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Ken Roberts - - Bicycling what's here
later this year
earlier in this year
see also: more Europe stories | public discussion | more on Europe Switzerland high passes: West - EastSeptember 2008 what's here
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Gstaad :: Saanenmösersee very approximate routes on map I climbed bike rt 9 from north side of Gstaad up some secondary roads to Saanenmöser pass. I'd gladly do that again: quiet + pleasant thru farms with some big views across the valley and to some peaks. I'd be willing to descend those same roads . . . How I'd find the West-bound turn off main road for bike rt 9: a ways W down fr Saanenmöser pass, in village of Schoenried, look for sign on R side of main road, sign says “Horneggle / Frautschi Holzbau”. I descended the main road from Saanenmöser to Saanen, with significant vehicle traffic, and perhaps some questionable visibility turns, though didn't feel like a problem for me in downhill (west) direction. (I doubt I'd climb up that road going east from Saanen with its vehicle traffic, given that the bike route alternative is so nice). The bike route from Saanen to Gstaad was pleasant + pretty, though finding it from the Saanen train station was rather tricky. Here's how I remember riding from Saanen to Gstaad: From the Saanen train station, go South over major creek, then immediately turn L on Ruebeldorfstr / Chalberhoeni. Soon see sign for bike rt 59, turn L to follow that. Cross a little creek, then ride single-lane paved road alongside of main creek. Where it ends, turn L on Bellerivestr, cross E over main creek. Turn R to continue toward Gstaad. alternatives? once you've decide to ride near Gstaad + Saanen, there's not much alternative to going over the Saanenmöser. For the larger strategy question of Gstaad + Zweisimmen + the Diablerets mountains versus the Valais / Wallis high peaks, see discussion under Route Strategy. loop: Saanen > bike route to Gstaad > climb bike rt 9 > Saanenmöser > descend main road west > Saanen: I would gladly ride it again. Saanenmöser :: Zweisimmensee very approximate routes on map I climbed bike rt 9, which was pretty + pleasant, but had some sustained steep sections, including one very steep section at 16% grade or more (which lots of riders might prefer to walk up -- or walk down -- instead of trying to ride). I'd be willing to try it as a descent. Finding bike rt 9 going east from Saanenmöser was tricky. Here's my notes about it: How I'd find the East-bound turn off main road for bike rt 9: Soon after start of descent E fr Saanenmöser pass, the sign for bike rt 9 is on Left side of road, but it’s among lots of other signs. Look for signs for Saanersloch, Golf, Golfhotel. Turn R and go past Saanenmöser train station, I descended the main road, with significant vehicle traffic, but it worked OK in the downhill direction -- mostly favorable visibility for riding east-bound because the road is mostly along the north side of the valley. But I would not want to ride west-bound up from Zweisimmen -- because of vehicle traffic and questionable-visibility curves in that direction. alternatives? once you've decide to ride near Zweisimmen, there's not much alternative to going over the Saanenmöser. The Jahnpass is higher, but going over it would add lots of distance to the route without much high mountain scenery. For the larger strategy question of Gstaad + Zweisimmen + the Diablerets mountains versus the Valais / Wallis high peaks, see discussion under Route Strategy. loop: Zweisimmen > climb bike rt 9 > Saanenmöser > descend main road west > Zweisimmen -- I would consider doing again, if I thought the main road would not have high traffic volume west-bound. Another idea is to take the train uphill from Zweisimmen to Saanenmoeser, then take bike rt 9 east-bound (mostly downhill, but some significant climbs) back to Zweisimmen. Zweisimmen :: Wimmis + Spiezsee very approximate routes on map I climbed bike rt 9 from Spiez thru Wimmis up to Zweisimmen. Substantial sections on dirt. Very pretty farm country. I'd gladly do it again in either direction. Following bike rt 9 in the first section east-bound from Zweisimmen is tricky at first: look carefully for the route to temporarily go the "wrong" way toward the west. There's a short (interesting) section where bike rt 9 joins the main road. I descended the main road from Zweisimmen to Wimmis. Substantial vehicle traffic. Some was interesting, but overall I was glad to just get it over with. I might consider riding it east-bound again if I were in a hurry or if bike rt 9 were