First a classification for those who didn't experience the night of the storm in Zurich: The fact that there were no fatalities in the crucial seven minutes is solely due to the fact that it was the middle of the night (around 1.30 a.m.) when the gusts hit and practically no one was out and about. Trees ten or more meters high were snapped or uprooted, flattened cars, crushed walls and roofs, bricks and sheet metal flew through the air. In the hours that followed, the city was paralyzed, traffic was blocked in many places, schools were closed and more trees threatened to fall. It was dangerous to go outside at all. A few examples are shown in this report on Telezüri. In the following weeks, huge piles of sawn-up storm wood were part of the cityscape. Even at the end of August, not everything had been removed.

A strip of several dozen meters was shaved bare on the Uetliberg and the Chäferberg on the other side of the city. The fact that the "Antennentrail", the first official bike trail on the Uetliberg, is located in the storm track and has been impassable ever since was initially only a side note. In the first few days after the storm, it was not advisable to ride in the forest anyway, as more trees were threatening to fall. The Höcklertrail, which only opened in spring 2021, also took a hit: a small landslide pushed an unstable tree into the trail. The trail now rides around it.

The main problem with the more challenging new trail, however, is a different one: it is closed in heavy rain as it rides over clay soil (typical of the Uetliberg) and is also not yet sufficiently consolidated. Every descent in the rain puts a strain on the slope, with several dozen requiring repair work. As we know, there was a lot of precipitation in summer 2021 and so both trails were often closed. One permanently, the other for a few days at a time.

Antennentrail still far from fully passable

Six weeks after the storm, the Antennentrail, which is more suitable for beginners and has been ridden extensively for years, is still closed. Nevertheless, Oliver Gerlach, who is responsible for the city forest at Grün Stadt Zürich, reports that the top two thirds are expected to reopen in October. "There is an enormous amount of wood in the bottom third. The trail below is partially destroyed. But we won't know for sure until the wood has been removed," explains the forest engineer.

In August, Zurich presented itself as a cycling Mecca during Cycle Week, which also offers attractive bike trails in its forests. Is the city giving enough priority to clearing the bike trail on the Uetliberg to live up to its image? Oliver Gerlach explains the order in which the storm wood is removed: "First we clear the wide forest roads so that we can get to the other places where we need to remove trees. Then it's the turn of the forest paths and other recreational infrastructure, including the bike trails. Our forestry staff have been working since the storm to secure the danger zones and clear up. We are also being supported by various private companies that have cable cranes, for example."

Tobias Maurer, board member of the Züritrails association, which built the new Höckler Trail, doesn't think that the city is doing enough to clear the bike trail: "More than ten cable cars have to be built to remove the trees in the areas that are difficult to access. This requires specialized companies to set them up. That doesn't happen overnight." Maurer says that the city has also been offered help with clearing. "Many bikers contacted us and wanted to help, but it was clear to me from the start that tree trunks several meters thick and wedged into each other could only be moved by professionals. It's life-threatening for amateurs."

When two out of four bike trails are closed

It is all the more unsatisfactory that the much-praised Höcklertrail (the first official trail that also challenges experienced mountain bikers) is closed for at least a day after every thunderstorm, sometimes even longer. The closures can be tracked on the Trailforks app, whose traffic light system is used by Züritrails to communicate the status.

The trail was officially declared closed fifteen times between its opening at the end of April and the end of August (an asterisk after the dot means that the closure was officially ordered). The trail was closed on a total of around twenty days - not only on trail forks, but also physically with chains at the entrances to the four sections. "Of course we could solve the problem with excavators and gravel, but we don't want to do that. We want the trail as it is. Over time, it will become firmer and better able to withstand the rain anyway," promises Maurer.

DE-CH;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">The mountain bike boom in the meteorologically great corona summer and other events caused the discussion about unofficial trails to boil over in Zurich and on the Uetliberg. Züri Trails, the association representing mountain bikers, is of the opinion that more trails are needed in Zurich's forests, but agrees with the authorities that bikers should stick to the official routes. In addition to the two mentioned, these include one on the Züriberg and the new Allmendt trail, which was also built for beginners and children.

Did the closure of both trails on the Uetliberg lead to more descents on other routes? Neither Gerlach nor Maurer know. However, when asked whether the city would be more accommodating towards trail bikers in view of the infrastructure failure, Gerlach has a clear answer: "Riding off the official trails in the forest is illegal. We don't tolerate it even when trails are closed." So all that remains for mountain bikers on the Uetliberg is to come to terms with the situation - as they always have.