Biking to Ski: Tirano to Bormio
With Easter weekend approaching, Mike knew he wanted to get back up to the mountains for a big day of backcountry with friends. His trip to Tresero was most easily reached from Bormio. We didn’t have any other plans, but with the weather beautiful enough for biking, and the mountains still skiable, we decided that the way to make it a full weekend adventure was to Bike to Ski.
There are amazing bike trails in Valtellina (the biggest east/west valley in the Alps). The valley starts at the north end of Lake Como, and conveniently for bikers, has a bike path that runs more than 110km from Colico past Bormio. The valley floor provides temperate conditions and great views of snowy mountains all around. Along the way there are many options for turning off to head for monumental climbs; Splugen, Maloija Pass, San Marco Pass, Bernina, Mortirolo, Gavia, and Stelvio are all within reach of the Valtellina trail. I have biked the length of Colico/Tirano multiple times.
With skiing in mind we took TrenItalia to the final stop in Tirano. Life in Travel provided a great description of the bike trail from Tirano to Bormio as a pre-read to ensure we’d stick to the route. We strapped the skis, and boots to the bikes and made for Bormio on Easter Sunday. Arriving in Tirano at lunchtime, we made the smart decision to fuel up before hitting the road. Vineria was a great little spot that welcomed us in without wait. With lovely personality, delicious food, and plentiful gluten free options for Mike we enjoyed a wonderful Easter lunch of Pizzocheri and Risotto that sustained us during the ride.
The weather was 15C/60F in Tirano and perfect for 40km of distance and 850M of climbing. As you get higher, the temperature certainly drops and the wind kicks up. The extra weight of the equipment made this a very different ride from when I hit Stelvio in 2020 from Tirano. Note, there is a bus that takes you from Tirano to Bormio. It is equipped with bike racks for the many cyclists who come through… but what’s the fun in that?
Locked and Loaded; Arriving at the Tirano train station with the boots, skis and backpack all loaded on the bike. My Bergamont Grandurance 3 came with a rack that made it easy to load.
We passed beautiful paesinos, had a wonderful river view the entire ride, and enjoyed the many parks along the way. I love seeing livestock - mostly donkeys, goats and sheep - and wondering how many goats it takes to make the goat cheese we enjoy. Being in the saddle drives me to slow down and think about the things that I don’t normally have time to wonder about. And, being on the cycle path means I can do it in a relaxed way, away from the noise and danger of cars.
The journey was pretty smooth sailing but for one spot where they are doing construction on the path. We landed ourselves on a gravel path, that became a rocky path that became a full on mountain biking path. I was glad to be on my gravel bike for this section. She held up pretty well and I only ended up pushing the bike for the steepest and rockiest parts of the trail. We handled the deviation well, goo’ed up with some Enervit and then continued on our journey. To avoid this deviation, just be sure to cross over the bridge in Le Prese and stay on the main road until the cycle path becomes clear again. My guess is that by 2024 this will be a non-issue.
We made it to Bormio in time for Easter aperitivo with friends. The sun was still shining. The temps were much cooler up there. And the snow was still ready for us to hit the mountains the next day. I headed to Bormio 2000 and 3000 while Mike was off to Tresero at 3600m. It was a great day of skiing for both of us and then the descent back to Tirano was so much sweeter after having muscled the climb up. Note; it took us ~3 hours to get up there (including our mtb side adventure). The return took less than 90 minutes.
Time in the saddle is sacred. I relish it and especially value the ease of a long descent!
Route: https://strava.app.link/hjKctPv48yb & https://strava.app.link/Pr9SRox48yb
All the sports: Note that in addition to the bike and skis, he’s also carrying a climbing rope. Tresero is a technical climb where you need to rope up on the glaciers. He actually has carabiners and other climbing gear in the pack… no light lode.
