee
Length: 26 km
Duration: 4 hours, 49 minutes, 40 seconds
Vertical up: 302.3 m
Vertical down: 2181.2 m
Average Speed: 5.4 km/h
Sud Tirol - Latsch - Goldsee Trail
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Our bonus Sud Tirol video "300 Sunny Days" by Tom Malecha
300 Sunny Days from Filme von Draussen on Vimeo.
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