Heckmair route (mountain bike route)

Heckmair route
overall length	312 km
location	Germany Austria Switzerland Italy; ; ;
Starting point	Oberstdorf
Target point	Riva
Places along the way	Klosters , Livigno , Bormio , Ponte di Legno
Flooring	mostly alpine gravel, scree, beaten paths
Height difference	13500 m
difficulty	difficult, many pushing and carrying passages, hardly any signposted
Traffic volume	only in the valleys
Connection to	Iller cycle path , Inn cycle path
Website URL	Heckmair route

The Heckmair route is a non-signposted mountain bike route from Oberstdorf to Riva ( Lake Garda ). Due to the high alpine route, the route is only passable in the summer months.

history

What Hannibal's elephants could do must also be possible for a mountain biker , Andreas Heckmair said to himself when he developed the Transalp for mountain bikes in 1989 .

The Heckmair route was developed in 1989 by Andreas Heckmair and published in the mountain bike magazine Bike . It is considered the first alpine crossing by mountain bike . It leads in a straight line, avoiding motorways, on old mule tracks across the Alps. It overcomes an altitude difference of 13,500 meters over a distance of 312 kilometers. Heckmair describes the route as a tour that is spread over five days.

Andreas Heckmair is the son of Anderl Heckmair , who laid the Heckmair route (mountain tour) on the Eiger north face , which should not be confused with the mountain bike Heckmair route.

Six years later, the Joe route was developed as a variant of the Heckmair route as a transalp tour for mountain bikes, which - partly parallel to the route from 1989 - also leads from Oberstdorf to Riva del Garda, but is 120 kilometers longer and altogether more vertical meters having. Since then, other variants have been developed; an entire Transalp modular system was created in which route modules can be completed independently, with the help of digital maps, to create a complete route. At the beginning of all these routes, which are now used by over 10,000 mountain bikers every year, there was the basic idea of Andreas Heckmair: " Ötzi was on foot, Hannibal with elephants, Paulcke with skis, but nobody on a mountain bike." His goal was then : "I wanted to cross the Alps on old mule tracks and as directly as possible."

Route description

The first place to stay overnight on the Heckmaier route is the Freiburger Hütte at an altitude of 1931 meters.

Signposts on the Dürrboden in Graubünden with the stations that are also touched by the Heckmair route.

The Tremalzo offers mountain bikers some deep views, sharp hairpin bends and some tunnels.

1st stage: Oberstdorf - Freiburger Hütte

Length: 49 kilometers
Altitude difference: 1,600
Route: Oberstdorf (820 meters) - Rappenalptal - Schrofenpass (1,687 meters) - Lech - Formarintal - Freiburger Hütte

2nd stage: Freiburger Hütte - Klosters

Length: 56 kilometers
Altitude meters: 2,350
Route: Freiburger Hütte - Raues Joch - Dalaas - Kristbergsattel - Gargellen - Valzifenztal - Schlappiner Joch (2,202 meters) - Klosters

3rd stage: Klosters - Livigno

Length: 45 kilometers
Altitude difference: 2,385
Route: Klosters - Davos - Dürrboden - Scalettapass (2,606 meters) - Val Susauna - Val Chachauna - Chachaunapass (2,694 meters) - Val Federia - Livigno

4th stage: Livigno - Ponte di Legno

Length: 83 kilometers
Altitude difference: 1,863
Route: Livigno - Alpisella Pass (2,260 meters) - Lago di Cancano - Torri di Fraele - Bormio - Gaviapass (2,661 meters) - Ponte di Legno

5th stage: Ponte di Legno - Condino

Length: 86 kilometers
Altitude difference: 1,873
Route: Ponte di Legno - Edolo - Cedegolo - Valle - Passo di Campo (2,288 meters) - Lake Malga Bissina - Daone - Condino

6th stage: Condino - Riva del Garda