muddy, but I would not ride most of the main road in the west-bound direction from Wimmis to Zweisimmen. alternatives? I saw a hint on a bike route map that it might be possible to ride between Wimmis and Zweisimmen by going over some high trail or road between Adelboden and Lenk, but I know nothing else about that. loop: For this stage, I'm not much interested in something like riding up the bike route and down on the main road. A loop I might consider is going one way attempting the high connection between Adelboden + Lenk, and the other way on the bike route. Spiez :: InterlakenI followed bike rt 8 + 9 (and rode it in both directions). Lots of views close to the Thunersee lake. Some on separated bike path, some on wide sections of the main road. Problem for me was that the noise and closeness of the heavy vehicle traffic on the main road much detracts from the enjoyment of close views of the lake. Also there wasn't much interesting to see across on the other side of the lake. Perhaps next time I'd try some (much longer) route around the north and east side of the Thunersee like, but I don't know anything about that. Interlaken :: Innertkirchen (Grosse Scheidegg)see very approximate routes on map | photos There's two main ways: climb over Grosse Scheidegg, or ride along the Brienzersee -- and each of those ways then poses a further route choice, so I've ridden this stage in four different ways. (and we've heard there might be other possible variations with Kleine Scheidegg or Männlichen.) Here's my thoughts:
My advice:
another out-and-back strategy might be to take the bus (or train?) up to Grindelwald -- or the post-bus all the way up to Gross Scheidegg (I saw the post-bus had racks on back to hold bikes) -- and ride mostly downhill on bike rt 61 back to Interlaken.
side trip: Lauterbrunnen valley Just riding up and down the valley is very pretty (if can find a time with less vehicle traffic). I thought Trümmelbach falls were pretty remarkable and worth a stop and payment and walk (I was glad I walked up and then took the lift down instead of the other way around). I'm not sure if it's possible or easy to ride from Stechelberg up to Gimmelwald or Mürren - (but I would consider trying -- an alternative is to take the mechanical lift up to Gimmelwald). Walking or riding thru Gimmelwald is rather pleasant + pretty village + farm country, and Mürren has a nice view of the famous Eiger and Mönch peaks. (I do not recommend taking the lift all the way up to Mürren and riding down thru Gimmelwald, because it's really worth seeing it more slowly). side trip: ?? Kleine Scheidegg + Männlichen variation ?? Someone posted to nntp:rec.bicycles.rides that they enjoyed riding from Grindelwald up to Männlichen, then walked their bike on the trail (because cycling was not permitted) toward Kleine Scheidegg, then down to Wengen and the Lauterbrunnen valley. (I suppose this could also be done in the other direction: from Interlaken up to Zweiluetchinen to Lauterbrunnen, then up (? thru Wengen ?) to Kleine Scheidegg (? and Männlichen ?) then to Grindelwald. Innertkirchen :: Andermattsee very approximate routes on map There's three main route options between Innertkirchen and Andermatt:
So I prefer to cross Susten only in the east-to-west direction -- or I would gladly ride the (more interesting + spectacular) west side as an up-and-back "side trip". East side of Susten: after some tunnels at the bottom near Wassen, it's mostly long straight sections along the north side of the valley (so not favorable for visibility when climbing up in the west-bound direction, but there wasn't much vehicle traffic and I don't remember finding it much of a problem). Nice to look down into the valley, and ahead toward some worthy rock peaks above -- but the view doesn't change much for a long time. Then some switchbacks at the top, and at the top a tunnel thru to the buildings on the west side. West side has lots of curves, rock faces by the road, some non-long tunnels, and higher up great views of snowy mountains with year-round snow. So my preferred Sustenpass experience would be an up-and-back tour on the west side, perhaps also riding down a little ways on the east side. I also might consider expending less work to reach the snowy views by starting my up-and-back say around Gadmen or the Taellibahn ski lift (perhaps try to take the bus from Innertkirchen up to there). The road between Gadmen and Innertkirchen still has interesting sections -- it's just a matter of how much of that I feel I need to climb or descend thru in one day, in proportion to the very special snow-covered peaks higher up.
