Stella Alpina (motorcycle meeting)
The Stella Alpina is the highest motorcycle meeting in Europe . It has taken place since 1967 on the second Sunday in July near the Italian town of Bardonecchia in Piedmont and leads to the 2996 m high Col de Sommeiller .
Part of the philosophy of the meeting is that the only thing that counts is a common interest in motorcycling and enthusiasm for the beauty of the alpine mountains. Access is free for everyone, regardless of the type or brand of motorcycle, from the light off-road machine to the heavy Harley-Davidson , everything can be found. There are no competitions, no organizers, prizes or trophies.
history
The founder of the Stella Alpina is the Briton Harry W. Louis , editor-in-chief of "The Motor Cycle" magazine. He met in 1964 at a Alpentour the Enduro - and Trial rider Mario Artusio and explored with him some small gravel roads in the French-Italian Alps. A year later, the two met again in Piedmont and the idea of an international alpine motorcycle meeting arose.
The first meeting took place a year later on July 24, 1966 and was organized as a trip from Bormio to the 2,757 m high Stilfser Joch . Over 200 motorcyclists from nine countries attended the meeting. Drivers from Australia and New Zealand were also represented.
Since the second meeting on July 9, 1967, the Stella Alpina has been taking place near Bardonecchia in Piedmont.
At the eighth meeting on July 8, 1973, over 1000 participants were registered for the first time, a number that has only grown slightly since then.
procedure
For many years the meeting point has been the high alpine pastures at the Rifugio Scarfiotti or in the high valley of Rochemolles , where there is also the possibility of (free) camping. In Bardonécchia there is / was an organization office in Piazza Europa where you can officially register as a participant.
On the Sunday of the meeting, the aim is to reach the high plateau of the Col de Sommeiller at an altitude of 3009 m via approx. 11 km of gravel roads and 40 hairpin bends . This is not possible every year because even in midsummer there is often still snow at this altitude. The route is considered one of the easier of the legally skiable slopes in the Alps. Since 2008, this route has been closed to all vehicles on weekends from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., so that the Rifugio Scarfiotti is the legally drivable end point. The municipality has lifted the restriction since 2008 during the meeting.