After the Bike Republic (Sölden) and the Bike Kingdom (Lenzerheide), now the Bikegenossenschaft. This has its territory where the Swiss Confederation was once founded. The play on words emerged from the Mountainbike Zentralschweiz project, which aims to promote offers for biking guests with federal money (more precisely: with funds from the New Regional Policy, known as NRP) and make Central Switzerland known as a biking region.

However, recent developments raise doubts as to whether mountain biking enjoys the necessary support as a leisure and tourism activity in Central Switzerland: Voters in the municipality of Wolfenschiessen rejected a trail project at the ballot box, which they could have realized together with Engelberg. Nevertheless, Engelberg accepted, which is why the official connection to Stans and Lucerne is now missing. Another setback was that the newly created Urseren Höhenweg trail near Andermatt was closed to mountain bikers heading downhill. Are project manager Thomy Vetterli and his fellow bikers fighting against an overpowering opponent? The man from Nidwalden gives a good-humored, but thoroughly reality-conscious answer.

Central Switzerland was already an attractive biking region before this project. What has been added by the Central Switzerland Mountain Bike project?
Uniform communication. The launch of the Bikegenossenschaft label was an important interim goal. From now on, bikers no longer have to search for information on the individual locations and tours on ten different websites.

Was your job to set up this label and a website?
My job is primarily to advise and network the various stakeholders. What you shouldn't forget: Unlike Graubünden, Valais or Ticino, Central Switzerland consists of five cantons that are all at completely different points when it comes to mountain biking. A large part of my work consists of talking to the various authorities in these five cantons and gently exerting pressure to move things forward.

What role do new trails and defined routes play in the development of the "bike cooperative"?
The first trail is already in operation in Marbachegg, another is being built, construction has started in Ingenbohl and various trails are about to be built in Engelberg. But individual trails without connections are not the goal. First of all, we want to improve the offer for local bikers. If this is really good, it will radiate outwards so that we also become attractive for visitors. Our long-term goal is a connected trail network that stretches from Marbachegg in the east to Andermatt in the west.

But there are also other signals, such as the Wolfenschiessen and Urseren Höhenweg trails. How open is Central Switzerland to mountain biking?
First of all: in Central Switzerland, mountain biking is generally permitted on footpaths; only the canton of Lucerne restricts it to paved paths in the forest. But there are still people who would prefer no bikers at all. Nevertheless, the issue is much more positively received than it was a few years ago. At the moment, landowners or municipalities in various places feel that they are the only ones who have to give something away. Our task is to show that it is a give and take from everyone and for everyone.

The cantons are co-financing the project. What role do they play?
Very different roles: Uri has already integrated mountain biking into its structure plan, while others are still working on the initial concept for dealing with the sport of biking. Advancing a joint project with five cantons is complicated. Structure plans, for example, which are decisive for the approval of trails, end at the cantonal borders. We can't change that.

The project expires at the end of 2022. What should have been achieved by then?
We are thinking long-term and it is already clear that we will continue our work even if no more federal funding is forthcoming. Over the next few years, we will be working to ensure that mountain bikers can ride on existing trails in many places. We then want to connect these local playgrounds to form a trail network. Our goal is to have a continuous network from Marbachegg in the east to Andermatt in the west by 2028. One spectacular Alpine crossing follows the next. In the valleys, there is always the option of exiting in the direction of a lake or entering the area from there.

Last but not least: the cable cars to the most famous excursion mountains in Central Switzerland, the Rigi, the Pilatus and the Stanserhorn, do not transport bicycles. Will anything change in this regard? We think it's right that there are still areas where there is little or no biking. Thanks to e-bikes and the road that leads up the mountain, there are more and more bikers on the Rigi, even without a ban on transportation. We are now making suggestions as to how they can transport mountain bikers to a limited extent, steer them and thus remain attractive as a hiking area. On a mountain as steep as the Stanserhorn with so many hikers, we don't think it makes sense to drop bikers off at the top. There needs to be an offer at a lower altitude. Incidentally, there are interesting alternatives to rail transport.

Which ones?
We have the unique situation of being able to travel to various bike spots by boat. When the Asian guests stopped coming, the shipping companies were suddenly open to transporting bikes. That's very interesting, but it's important that they don't reject the bikers again when the Asians return.

Project Mountainbike Central Switzerland