It hurts every mountain biker to ride 1000 meters downhill in a cable car. Until recently, you had to do this on the Flumserberg to return to the valley station in Unterterzen. Of course, the hiking trail down to the shores of Lake Walen was ridden anyway, but this was not desirable. At the same time, the mountain railroads, the BikerNetzwerk and René Wildhaber tried to find a solution. The aim was for mountain bikers to be able to ride down from Tannenboden to Unterterzen officially and without disturbing other trail users, livestock and landowners too much. In spring 2020, the time had finally come. Enough landowners had given their consent to make a continuous route possible.

Without much fuss, the See-Abfahrt Flumserberg, as it is officially called, was handed over to bikers this summer, who share the route with hikers apart from a few bike-specific bypasses. According to Roger Walser from the BikerNetzwerk, the reason for this reluctance was that they first wanted to see how the route would cope with a smaller number of bikers. And more importantly, how the landowners experience the operation. "The See-Abfahrt is not a trail that is part of the BikerBerg offer," emphasizes Katja Wildhaber, member of the management of Bergbahnen Flumserberg, "it is intended to offer those who don't want to take the cable car the opportunity to ride down." The route is officially designated as See-Abfahrt Flumserberg no. 469 by Schweiz Mobil.

Not an embarrassment descent

A downhill run doesn't sound very attractive at first and is reminiscent of snow-covered roads that take skiers from the slopes down to the village. The lake descent offers much more. René Wildhaber's signature can't be overlooked in the upper half: There are plenty of opportunities to take off, while at the same time the mountain forest retains its character with roots and stone fields. In between, it gets quite steep and rough, requiring a little riding technique and self-confidence in order to roll over the slightly blocked, steep sections with enough momentum. The defining section of the route is a centuries-old path with stone walls on the valley side. According to legend, the people of Flumserberg put Napoleon's troops to flight on this terrain by sending boulders rolling down the slope.

In the lowest third, you ride on a forest road and finally on asphalt, with a short uphill section to conquer before you reach Unterterzen. Anyone who has barely been able to compress the fork on the flow trails of the BikerBerg will notice after the lake descent that the front suspension and arms have been brought up to speed after all. There are said to be bikers who ride the lake descent two or even three times at the end of a day in the bike park. It should be remembered at this point that the bikers share the trail with the hikers, so be considerate and look ahead when choosing your pace.