May 08

2 Wheels, 2 Planks: High Passes, Big Moon, Spring in Switzerland


Powder skiing during the 40-50cm storm that nearly broke the 20-day stretch of daily/nightly snowfall that welcomed us to the Alps. Between sunny days, snow fell for two more nights as we rolled east to Austria and Italy.


Skiing as the 70-80 mph gusts of a good old fashioned foehn wind blew in, among the highest peaks of the Ortler region of Italy, with the hanging seracs of Koningspitzer in the background.

A glorious stretch of spring prevailed as we pedaled and skied our way through the Austrian-Italian border region just east of Switzerland’s Engadine Valley – a stretch that had us pushing to the high peaks of the South Tirol (home of legendary alpinist Reinhold Messner) and Ortler regions (where we pedaled and then skied out to a great mountain hut above Solda, Italy), savoring the tastiest pizza of our lives, dipping our heads into streams and wondering if our luck with the weather would keep up.

Magically, the weather held, and we stumbled upon some of most beautiful camps and ski tours of the trip on our way back into the heart of the Swiss Alps – via Ofen Pass (Pass di Fuorn). The spring weather also allowed us to enjoy some very tasty corn snow on the warmer, sunny sides of the mountains while the colder aspects took their time shedding April’s fresh snowfall in a truly impressive display of slab and sluff avalanches of all shapes and sizes. Distant rock, ice and serac falls only added to the mountain sound scape under the afternoon sun.

Clear skies and a rising moon had us lingering carefully in the mountains through the sunset hours. Cuckoos sang for us in the trees as we savored evening meals – and a few sips of schnapps – back at camp. Crispy nights under the stars had us stirring in no particular generic soma 250 hurry in the morning. Dreams come easy in the fresh mountain air.

While rolling away from our last ski camp in the spectacular upper Albula Valley, we hit the brakes in little Bergun, Switzerland. Accessible only by train (or skis) through the heart of winter, the village tempted us to change our flights home and stay a while. Fresh goat cheese, soaring mountainsides and a very welcoming atmosphere held us for a good long while – enough at least to remind us how different life could be for all of us if we were the bike and walk more, drive less, (and invest in effective public transportation/bike/walk infrastructure), grow more food and flowers, buy less stuff and walk/talk more with our elders.

Eventually, the first thunderstorms of the season has us giving into gravity once again – bound for the beautiful home of our friends Lars and Barbara (and their little boy Tom) near Zurich, and ultimately, the great Green Mountains of Vermont.

Stay tuned for one last update, and a few more images and some video…soon. If you missed or are curious about other updates from this adventure, head to this link.

Happy spring!

Brian and Emily


Pedaling back into Switzerland via Ofen Pass (Pass di Fuorn). We camped under and skied from the top of beautiful Piz Daint the next day, with a sweeping view of Switzerland’s only national park.


Steep corn and sunset turns in the heart of Switzerland’s Rhaetian Alps, near Bergun – in the Graubunden region.


“Corn camp” under the rising big moon.


Quick snap after (skiing and) spotting a herd of Alpine Ibex (Steinbock), countless marmots, soaring vultures and a solitary lizard…while preparing for one of the most spectacular downhill bike rides of our lives.

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Apr 27

Photo of the Week: Somewhere in the South Tirol

After pedaling our bikes out of Switzerland’s beautiful Engadin Valley and into the Austria-Italy border region, a week long corn cycle is luring us higher than usual into the mountains of the South Tirol and Ortler zones. Down in the valleys, fruit trees are blooming, cows are being turned out to pasture and people of all ages are out and about in the fresh air of springs – tending their gardens, mending fences and simply soaking up the warmer days upon us.

For more about our pedal-powered skiing adventures through the Alps (2 Wheels, 2 Planks), check out our other posts here

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Apr 24

2 Wheels, 2 Planks: Mid-Winter in the Rhaetian Alps

If we didn’t take the snowflakes flying among the budding birches and blooming daffodils upon our arrival to Zurich back on April 7, we should have. For all but one of the last 18 days, beautiful fresh snow has been falling from the skies above us in the Swiss-Austrian-Italian Alps.

