Biketour vom 29.-30. September.

Schon viele Jahre habe ich eine Biketour im Tourenprogramm des Clubs, aber nie kam jemand mit. Dieses Jahr anders, plötzlich gab es eine ganze Reihe Interessenten, und die Tour konnte bei gutem Herbstewetter stattfinden. Ich griff auf Bewährtes zurück, als Highligt die Abfahrt von der Plaine Morte, die ich vor Jahren schon einmal gemacht habe. Und für die Anreise nach Crans-Montana einen Abstecher über die Varneralp, mit einer - auch für mich neuen - Variante über Planigrächti, mit Abfahrt über Cordona. Anstelle selbst viel zu schreiben, stelle ich hier einfach den Bericht von Hannier rein.

We met relatively early in the morning to take the train towards Visp and Leuk, and later the bus to Leukerbad. There, we started our bike-and-walk adventure in a cold morning (~8°C) with stable weather, that did not call for haste. In the shadows of the Trubelstock, we continued our ascent mostly through grasslands, testing our abilities to avoid the cow manure. Not long after, we had to get off the bikes and start walking up in a traversed hiking path carved on the cliff and equipped with chains not suitable for vertigo-sensitive people.

We knew from Tilman, that a big portion of this tour would consist primarily of pushing the bikes up. And that’s just how it was, but despite walking a big portion of the way up, we were shredding hard in most of the downhills. After about two hours, we reached the Varneralpe, where we had a long lunch break enjoying the grandiose panorama of the Valais Alps on the other side of the valley. There, at 2200 meters of elevation, we started our descent to Sierre, which mainly consisted of not highly technical single trails through the forest area.

In Sierre, we chilled out for some time and treated ourselves with refreshments before taking the cable car up to Crans-Montana, where we stayed in the Youth Hostel for the night. We slept quite well through the night and did not even noticed others snoring.

Our second day started rather late, we took the cable car up to the Cry d’Er and traversed over to the Cabane de Violettes, where we started the ascent to the Pointe de la Plaine Morte. Again, we pushed our bikes most of the way up. Half-way up, we took a break from the steep ascent and contemplated with awe the lunar and inhospitable landscape, that is only interrupted by the blasting masts and cables. After about two hours, we reached the currently closed mountain station, and of course, our attention was focused on the almost flat Glacier de la Plaine Morte. Still a steep climb awaited in front of us, before we reached the geographical peak at 2927 meters. Here, we had astonishing views of the glacier, overlooked by a spaceship-looking weather station perfectly aligned with the moonscape-like surroundings.

With temperatures around 4°C and the wind blowing, we quickly put on our warmest layers and prepared for the upcoming descent, which also included some uphill sections impossible to ride. In our way down, we stopped at the Wildstrubelhütte to reunite the group and have lunch. The following section was a serious technical downhill only reserved for the most experienced downhillers with solid driving techniques. We managed and only had to carry our bikes for short sections. The downhill was a steep zig-zag that demanded our maximum attention. We carefully circled down and lost altitude quite fast. A look back revealed a rough and not bike-friendly terrain. I wondered how on earth we managed to ride down.

The singletrail flattens in direction to Rawilpass, with tricky passages before we finally crossed to the Valais canton at the pass. From here, the trail flowed quite fast until reaching a short tunnel, that allows the descent to the Lac de Tseuzier. Fortunately, the trail is quite wide and not too difficult for being exposed with loose rocks. After the fast descent, we stopped by the Gite de Lourantze mainly to rest our hands and as an excuse to have some prosciutto and cake. We continued along the road to the right of the reservoir riding in the middle of a lost and rather friendly herd of bulls.

We turned left on the reservoir and continued through a steep and narrow singletrail that goes along an old aqueduct carved in the gorge. We marveled at this masterpiece of medieval engineering and continued our ride accompanied by crosses and Madonnas. Until Luc we followed the Bisse d’Ayent, then we changed into the parallel but deeper Bisse de Clavau, a dusty single trail that lead us to the water intake of the Bisse de Clavau. At some point, the single trail disappeared into a bold black hole. I couldn't get my head around how we were going to pass through. Roland guided us; we had to get off the bikes and crouched through the narrow hole. On the other side, we continued on the beautiful trail through the forest and over the well secured footbridges high above the precipices of La Liène. Soon, the trail goes on to the lovely vineyards. In a flowy ride, we comfortably rolled towards Sion, where our tour ended with no time for refreshments, but with the satisfaction of having ridden on one of the longest and most spectacular singletrails in Switzerland. Thanks to the great guidance of Tilman and Roland and the company of a skilled group of mountainbikers.