At least, it didn't take as long as the first official trail on the Gurten. Back then, it took around ten years before legal trail biking was possible on Bern's local mountain.

The new generation of Trailnet spent a good two and a half years on landowner discussions and negotiations, project development, preliminary clarifications with the canton, project adjustments and additional evidence, the building application and finally the approval process including objection negotiations. On 16 September, hopefully a beer or two will have been served: that's when the Bern-Mittelland cantonal government issued the building permit.

The 20th anniversary was already the focus of the Trailnet Festival in Biel in April 2024. But if you already have a new trail to unpack, you can celebrate a birthday like this again. And so it should happen on July 5, 2025, when the Gurten Trail 2.0, as Trailnet calls it, is officially handed over to the bikers.

Gurten Trail 2.0: flatter and lower maintenance

The original route on the Gurten was created in the noughties as a replacement for various illegal trails on Bern's local mountain and at a time when the majority of experienced hardcore bikers were letting off steam on such facilities. This veteran of community trails in Switzerland is correspondingly steep and challenging.

The result is up to 40,000 descents per year - which is of course also due to the convenient mountain transport with the Gurtenbahn, but also because the trail is obviously fun. Another logical consequence is the strong erosion due to the average 14 percent gradient.

The Gurten Trail 2.0 is intended to be simpler and more suitable for mass sports, thus taking into account the growing popularity of trail bikes and also requiring less maintenance.

Crowdfunding with excavator course and first ride

Those who are already suffering heartache because their beloved old trail will be partially razed to the forest floor in March 2025 can take comfort in the fact that the new trail is 600 meters longer. And because it only has a 10 percent gradient, you can ride it for even longer. And for accountants: the current Gurten Trail is 1.8 kilometers long. The new one will measure 2.4 kilometers, of which 1.7 kilometers will be newly created, 700 meters reworked and 1.1 kilometers dismantled. Trailnet wants to complete the entire redesign with a trail construction company in three months.

And now you come into play, because only around 75 percent of the funding for Gurten Trail 2.0 has been secured. In addition to other sponsors, crowdfunding is expected to raise 30,000 francs. The co-funders can look forward to interesting goodies such as Gurten Trail socks (CHF 88), an excavator course (CHF 999) or an annual subscription for the cable car as well as the first ride on the new trail (CHF 2222), which must be shared with a maximum of nine other generous crowdfunders. The funding campaign will run until January 5, 2025.

Find out more about the new Gurten Trail

Trailnet.ch Festival Biel