Summary
Panorama Trail – from Santa Caterina to Rifugio Pizzini
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Trail in numbers
- Distance: 26 km
- Total climb: 1290 m
- High point: 2706 m
- Ridable: 100%
- Duration: 4-6 h
Highlights
- Rifugio Pizzini (check it out here) lies at 2700 m a.s.l. and is the destination point for the ride described below. It sits in front of Mount Cevedale (3759 m) and is right below the majestic Gran Zebrù (3851 m). This is a very remote location, in the middle of an unspoiled national park, this hut provides shelter and tasty mountain food, but it is also a place where time goes at a slower pace.
- Glaciers. This area of the Stelvio National Park is famous for its magnificent glaciers: Ghiacciaio dei Forni (3670 m) and Ghiacciaio Ortles-Cevedale (tallest point at 3905 m). The trail described below offers stunning views of the former.
Useful info
- When to go: July and August. Remember that the weather can change rapidly at these altitudes. Watch this rad video made by our friends at ItalyBike Adventures to see for yourself: the shooting took place in August – just one week after the ride described down below – and you’ll see how much snow is involved!
- Food and Water: just prepare your hydration pack and stock some energy bars. A few kilometers into the climb on the tarmac road you will find some restaurants, then at the top of the climb Rifugio Pizzini awaits you with its tasty mountain food.
- Recommended gears&bike: The climb is 50% on tarmac and 50% on gravel road – a hardtail can tackle both very easily. The descent, though, will be much more enjoyable if you ride a trusty full suspension bike – an all mountain would be the perfect kind (140-160mm front suspension travel). Make sure you carry at least your knee pads if you want to fully enjoy the fast and flowy descent.
- Starting point: Santa Caterina in Valfuva, 3.5 hours by car from Milan.
Table of contents:
Photostory
It is the last summer weekend before the holiday break, Maria is back home to see her family and it is easy to say “yes” when Luca invites me to join him for a ride in the high mountains with the rest of the crew.
The pattern is similar to the weekend we had a few weeks back in Canazei: there is a Superenduro (Italian enduro cup) race taking place, Luca’s MTB team is up for the race and I follow to try out the tracks the day before the competition and then go for an all-mountain ride myself. This time, also, Luca will be joining me for the sunday ride as he has decided not to race, not feeling too well after an injury occurred in Canazei.
On friday I get to sneak out of work around 6 and by 8 pm we are already hitting the road with Luca and Jacopo. Our destination is Santa Caterina in Valfurva, a mountain town tucked in the middle of the Stelvio national park, an amazing high-altitude area of North-eastern Lombardy that borders with Switzerland and with the Italian region called Trentino, home of the Dolomites mountains.
We reach the town around midnight and crawl into bed almost immediately, eager to enjoy a good night sleep in the chilly mountains, as back in Milan the heat and humidity have been overwhelming in these mid-summer days. Despite the very modest accommodation, the sleep is indeed wonderfully deep and refreshening and it is only with goodwill and determination that we manage to wake up by 8 am and get ready for the ride.
Day 1: Superenduro tracks
It is a beautiful day, the sun is shining and the colors are full and lively all around the place. The atmosphere in town is amazing, as always during these MTB competitions: the narrow alleys of the city centre are streaming with riders and the paddock area is very lively with the stalls of the sponsors and the campers and vans of the participants.
We gather with Chato and go for the gondola. The first part of the day will be spent at high altitude – close to 3000m, where stage 2 unwinds through the rocky mountain terrain.
The gondola drops us above 2600m, but we need to push our bikes for further 40 minutes before reaching the mountain top from which stage 2 begins.
We can definitely feel the altitude, and the very first meters of riding are nothing short of challenging.
After the first very gnarly section, where all the pro riders are spending time and effort to draw the perfect line, a smoother and faster single track section begins. It is incredible to think that we are riding on old pathways, many of which built during the war, which are just perfect for riding despite being completely natural.
Stage two ends here. After a few pedal strokes we get to the beginning of the third stage. This is similar to stage 2 in the beginning, but then features a huge rock garden with almost no slope where it is hard but fundamental to keep the speed up.
The views in our surroundings are amazing. We are very close to the Gavia pass (2660m) and we can see peaks as big as the Gran Zebru’ (above 3800mt) and the massive glaciers of Forni and Cevedale.
After stage 3 we cross with the paved road taking to the Gavia pass and we split: Jacopo and Chato will go testing stage 5 (the same as stage 1) down below, whilst myself and Luca start the patient climb to the pass to try out also stage 4, which is said to be spectacular in terms of views but it costs time and effort to reach – something that the riders preparing for the race do not want to waste.
