"The Grossvenediger, my mountain of destiny!" sighs Martin Depauli. He takes the story with humor, but you can tell he's lost his laughter at times. The Tyrolean can see the summit, which towers 3,657 meters above sea level, from his terrace. "I've been up there more than 20 times, either on foot or on skis. And for years we discussed whether it would be possible to climb and ride down the mountain by bike in one day."

Martin Depauli is a mountain bike guide, riding technique trainer and tour author. It was clear that he would tackle the Grossvenediger at some point. Or inevitable, depending on your point of view.

The crux of the matter is that the mountain is located on Austrian soil, a country in which mountain biking in the forest and on the mountain outside of official bike routes is prohibited. What's more, it is located in the Hohe Tauern National Park and is partly a nature reserve. Martin is aware of the ban when he sets off. "In spring, there are ski tourers who ride their bikes on the forest road right up to the snow line. I've also seen people coming down from one of the huts on their bikes several times and there have been the odd photo on Instagram. No one has ever had any problems. So we just did the tour this summer. We wanted to find out if we could do it," he says, describing how he came to the decision.

As he has often done in countless tour videos (Freeride Inc Austria, Epic Ride Inc.), Martin is out and about with his girlfriend Vici. "We met lots of people on the Grossvenediger, everyone thought it was cool what we were doing, it was totally relaxed." Martin also cuts a video of this ride and uploads it to the Youtube channel, which is not insignificant in the bike community with over 30,000 subscriptions.

6600 euro fine

Two weeks later, the news came thick and fast: Martin and Vici received a fine of 3000 euros each plus fees of 300 euros each. According to Tiroler Tageszeitung, the national park administration has filed a complaint. The fine was imposed by the administration of the district of Lienz. "We would have simply paid a fine of a few hundred euros, but we didn't accept it in this amount," says Martin.

Martin Depauli does some research and comes across various facts that he was not aware of. The maximum fine is 30,000 euros per person. In this respect, he and his companion got off lightly. On the other hand, people had been caught driving around in the nature reserve with skidoos. Their fine: 150 euros each. According to Martin's research, people have also illegally built a road. They were fined 1000 euros for this. For him, one thing is certain: mountain bikers should be made an example of.

The court considers the publication of the video to be an aggravating circumstance. "Through the presentation and advertising via social media, other people were encouraged to imitate it", the Tiroler Tageszeitung quotes from the ruling, which is not available to the Ride editorial team. Martin believes that there is no danger of hordes setting off for the Grossvenediger. "Never would more than a handful of people a year carry their bikes 2000 meters up the mountain and ride down such a trail. And those who do know how to behave in nature," he is convinced. In his video, the court was able to see that his bikes did not slip and that he did no more damage to the path than pedestrians.

Court: mountain bikers did no more damage to nature than hikers

Martin removed the clip from the internet immediately after the first fine. He does not want it to be seen as a provocation. "I don't want any conflict. I simply didn't mean any harm by it." Vici and he appeal against the amount of the fine and are upheld. The regional administrative court judges the fine of 3,000 euros to be excessive and reduces it to 500 euros.

"From the point of view of the provincial administrative court, it cannot be assumed that the preservation of the natural landscape in its diversity, uniqueness, beauty and originality was significantly more endangered by the complainant's act than by hikers, mountaineers or ski tourers who use the same route as the complainant," writes the Tiroler Tageszeitung. On the other hand, it is evident to the Provincial Administrative Court that the use of a bicycle could make it difficult for other visitors to the Hohe Tauern National Park to enjoy a relaxing and impressive experience of nature in a way that is compatible with nature.

Martin and Vici pay for the reduced buses. "I will find out more about the legal situation in the future," explains the bike guide and Youtuber. "The correct thing would be for there to be a sign in a suitable place stating the possible amount of the fine. If I had had this information, I would have left the tour on the Grossvenediger."