Furkapass I haven't found to be all that spectacular + interesting to ride across in either direction -- other than the view of the Rhone glacier from below the pass on the west side, and that view isn't what it used to be now that the glacier has receded. My first preference would be to just ride the west side as an out-and-back trip from Gletsch, and that only up to the Rhonegletscher viewpoint. But also have to compare it against the alternative . . .
Nufenenpass (Passo Novena) on its west side road has some distant views of the high Berner Oberland peaks of the Finsteraarhorn and Lauteraarhorn, and some nice closer views of the Ticino Alps peaks such as the Blinnenhorn. On the other hand it has lots of long straight sections, so not very interesting just for the riding -- much felt to me like a long slog. Descending the east side also had long straight sections, so not very interesting. (and I sort of doubt that riding it in the other direction would be more interesting, though the best views would be more obvious). Gotthardpass / Passo San Gottardo didn't have outstandingly spectacular views, and the old Roman road had a sustained section of cobble surface (longer on the south side, but also some on the north side) which I really disliked. But I've heard other riders didn't dislike it so much, so perhaps my problem is that my special touring bike had much smaller wheel diameter than most normal bikes). Further down on the north side, the bike route joined the new road over the pass, and I liked that. (I'm not sure if bicycles are permitted to ride on the new road all the way across the pass, and I haven't checked it at all). For now I'd prefer riding Gotthardpass only on its north side, as an out-and-back trip from Hospental + Andermatt (that way I can have more choice about how much cobble I'd ride). So I could use Furka or Susten as my main route, take Gotthard as a side trip. If I were going to ride over both Nufenen + Gotthard, I'd want it to be at a time with substantial seasonal snow still visible on the ground. Andermatt :: Bonaduz or Reichenausee very approximate routes on map Oberalp is the high pass in this stage. I did not find Oberalppass very spectacular in last season after all the snow had melted. But I found it very impressive with some seasonal snow to highlight the peaks nearby (though of course all the other high passes are also more spectacular with seasonal snow). There's a lake right near the pass on its west side, but it would be more spectacular if the road were more above it. East side road (talking now about the part above Disentis) has long straight sections (and I remember some questionable-visibility curves to right above Sedrun, which I found pretty managable). West side road is more interesting and crosses the railroad several times, has a view of the Gemstock and across the wide valley toward Furkapass. I think I'd prefer riding across it east-to-west over west-to-east, but mainly if I were going to do it again I'd want to be with some significant seasonal snow still visible. alternatives? The obvious alternative to Oberalp is Gotthard + Lukmanier (south of Disentis). But I haven't heard much interest in Lukmanier on net discussion forums or personal conversations with bicyclists, and I'm not so enthusiastic about crossing Gotthard (now that I've tried it). It adds a large amount of distance to most reasonable east-west routes. between Disentis and Bonaduz + Reichenau (sometimes called the "Surselva" region), I found lots of sections of pleasant + pretty riding. Overall there's not much change in vertical, and there were long gentle sections, but also some steep climbs in between those. I'd enjoy riding in that area again, apart from any interest in connecting between high mountain passes. Disentis :: Sumvitg -- I intended to take my west-bound in this section on a bike route more to the south, but I never found the sign for a left turn of the bike route that would take me there, so instead I rode on main road 19 west to Disentis, which runs on the north side of valley, so had some questionable-visibility points for riding west-bound, but that seemed managable for me that time (was not much vehicle traffic that high in the valley in the middle off the day). Opposite direction? I feel confident that section main road 19 would likely work fine for riding in the downhill (east-bound) direction. Then after a snack at a bakery - coffee shop just a little off the main road coming into Disentis, I rode down to the train station. From the Disentis / Muster train station I found signs for bike rt 2 going east-bound so I followed those, and soon was on a narrow dirt road (with some water-control bumps), then rode pleasantly on dirt along the north side of Rhein river ways, then climbed up to village Disla. (I suspect this point