The fact that the ski school is the model for the bike school cannot be overlooked and is also intentional. The division of the bike school children into different levels is based on winter and the conveyor belt, which transports the kids up the practice hill during the ski season, runs in the Skill Center at the Hörnlibahn valley station in summer. The Arosa Bike School is part of the Arosa Ski School and all bike instructors work as ski instructors at the same location in winter.
The ride on the "magic carpet" takes about the same amount of time as pedalling up the few meters of altitude on the road around the facility with enough motivation. Once at the top, you can choose between the easy blue, red or black slope. The colors were deliberately taken from the slope signage. The black slope already contains small jumps and a wallride. "The black line prepares bikers for the Hörnlitrail," explains Noldi Heinz, who runs both the Arosa Ski School and the Arosa Bike School.
So mom and dad can ride this or one of the other trails in the Arosa-Lenzerheide destination, while their offspring learn from the bike guides how to approach a bend correctly, brake without skidding or how to negotiate steps. In the fourth level, bunny hops and moving the rear wheel are already part of the course program. The bike students also learn how to behave considerately towards hikers on the trail and how to carry out small repairs along the way. The aim is clear: once you have completed the four levels, you should be fit for the bike park and alpine single trails.
The bike lessons last one and a half hours at the lowest level, where many pre-school children are supervised, and two and a half hours at the higher levels. There is only one course per level per day. This is not even enough for parents to make a half-day trip. It is advisable to plan exactly which trails you want to ride during the course time.

Great demand in the Corona summer

The offer is attracting a lot of interest. At least during the coronavirus summer, when many Swiss families spend their vacations in Arosa. "We currently have fifty to sixty children in the bike school every day. That's three times as many as last summer," says Heiz happily. "Dozens of families who send their children to ski school in Arosa are now discovering that you can also have a great summer vacation here and are enrolling their kids in the Bike School," he adds.
Depending on their age, the bike school students find it "casual", "cool" or "awesome". For the more experienced ones, riding down the Hörnli trail behind the bike guide is as much fun as it is in ski school when you're allowed to ride properly. The less experienced are delighted with every successful ride over the seesaw or the wallride. On the treasure hunt outside the Skill Center, they cover a few vertical meters and a few more challenging downhill meters without really noticing it.
As with the day tickets that mountain bikers buy in comparison to skiers in Arosa, bike school bookings are still a long way from their winter counterparts. Up to 1000 children attend the ski school every week. But the curve of bike school bookings is pointing steeply upwards. During the summer vacations, the courses are largely fully booked.
The investment could really pay off if today's bike kids take bike vacations in the Alps as adults as naturally as they book ski vacations. Preferably, of course, in the destination where they rode their first trail. This is probably one of the hopes of the bike tourism industry.

Note: This article was written after a family bike weekend with children at the invitation of Arosa Tourism.

Many bike destinations offer courses for children, for example:
Arosa Bikeschool
Lenzerheide
Flims
St. Moritz
Engelberg
Flumserberg
Gstaad
Wiriehorn
Crans Montana
Hoch Ybrig
Aletsch area
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