Many towns and smaller and larger villages in Switzerland have a local mountain with a great view. Often a small cable car also rides up, sometimes an impeccable trail leads down, more rarely there is a combination of the two - but only in the Engadin can you get the whole thing with a breathtaking sunrise followed by trail bliss on some of the most beautiful trails that can bring a mountain biker down from a high mountain.

The participants of the third edition of the "Piz Nair Sunrise" of the 2018 season were spoiled in three ways: the trails around St. Moritz were in perfect condition and could be enjoyed all day long with the day pass included in the package, breakfast in the mountain restaurant was, as always, an enchanting treat and, last but not least, the sun was at its best and almost made you forget about the trails and breakfast for a moment.

No one has to scramble up the mountain in the Upper Engadin at an early, dark hour for this unique experience. The ascent was once again made comfortably by train. Three times a year, the railroad operators make this unique event possible with an extra early morning trip up Piz Nair. However, St. Moritz's local mountain is not a hill, but a three-thousand-meter peak, and it is quite a climb from the valley. However, this train ride uphill made the mountain biker's heart beat faster and the anticipation even greater.

On arrival at the top on the last weekend in September, the "Piz Nair Sunrise" participants were first of all treated to a warm welcome by the summit hostess Agnes in the panorama restaurant. The usual sumptuous breakfast buffet warmed the stomachs and calves and made the early rise in the dark fade away. As soon as the coffee flowed through our limbs, the morning sun awoke the last of our still sleeping sensory cells. The sunrise was at its best on this "Piz Nair Sunrise" in autumn - almost as if it wanted to compete with the breakfast buffet.

You don't get a view like this every Sunday of the year and it easily puts many a successful bike tour of the season in the shade. At least this time, the group that had flocked out into the open managed to think of a group photo for the hostess in the mountain restaurant. Finally it was time to set off, the early sun brightly illuminating the path. One after the other, they swung themselves onto the saddle and glided down into the valley with coffee in their stomachs and the sun on their faces. At this point, when you're one of the first of the young day to hurtle down the trail, the feelings of happiness go crazy and it warms the heart.

For all those mourning the missed opportunities of 2018 under a blanket of fog. The dates of the "Piz Nair Sunrise" for the 2019 season have already been set:

• 28.07.2019
• 25.08.2019
• 29.09.2019

It's best to make a note in good time, as the number of participants will remain limited to 100 happy sun worshippers per event in 2019.
Further information at: www.piznair-sunrise.ch