The initial situation is as banal as it is bizarre: the Hungerburgbahn in Innsbruck can no longer cope with the number of mountain bikers and agrees with the local mountain bikers to limit capacity to five mountain bikes per ride. This infuriates some local mountain bikers. One of them goes so far as to become violent twice against railroad employees, once in the form of a slap in the face. The result: the railroad refuses to transport "downhillers" for a limited period until May.

The whole thing could pass as a temporary farce if there wasn't more meat on the bone. Take the Crankworx Festival in Innsbruck, for example. The event with its enormous reach and charisma has catapulted the region into the world of freeriding. However, there is a lack of adequate infrastructure on site. The Nordkettenbahnen currently counts 80,000 mountain biker transports per year. The Arzler Alm Trail and its extension, the Hungerburg Trail - currently the only legal single trails in the greater Innsbruck area - are the destination for these mountain bikers. The Crankworx festival is in fact diametrically opposed to this local trail offer.At the same time, the incident clearly illustrates the consequences that a "canalization" of mountain bikers can have. This works in Innsbruck, but now an ever-increasing number of mountain bikers are being squeezed into these few channels. This leads to frustration among mountain bikers, which can lead to violence in extremis, as has just been experienced in Innsbruck. This leads to overstretched mountain railroads that are unable to cope with such an onslaught and, in an emergency, pull the ripcord in the form of a complete refusal of transport - also just experienced in Innsbruck. And it leads to frustrated tourism professionals who wanted to set a positive example with the Crankworx, but are now caught up in their own naivety thanks to its success.

Maybe mountain biking needs such horse cures from time to time. In the meantime, the incident has brought politicians onto the scene. "We should urgently prioritize infrastructure for the sport, an offer that is available to people before and after the season highlight," Innsbruck city councillor Elisabeth Mayr is quoted as saying, for example.

Further information on the incident:

derstandard.at