It was always a little sobering to interrupt the great trail route from the Parpaner Rothorn via Arosa and back to Lenzerheide with the unpleasant section from Urdenfürggli to the Scharmoin middle station. But that is now a thing of the past. Last summer, the company Allegra Tourismus built two connecting trails down to Scharmoin. And these are somewhat different to what you would expect from newly built trails.

The first section rides from Urdenfürggli to after the crossing of the Weisshorn Express chairlift. After that, there is still a section of gravel road to tackle - but it is so short that you hardly have time to think about it. The gravel section then leads directly into the high-level trail that rides to the Scharmoin middle station.

Both trail sections together measure 4.2 kilometers in length and are a mix of flow trail and alpine path, with several lines and gimmicks to choose from in places. The two trails have been designed so that they can be mastered with minimal use of the brake fingers.

Non-wrinkle-free flow on the test ride

The first section from Urdenfürggli initially resembles a flow trail. However, you will look in vain for a wrinkle-free flow highway here, because in a positive sense, obstacles are soon placed in the way. The trail increasingly has an alpine character, which has rarely been seen on newly created trails. The stone passages on the otherwise flowing trail blend beautifully into the landscape. They are located where the surroundings are otherwise stony. Again and again, slightly more technically demanding passages follow, most of which can also be bypassed.

Every now and then, smaller steep sections need to be mastered. However, these are neither dangerous nor blind and can also be rolled over. Every now and then there is also the opportunity to jump off an edge or choose from an easy or slightly more difficult line. This comes a lot closer to the idea of free riding and provides an extra portion of riding fun.

The trail was built in such a way that neither heavy nor long braking is necessary to keep the speed under control. This is easy on the road surface, but sometimes takes away some of the momentum. There are a few too many bends on the two sections where a little more speed would be welcome. In return, you get a few more minutes of driving fun.

The trail fun is still interrupted, but now only by a very short gravel section. After just under a minute, however, this is already a thing of the past and it leads you straight into the second section, which is quite winding and towards the end a little faster and leads to the middle station. From here, there is no shortage of opportunities for a fun ride down into the valley.

Conclusion

You can look forward to the coming summer. These new sections are the almost perfect addition to the trail circuit mentioned at the beginning: full of bends and variety, alpine in character and in keeping with the other trails. Fun is not neglected here, on the contrary - the ride time from Urdenfürggli to the Scharmoin middle station has been extended. It takes around 15 minutes. The fact that the route could have been built a little more directly in some places is only a minor criticism, as the personal advantages of each ride are also important. Overall, these two connecting trails are very successful and offer riding fun for mountain bikers of all skill levels. These trails are only not suitable for beginners.