The liaison path to reach stage 4 is indeed beautiful and envelops the true essence of all-mountain riding, with fast singletrack portions alternating to uphill sections where we must carry our bikes on our shoulders. The track is rather exposed, and we need to be careful to avoid slipping down to what would be not a nice situation.
We begin stage 4 and wow! That is gnarly! Not too rocky but very steep and full of tight corners. It will not be easy for the riders to ride this section at full speed and in a single rush.
Finally we go for the 5th and last stage (what a massacre!), a steep wooden piste with lots of compressions, rooty corners and gnarly rock gardens. It is just pure, absolute fun to ride this track in dry conditions, as the grip is just perfect with my front DHF and rear High Roller and the track has features and surprises every other meter. This is why we do not have even a single picture of this section, we are too busy enjoying the ride! If you are curious you can check us out on Pinkbike!
Day 2: Rifugio Pizzini and the Panorama Trail
Our plan for day 2 is to climb from Santa Caterina (1700m) to Rifugio Pizzini (2700m) for Luca to do some talking with the owner of the mountain hut: he has recently set up his mountain biking business (Italybikeadventures – www.italybikeadventures.com ) and he is planning to use this part of Valtellina as the set for a promotional video, and needs to make arrangements at the hut.
[Sep 2016 update]: Italybikeadventures actually made the video in this location, titled “The Summer Blizzard”. Enjoy it here and visit their amazing page!
The plan is then to carry our bikes until the Zebru’ pass at 3000m and then descend down the Zebru’ valley, wild and pristine. However, even before waking up, our plan gets shattered into pieces like a broken glass. Yes, because there is nothing like mountain microclimate to get in the way of any weather forecast, as accurate as it may be. We are thrown off our beds by the loudest thunders and the sound of the pouring rain is anything but promising.
When we wake up, it looks like we have been teleported somewhere else. The mountain peaks are gone, obscured by low dark clouds, and the temperature has dropped by at least 10 degrees overnight. The race staff announces changes to the competition schedule, and they will end up cutting two thirds of the race for safety reasons.
Luca and myself are undecided: we feel like going but its down-putting to see many semi-professional riders, that came all the way from their hometowns to this remote national park, leave in discourage thrown off by the weather. Luckily after awhile the weather improves, the sky clears out a bit just to show the towering peaks with new patches of snow.
We decide to gear up for rain and hit the road. Of course, the Zebru’ pass at 3000m is out of the question for today so we will just reach the Pizzini hut, grab lunch and then descend through a very promising trail called “Panorama”. Since the climb is all along a paved and then gravel road, we feel safe enough to undertake the challenge knowing that we can rapidly head back to town in case the weather really turns for worse.
The climb is tough from the very first strokes: my gear is steadily set for maximum steepness and we proceed at a slow but constant pace.
For sure the panorama is not as postcard-like as it would be on a sunny day, but the mountains have their appeal even in this misty atmosphere.
We proceed in our slow ascent when the sky closes down on us and drops some heavier rain. We are very lucky, as in that precise moment we reach a “malga” (a mountain hut used for livestock and typically housing mountain cheese production) that we can use for shelter.
In a few minutes the worst has passed, and we keep going towards the rifugio Pizzini. We can spot it, it looks very close, but the road that leads to it seems endless. The hut is located at 2700m altitude, at the end of Val Cedec, at the feet of one of the largest glacier complex in the Alps, the Cevedale-Ortles.
Finally we reach our goal, having had to push our bikes for the last sections. Again we are lucky, as the rain starts to pour just when we get to the hut!
Understandably, given the unforgiving weather, the hut is basically empty and only a couple of intrepid hikers keep us company in the dining room. We have amazing Pizzoccheri (a typical buckwheat pasta with potato, cabbage and mountain cheese dressing) and Luca takes care of the business with Claudio, the very friendly owner who gets us almost totally drunk by giving us free tastes of his homemade herb spirits.
It is time for making our way down and reach the rest of the crew. We ride along the panorama trail which is absolutely stunning, despite of the weather! The steepness is very moderate, the track fast and flowy but never boring, and it is just perfect to ride and look up to the huge mountains in front of us, making the most of enjoying the panorama and the ride.
The trail ends on a gravel road, which we use for climbing a little before the last descent to Santa Caterina. We find out to be above the clouds, and enjoy the last riding before being enveloped by the mist and fog.
Finally we reach a trail that heads down to Santa Caterina. It is incredibly fun, fast and full of corners, at first on grass fields and then in thick forest. Unfortunately, the rain is now pouring relentlessly, which means that my phone stayed nice and dry in my rucksack and no pictures are available 🙂 .
Satisfied four our Italybike-insane-adventure, we gather with the rest of the crew to exchange stories. Another amazing mountain biking weekend!
Maps and Stats – Panorama Trail
Max elevation: 2706 m
Total climbing: 1290 m