could also have been reached with less work by a road which turned south from the main road 19 a short ways east from Disentis). Then more pleasant + pretty riding (much on dirt) thru farms and villages, and then a long climb up to Sumvidg (but I still didn't see a bike route sign that would have enabled me to find this coming from the other direction). I'd gladly ride that section of the bike route again, in either direction - (unless I were in a hurry or I thought the trail would be muddy). loop: I'd be happy to try riding a loop from near Sumvitg or Trun west to Disentis on some bike routes south of the main road, and return from Disentis on main road 19 east to Sumvitg + Trun. I actually did ride that loop in the opposite direction, but that wasn't my first preference. Sumvitg :: Trun -- I just rode on the main road in both directions, seemed to work OK, some wider sections, some narrower. But from my map it looked like there might have been some alternate route to the south thru some villages, but I didn't see signs for it. Next time I might give a try at finding a way to connect thru Surrein to some dirt path south of Sumvitg and try to join bike rt 2 between Sumvitg and Disentis. Trun :: Tavanasa -- From Tavanasa west almost to Trun on the bike route which roughly followed the north side of the Rhein river, but I found that section too rough for me to enjoy -- seemed like a mountain-biking path. I was so happy to reach the main road a bit east from Trun, and soon a sign directed to me to take a bypass north thru Darvella, and that worked fine. My road map seemed to show a secondary road which should run from Danis thru Schlans to near Trun, on the hillside higher above north side of Rhein river -- but I couldn't find it from the east end. Then when riding east-bound I rode mostly on the main road 19 from Trun to Tavanasa, which worked fine and was kinda pretty (though there was no sign for a bike route bypass thru Darvella). Opposite direction? That section of the main road was mostly along the south side of the valley, so visibility tends to be favorable for riding west, so next time west-bound I'd consider take the side road thru Tavanasa, then mostly ride on the main road from just west of Tavanasa to Trun. Tavanasa :: Ilantz -- I rode up west from Ilantz at first following the signed bike route, which was mostly along the south side of the Rhein river and mostly unpaved but very ridable for me. Later the signs got tricky and I thought I was supposed to cross over to the north side, which led me to the main road 19, so I road on that west to the intersection for Tavanasa (which worked fine for me), but the signs at Tavanasa indicated that the bike route actually had stayed on the south side of the Rhein river. East-bound I started on the main road, then turned off onto the road for Schnaus + Strada, which turned out to be a good way to get into Ilantz. Ilantz :: Bonaduz + Reichenau -- I followed bike rt 2 west from Bonaduz, at first a long straight moderate-uphill slog, but then some interesting views of the Rhein river with curves and non-long tunnels, then steeper climbing with switchbacks to the village Versam, then pleasant riding with farms + views to Ilantz. I'd be glad to ride that again in either direction. East-bound from Ilantz I decided to try a route on the north side off the valley thru Flims. I started climbing on the main road 19, which included a narrow-ish section (but with good visibility) before there was a sidewalk which I rode into the village of Schuein. I turned Right off the main road and headed toward Sagogn which was nice, then a long climb north which got steeper (I'd guess sustained at 10% or more). Then back on the main road a little more climbing on non-wide section before I turned off it Left for Laax Falera. After going thru Falera, back to the main road where I rode on the sidewalk for a ways, which almost reached to where the main road goes into a long tunnel where bicycles are not permitted. I turned off and followed the bypass which worked fine. To me Flims seems like a farily normal ski-resort town. Along the way there were some big views out across the valley which I liked. Later there was another long tunnel for which the bypass road worked fine. Finally a long descent east to Reichenau, which was OK -- though the road was not wide and I would have been glad for a less vehicle traffic. Opposite direction? No way I would ride up that hill from Reichenau west to Flims. I'd definitely follow bike rt 2 instead. loop: I'd be glad to ride a (hilly) clockwise loop between the Reichenau train station and Ilantz: west from Reichenau on bike rt 2 thru Bonaduz + Versam to get to Ilantz, then east back thru Sagogn + Laax Falera + Flims back to Reichenau. Bonaduz or Reichenau :: Alvaneu (near Tiefencastel)see very