Ticino

Locarno was our first port of call. Nestled in Ticino, the only Italian speaking province of Switzerland, on the shores of Lago Maggiore, it’s a popular holiday spot for Swiss nationals looking to escape from the chilly mountains for some Southern European heat.

We stayed in Hotel La Campagnola, a small way up the imposing slopes of Monte Tamaro, the site of Greg Minnaar’s 2003 World Championships win. His triumph occured in the bike park around the other side of the mountain but on the Locarno side it’s singletrack paradise.

“Be nice to people, respect your responsibilities and have a good time!”

On the first day we took the public bus to the top of the Alpe di Neggia pass. The ride was free thanks to the Ticino Ticket that comes with any hotel room – just strap your bike on the back at the bottom stop and it shuttles you up to the top. Our goal was the Carbon trail, at 8 km long and with more than a kilometer of vertical, it’s a 30 minute wild ride.

Open turns at the top soon give way to flat-out straights that hasten you into safety-pin switchbacks. Fleeting glimpses of the enticing lake shore rising up to meet you, encourage you to keep the hammer down all the way.

Davos

We’d heard of Davos mainly due to the Enduro2 race that moved from Les Arcs to the Swiss resort a couple of years ago. Les Arcs is one of our top Alpine resorts so we knew we could be on to a winner here.

It was a two hour drive North but what a drive it was! Sweeping hairpins on roads as smooth as a dolphin’s back, then down valleys entombed by daunting peaks to arrive just over the hill from Lenzerheide.

Sitting at 1,500 metres, Davos is a major ski resort that’s yet to feel an influx of British mountain bikers but is well loved by Germans and the Swiss. With six cable cars, 27 marked routes and a separate bike park we were never going to be able to hit it all in the 48 hours we had available but there’s definitely potential to spend a week or longer here.

“IT’S A BATTLE TO KILL SPEED THROUGH ZIG-ZAGGING CORNERS BEFORE DROPPING INTO WIDE OPEN FOREST TRAILS WITH A HOPSCOTCH OF ROOTS TO PICK LINES THROUGH.”

It’s a trail and enduro focussed area with most descents taking more than 10 minutes to complete. There’s no lack of technicality but you’ll feel like a bit of a wally if you turn up with a downhill bike. The highlight of it all has to be the Bahnen tour. A mapped out route that uses a number of chairlifts to get you 10,000 metres of descending over 86km. It can be done in a day if you’re really pushing or spread over two and taken a bit more chill.

This is high Alpine riding at its finest as rocky trails cut through meadows, along ridgelines and down steep rooty forests. It feels totally unspoilt and the trails at the top were deserted when we rode them so early in the season. A highlight comes along at the Rinerhorn ridgeline overlooking Davos itself, hucking in off the fireroad, it’s a battle to kill speed through zig-zagging corners before dropping into wide open forest trails with a hopscotch of roots to pick lines through.

The Bahnen tour overlaps with the Davos Epic trail, Switzerland’s only recognised IMBA Epic trail. At 45km long, it’s a proper backcountry experience that we’d love to go back and hit properly with a bit more time.

Instead, we had our sights on the bike park and the Gotschna freeride trail on the Prince mountain (so-called because Prince Charles’ bodyguard died in an off-piste avalanche testing if it was suitable for the Prince to ride).

The trail is full of wallrides, table tops and some of the most impressive woodwork we’ve ever seen. There are plenty of black options to get loose on and progress. The bike park definitely isn’t the focus of Davos (there’s probably half a day’s worth of riding in total) but as a way to wind down after a long few days in the saddle, throwing shapes and flowing through the tarmac-smooth berms isn’t a bad way to finish the trip.

And so our eyes have been opened to Switzerland. In 72 hours we had everything from summit-to-shore riding to backcountry epics. It’s still not cheap but for the complete riding experience, we’ve not found many spots that offer as much as this.

The Details

HOTELS

Locarno – Hotel La Campagnola
Davos – Hard Rock Hotel Davos

TRANSFERS

Carbon Trail – Autopost bus – travel free with Ticino Ticket, bike extra
Bahnen trail/Gotschna freeride – Lift pass included with a hotel room stay

OTHER ACTIVITIES

Ticino – Boat trips, Ponte dei Salti, great food and wine. More info.
Davos – Wakeboarding, hiking, golf. More info.