The Alps Epic Trail is the superstar among the tours - the description has been accessed over 100,000 times in the ride tour database - none has more views. The Davos region has been promoting this tour for years and the picture of Martin Bissig (below) can be seen in publications and as a large-format poster on every step and pedal stroke.

The IMBA has given the tour its full-bodied name. 53 Epic Trails exist worldwide, four in Europe, the Alps Epic Trail is the only one in the Alps. The criteria are: They must consist of at least 90 percent singletrack, be in natural surroundings, be challenging and at least 20 miles long. The IMBA website praises "Stunning views and biergartens along the way" as individual highlights of this tour.

However, there are always critical voices in the comments who don't think the route is that great, for whom the proportion of forest roads is too great or the descents not long enough. In addition, the Zügenschlucht gorge is part of the tour, which was repeatedly closed due to falling rocks and other natural damage, but was nevertheless ridden, which some people blamed on Ride.

Alps Epic Trail in the Ride tour database
 

I've been coming to Davos regularly for years and know quite a few of the trails that are ridden here. However, I've never ridden the Alps Epic Trail from Jakobshorn to Filisur. So it's about time.

It's mid-October, I'm standing in the first gondola and doubting whether it's a good idea to get here so early. Even in the days before, it was freezing cold wherever the sun wasn't shining directly on it. On the Jakobshorn it's frosty even in the sun. At this time of year, a large part of the route is in the shade until midday.

Into the deep freeze, after all, it's already shaking quite a bit on the characteristic first long traverse towards Sertigtal, which helps the circulation to keep the extremities alive. The puddles are frozen, the tire tracks in the ground rock-hard. After 15 minutes on the descent, my left brake finger is anaesthetized by the icy draught. The rough path, on which you constantly have to dodge stones or roll over them, still gives you a feeling of flow. It's not difficult, but if you don't have your head in the game, you're guaranteed to get a flat tire.

As the trail becomes steeper towards the Sertig valley, the bikers get their own lane. The frequency on the showcase ride has probably exceeded the pain threshold of the hiking community. The same applies to the single trail from the Walser settlement of Sertig Dörfli to Äbirügg. The bike trail should also be easier to ride uphill than the hiking trail. It certainly is for bikers with powerful engines and for particularly ambitious tech uphill riders. I soon no longer want to heave myself up the steep sections, rock gardens and root steps. More importantly for me: I'm warm again. And fortunately, I'm still too early for rapid oncoming traffic from above.

From the Rinerhorn mountain station, the route leads into the single trail to Monstein. Anyone expecting a descent here will be disappointed. Over seven kilometers you move between 2050 and 1950 meters above sea level, it is a constant up and down, at least the short climbs are mostly rideable - and give warm, because even here hardly a ray of sunshine has arrived, certain sections are covered with ice crystals - see cover picture. Next to it, the larks are glowing in the most glorious autumn gold and there are always very steep descents on the right. "You don't want to have to descend to the valley side," comments one user.

In the hamlet of Oberalp, from where I should have followed the road and later another singletrail down to Monstein, I instead take the hiking trail from Laubenalp to Jenisberg - which Mountainbiking in Switzerland also suggests as route 335, unintentionally extending the ups and downs by a few kilometers. From Laubenalp, I then ride down a forest road that looks familiar. I've already climbed it several times on ski tours and skied down at the end.

After Monstein, it goes up one of the criticized forest roads and is quite steep in sections. On the other hand, the singletrail  then descends much more than it climbs. After Jenisberg, I even have to apply the brakes continuously for a few minutes. A final steep slope leads down into the Zügenschlucht gorge. The path here is partially flattened and wider than the trail bikers would like.

I have long since changed my state of mind anyway. This tour doesn't consist of a sequence of ascents and descents, but the two phases mix over long stretches. From time to time I ask myself whether I'm on a descent or an ascent. Without looking at the contour lines on the map, I wouldn't have been able to tell on certain sections. The landscape is much more impressive than the downhill fun: this never-ending, steep mountain flank that I roll along.

At the end is the Zügen Gorge, which was last closed in summer 2024 due to rockfall - and several times before that. It is also controversial because a lot of people walk through it on nice weekends, which doesn't just make for happy encounters on the narrow path, which plunges vertically into the depths in some places. On this Friday at lunchtime, however, there are hardly any hikers on the trail and I haven't come across a single biker - but I was also the first to tackle the tour on the Jakobshorn a good three hours ago.

The fact that the last few kilometers are easy in terms of riding technique suits me just fine. The pedaling up, descending, lifting the bike over the next step, climbing up and continuing, the concentration that must always remain high on the often exposed traverse and the cold that I've been pedaling against for hours - all this has done me in. Finally, the Landwasser viaduct, the even more successful photo subject in the media than the biker in the Sertig valley, follows as the finishing arch.

Was that an epic tour? After pedalling up to Filisur station, I have 850 vertical meters on the counter in addition to the promised 1900 Elevation loss, a few more thanks to my detour to Laubenalp. And because the route feels like it rides 10 meters uphill after 20 meters downhill, the 38 kilometers or so are anything but a singletrail walk.

I would call the tour impressive rather than epic. But Alps Impressive Trail sounds as exciting as Forest Walk Experience and that would definitely not do this route justice. But I don't have to do it again straight away either.

Epilogue: The following day, I'm out and about with local experts at the foot of Piz Beverin and on the Glas Pass. Two spectacular descents, where I descend without discussion and with plenty of switchbacks, on trails that challenge me in terms of riding technique and not just concentration. For me, the more euphoric trail experience than the Alps Epic Trail.

Alps Epic Trail in the Ride tour database