approximate routes on map I rode east from Reichenau past Chur to climb the main road south up to the Lenserheide pass. Road is on the west side of valley, so some questionable-visibility curves in this direction. I've heard some of this could be avoided by using a dirt road along the east side of the valley, but I've never checked that. Anyway I didn't find the north side of Lenzerheide outstandingly pretty or interesting, so riding it instead on dirt doesn't appeal. Descending the south side had much just straight down, so not that interesting for me. Instead of descending to Tiefencastel, I turned east and rode to Alvaneu, then I climbed a way east (on the main road toward Wiesen + Davos) in Alvaneu Dorf, then found a single-lane road which descended (some steep) south to Alvaneu-Bad, which is on the road to the south side of Albula pass. Opposite direction: I wasn't thinking about that as I rode it: likely some questionable-visibility curves on the "short-cut" road west from Alvaneu to Lenk, but not lots of vehicle traffic, and I'd think main road on the north side of Lenzerheide would have more favorable visibility as a descent north-bound toward Chur. But for connecting to Bonaduz, I'd prefer riding thru Thusis, as reported here . . . From Tiefencastel I rode west on the main road, climbed at first on the north side of the valley, then some curves along the south side of the valley leading west down toward Thusis. Definitely that road gets substantial vehicle traffic, and might have been some questionable-visibility sections on the iniitial climb, but seemed to work OK on the mid-week afternoon when I rode it. Then the main road west goes into a long tunnel down to Thusis and its Autobahn entrance-exit, so I turned Right and rode down (steeply) thru Sils instead, then into Thusis and followed the main (non-Autobahn) road north from Thusis to Bonaduz (near Reichenau). I suspect the official bike route from Sils to Bonaduz or Reichenau did something different, but the main road is on the west side of the valley, so riding north on it worked fine (with much of the vehicle traffic using the Autobahn parallel to it), felt pleasant with moderate downhills and some nice views across the valley. I'd be willing to ride that route in the east-to-west direction again. Opposite direction: I'm not interested to ride the main road in the east-bound direction from Sils to Tiefencastel, because lots of vehicle traffic with questionable-visibility curves on road not wide. My recommended strategy for connecting east + south thru here is: take the train or bus from Chur or Thusis to St Moritz. Alvaneu (near Tiefencastel) :: la Punt + St Moritzsee very approximate routes on map There's three main options for this section:
I would be willing to try riding the south side of Julierpass out-and-back from Silvaplana (which starts with a steep section with switchbacks), and continue partway down the north side at least to Bivio for a snack before turning around and riding back over the pass again to Silvaplan - (likely I'd also ride a little further norht to a view of lake Marmorera -- and then each section further north offers something else pretty or interesting)
loop? I've rode a counter-clockwise loop, south over Albula and north over Fluela, but I don't think I'd repeat that, partly because I didn't like the dirt trail for much of the way between La Punt and Zernez, partly because I'm not so excited about climbing Albula south-bound, etc. If I were going to try riding a loop, I think I'd want it to be north over Albula and south over Julier. But currently I'm not comfortable climbing south from Tiefencastel on the main road up to Savognin -- so I guess it's only going to happen if I check out the alternate secondary road between those towns. And find a day and time where I'm confident there won't be high traffic volume. And I'd likely also want a day with significant seasonal snow on the ridges and peaks. St Moritz + Pontresina :: Bernina passsee very approximate routes on map connecting among La Punt + St Moritz + Pontresina: It's a bit tricky to connect between La Punt at the bottom of the south side of Albula pass and Pontresina near the bottom of the north side of Bernina pass -- or to make a side trip thru the famous resort of St Moritz. The problem is that the main roads get lots of vehicle traffic and are not wide. But I found it interesting and pretty even though it doesn't cross any high pass, and I'd gladly ride around there again even with no concern for connecting to any high pass. La Punt to Pontresina -- here's how I remember riding this: from La Punt I followed the main bike rt 65 SouthWest toward St Moritz, at first (dirt) along southeast side of river Inn, then it turned away from river and went back (on dirt) to that 3-way intersection of paved roads which