Trail Tales Episode 17: Hahnensee – Hashtag #Epic

Eine angebissene Pizza, erschöpfte Katzen und eine Orange mit Augen – es ist erstaunlich, was die Menschen alles «#epic» finden. Oder zumindest, was sie auf Instagram mit dem entsprechenden Hashtag versehen. Ride hat sich für die neue Folge der «Trail Tales» aufgemacht ins Engadin, um einen Trail zu fahren, der die Bezeichnung «episch» ohne Wenn und Aber verdient: den Hahnensee-Trail im Oberengadin bei St. Moritz.

If you prefer, you can also pedal to the start of the tour, but we recommend taking the Corvatsch cable car. But beware: bikers are only taken on the first gondola in the morning and the last in the afternoon. So you float up to the middle station in a relaxed manner, from here it's downhill a little on wide paths and then up to the highest point of the tour, Fuorcla Surlej. The panorama here takes your breath away: Piz Bernina and its glaciated colleagues really give their all here to live up to the hashtag.

Once you've had your fill, it's time for the descent. And it's a tough one. Without sufficient suspension travel and a rucksack full of riding technique, there's no fun to be had here. The descent is blocked throughout and extremely challenging. But the scenery is sensational: first in high alpine terrain, later with views down to the steel-blue Engadine lakes and finally with a detour to the lovely Hahnensee, which gives the trail its name. Finally, the route leads over rocky forest trails down to St. Moritz.

One thing is certain: this is an epic descent in the truest sense of the word that you will be talking about for a long time to come - both in terms of the landscape and the demands on equipment and riding technique.