And this past Sunday may have taken the cake. We woke at 3am in Switzerland’s lower Engadin Valley to more heftiger schneefall (heavy snowfall) threatening to collpase our roomy, floorless, one-pole tent. By noon, we were enjoying nearly half a meter! of fresh snow in one of the most beautiful conifer forests we’ve ever come across. It was steep and deep powder skiing at its finest (stay tuned for some images and vid of this later..). By 6pm, we were watching he clouds tear from the giant peaks around us. The visibility had us making the most of our hard-earned skin track, and sneaking carefully into the alpine for some sunset turns. Back in the conifers, we spotted soaring vultures and snowshoe hare, while laying fresh tracks back to camp – en route to a tasty dinner of fresh pasta, pesto, greenhouse tomatoes, spinach, chopped Landjaeger and parmesan.

Some hot tea… Dreamland.

– Brian and Emily

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Apr 18

2 Wheels, 2 Planks: Heftiger Schneefall


Relaxing back at camp in Switzerland’s Engadine Valley – Credit: EmberPhoto

We’re pretty sure that’s German for “heavy snowfall”, and although we’ve managed to score some beautiful sunshine-filled days in the alpine over the last ten days in eastern Switzerland’s Engadine Valley, heftige Schneefall has been the norm here (stay tuned for some more photos when we score normal computer access).

Luckily, with spring in effect, we’re able to comfortably camp at snowline, where the snow only sticks at night and through the morning hours, before the warmth of the valleys burns it back by day. The snow also refuses to accumulate on well-traveled surfaces, like bike trails!, so we have easy bike access from our camp to town, to other skiing access points or to the train station (rail-powered skiing anyone?) In fact, the bike trails lead just above everywhere here, and it’s truly a cycling paradise.

Thanks to Emily’s sniffer, we’re currently enjoying a fine camp on a flat, dry and grassy spot at snowline, under a thick cluster of conifer trees surrounded by 1-2′ deep patches of snow…and with ski in, ski out access to some VERY big mountains above us. We broke from our camping routine recenty after being invited for an incredible feast and to stay the night in a 400 year old farmhouse with a friendly couple from the region. What a feast…what a house!.. more on that later. (Thanks Urs and Sigi!) And we mixed things up today with a train ride over to Tirano, Italy and back, in order to scout a few spots we hope to pedal through and ski near in approx. ten days, and to stock up on Italian ravioli and ragu for the next few nights.

Still, we’re keeping up a steady rhythm of skiing lots, biking a good bit and sleeping plenty in the fresh mountain air. Yesterday was another highlight. Clearing skies allowed us to summit a couple of peaks above our camp near Morterasch, peek at a few glaciers and towering summits along the Italian border, and enjoy thigh deep powder under the setting sun. We finished the day with a new line back to camp through the trees at dusk and a stop at our trusty mountain spring to fill up the jugs. After more than 2000m of climbing and skiing, even the first train whistle of the morning couldn’t wake us! Rather, we stirred naturally to the melodies of countless songbirds this morning.

Anyhow, we hope all is well from wherever you read this.

Ciao from Morterasch, Switzerland
-Brian and Emily

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Apr 13

2 Wheels, 2 Planks: Snowbound near St. Moritz

After landing in Zurich tempted to pedal our way straight for the mountains, a forecasted major winter storm had us throwing our bikes on a train bound for the Engadine Valley in eastern Switzerland – home to St. Moritz, several world class ski areas and endless backcountry skiing options. Our plan also meant experiencing one of the most scenic rail rides in the world…and passing up a 2-3 day bike ride toward snowline. This is a ski trip, after all. (See our previous post for an intro to this adventure.)

The move worked out like a charm, and we bought ourselves nearly two days of fine spring weather before the storm set in…and lots of chocolate. We hunkered down in a cozy camp near Celerina – among the blooming Edelweiss, song birds and barking foxes – ready for anything Mother Nature wanted to throw at us. And throw she did, starting with 6-10″ one day, another 3-4″ overnight…and then blue skies. Our strategically located camp not only provided us with easy access from our tents to some delectably steep powder in the trees above Celerina (minimal base, but great powder…sound familiar?), but easy access to the endless alpine world above us, too. A big break in the weather Thursday gave us a chance to explore right to the tops of some surrounding peaks, before the snow returned last night.

We’re on the move again over the weekend, bound for Italy and the ski-touring paradise of Livigno, and soon thereafter, the Ortler region at the Swiss/Italian border. A series of mountain passes (which we are hoping we can pedal through) will allow us to make a nice loop through the region over the next couple of weeks, before we return to the Engadine Valley and then make a final push through the central Alps into early May.

We hope all is well. Stay tuned for more. Ciao.

– Brian and Emily


High above St. Moritz, Switzerland – Photo: EmberPhoto.com


St. Moritz and the Engadine Valley, Switzerland (Credit: Wikipedia)

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