is southeast from Bever. Ken continued straight across the paved road (thru closed gate) onto a dirt path which later went along southeast side of pretty lake. Next major trail junction was near East end of airport near Samedan. Here I left bike rt 65 and followed a mountain bike trail along the northwest side of river Inn. At the next major trail junction just east of the main road, I took a pedestrian bridge (not marked as a bike route) SouthEast across the river Inn, then passed by a left turn for hiking trail, soon saw a bike route sign and made the next Left turn (just before going down under main road), to go South on dirt trail. This took me to Punt Muragl train station, then a short steep climb on dirt up to base station for Muotta Muragl cable railway. I continued South on paved trail along east side of main road to Pontresina + Bernina pass, then turned Left onto secondary road to Muragls -- with some views of snowy peaks south up Val Roseg (not seen from the main road). I climbed moderately on this road straight thru Muragls and into the center of Pontresina past the tourist office. I continued climbing moderately straight up the main shopping street of Pontresina, then down a little (at the south end of Pontresina) to meet the main road going south to the Bernina Pass. (I'm pretty sure this secondary road thru Muragls is an easier climb with better views than riding the main road past Pontresina toward the Bernina pass.) Pontresina to St Moritz -- here's roughly what I did: First I rode on the streets and roads down to the Pontresina train station. From there I took the off-road bike paths . . . I tried going directly North and found bike route signs for St Moritz, but the trail started rather steep (so next time I would look for a more moderate trail going more southwest from the train station). Then my trail hit the (more moderate) cross-country ski trail, which was a pleasant way first to the Stazersee lake. From there I followed signs for St Moritz Dorf (instead of St Moritz Bad or Celerina) -- which led to the east end of the St Moritzer See lake. I rode west along the north shore of lake, then a little further west, and turned north crossed the main road and took an obvious street climbing moderately up to the center of St Moritz Bad. St Moritz to La Punt -- here's roughly what I did: From the center of St Moritz Bad, I followed signs for Celerina roughly East out of town, down hill. In Celerina, I ignored signs saying to go southeast to main road in order to go to Samedan, instead continued directly NorthEast on paved road to Samedan, then continued to Bever. At Bever the bike route signs pointed toward SouthEast, so that's the way I went -- under the main road, then on a single-lane paved road which led to junction with lots of cows + some cowherds + cowherd buildings, and there it forked into two paved roads - (there was also a dirt road crossing it in both directions, protected by gates). I tried to take the left fork and go East on paved road, but it led to dead end, and then I ended up taking a hilly circuitous route on dirt roads which somehow eventually led me to La Punt. It would have been much simpler at that junction (with forked roads and dirt road crossing) to just take a full Left turn (thru a gate) onto the dirt road and take that to La Punt (or possibly turn Left onto dirt sooner after I finished going southeast under main road, but I haven't checked that). [The trap I fell into was hoping too much that the good route would stay on paved roads.] Pontresina :: Passo del Bernina -- The north side of the Bernina pass has two or three viewpoints of interesting peaks with year-round snow. I've ridden it south-bound taking the secondary road thru the center of Pontresina (actually less steep than the main road, and has a fine view of the snowy peaks + glaciers up the Val Roseg which you don't get from the main road), then join the main road to continue climbing to the pass. Never really steep, often a mountain creek running alongside, with several crossings of a "cute" railroad line, and the pass itself has a lake. Definitely worthy of a bicycling visit. Opposite direction? Haven't gotten around to trying it yet, but I'd be glad to do it on a blue-sky day so I could see the snowy mountains - (though the views are more obvious while climbing up). And I'd gladly do it as an up-and-back tour from Pontresina. The south side is steeper, has pretty lake Poschiavo half-way, but not the same views of peaks with year-round snow. I've only bicycled on the short top section going downhill to the turn-off for Livigno (which was a nice enough descent), though I've driven a car over it a couple of times -- feels like some sections could be fun descending on a bike. I've also taken the train from Tirano going north over the pass to Pontresina (highly recommended, especially if take just the regular train so you can open the windows) -- on the south side the train takes a very different line from the road, and the railroad route does have spectacular views of glaciers with year-round snow. So the obvious thing to want to do on the south side is to take the train from Tirano up to the Passo del Bernina (and perhaps continue over to Pontresina) and ride the bicycle back south to Tirano. (But after I took the train up I instead rode east thru Livigno to Bormio). I haven't though much about climbing up the south side on my bicycle, except that it's a big climb, and it would be nice to have done it as an accomplishment. I'm thinking some of the higher road tends to run on the east side of the valley, which tends to have some questionable visibility curves for riding north-bound. But I'd be willing to try it if it were a time when I was confident there wouldn't be high traffic volume -- and more likely if there were significant seasonal snow visible. start-finish points in Eastsee very approximate routes on map Bernina is the highest most spectacular pass with a paved road over it near the southeast corner of Switzerland. Ofen pass (Passo Fuorn) is much farther east than Bernina, and fairly high -- though not so spectacular for views of peaks with year-round snow. I've never ridden on it. (I have ridden the bike route connection between Albulapass and the town of Zernez on the north-side road for Ofenpass, and I didn't so much like the ups + downs on dirt, but perhaps that's because I was in a hurry that time). I have driven my car over it a least once (but at the time I wasn't thinking about bicycling), and skied on a peak nearby. I felt that Val Mustair on its southeast side was pleasant and pretty. Ofen connects thru Val Mustair to the Umbrail pass, which leads into Italy to the west side of Stelvio pass / Stilfserjoch, also to Bormio and the Gavia pass. Or Val Mustair connects southeast into Italy to Glurns / Glorenza on the east side of the Stilfserjoch / Stelvio pass. It also connects to the Reschenpass north into Austria -- (though that could be more easily reached from Switzerland without crossing Ofen). I'd say for a route over high passes the only advantage of Ofen over Bernina is that it provides a more direct route from Switzerland to the east side of the justly famous Stilfserjoch / Stelvio pass (second highest paved-road pass in Europe, and with spectacular mountain views in favorable conditions). The problem with this is use of Ofen is that the normal goal of a pass-crossing route is to ride over the great passes, not just up-and-back one side. For that goal, including Ofen in a major west-east route only if you climb over Stilfersjoch / Stelvio west-bound and down to Bormio, followed by climbing south over Gavia pass (or possibly Mortirolo), and then continue east-bound over Passo Tonale -- which is not a bad idea. But that's a much longer route thru Italy than just riding east from Stelvio, which seems to contradict the advantage of Ofen as being a shorter way than Bernina. For a shorter route thru Italy, could instead go from Ofen to climb the north side of Umbrail (highest pass of Switzerland, but it's more on the border of Switzerland, not so much inside Switzerland). But in normal conditions climbing the north side of Umbrail is not all that spectacular or interesting -- though it is quiet and pleasant. The climb from Bormio thru Italy to the same point is more interesting and spectacular, and getting there from St Moritz via Ofen isn't so much shorter than getting there via Bernina. Anyway, if the goal of the route is to cross high passes with spectacular mountains, then any connection between southeast Switzerland and Italy which omits Passo del Bernina must be judged to have fallen short. It might be thought that connecting between Switzerland and Austria is a good thing, since Austria has lots of spectacular mountains and high passes. The big problem is find is that it's difficult to connect the paved-road passes of Austria into a reasonable route, and anyway you have to ride a long ways from Zernez into Austria before you reach one of the interesting passes. more . . .see also
concept words: roberts Europe European visit trip vacation holiday American visitor report reports bicycling: bicycle bicycling bike bikes bicycles bicyclist cycle cyclist cycling touring riding rider riders routes: route routes ride rides tour tours map maps places: place river valley state country region regions area areas city town village fahrrad rad radfahren radtour touren routen velo tour tours route routes velotour cyclisme bici bicicletta percorso itinerario visita giro turistico Schweiz Suisse Svizzera Suiza hautes cols alta alto höhe |
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