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There is something about the cool mountain air
in alpine areas. It burns your lungs as you battle
up a climb, freezes your hands on descents and
sometimes just doesn’t have the oxygen satura-
tion that you would like. But we revel in it anyway,
for the views, the terrain and the opportunities.
Strictly speaking, our sport doesn’t require
mountains. But it can be so much more dramatic
with them.We have devoted this issue to alpine areas, in
Australia and beyond. It is easy to list some of my
favourite places to ride, and realise that just about
all of them are in big mountains. High enough
for big, clear views, but not so high that riding is
hard. Crested Butte, Thredbo, Red Mountain, Falls
Creek, Monarch Crest, Pontresina, Livigno, Val di
Fassa, San Martino di Castrozza, Mt Buller, Sierra
Nevada... all these places have something in com-
mon. They’re in the mountains. They’re alpine (or
close to it). They have amazing trails. And they are
full of people who have chosen to live somewhere
with a slightly slower pace, somewhere they can
enjoy the outdoors, and absorb the mountain air
and lifestyle.In this issue we’ll take you to one of the biggest
alpine playgrounds of all – the NSW Snowy
Mountains. Thredbo was onto mountain biking
early on, and they’re back in the game with new
trails and more to come. We predict that they will
be the home for gravity mountain biking within a
couple of short years. But the whole region offers
so much more, with family-friendly trails, back
country adventures, technical singletrack, pump
tracks and long distance off-road touring options.Don’t let anyone tell you that Australia doesn’t
have real mountains – and if they persist, take
them to one of our alpine areas and see what they
think of our ancient landscape – the long climbs,
the epic descents, and the harsh yet beautiful
alpine environment is sure to win them over.Although I have really enjoyed putting together all
the last 10 issues, especially the Travel Issue – I
think this issue was the one that was the best to
be involved with. Riding bikes in the alpine areas
of Australia, and writing about the ones overseas
that have such a strong draw.Enjoy the issue, and enjoy some alpine riding in
the near future.alpine adventures
WoRDS: MIkE BLEWITT PHoTo: ANDREW RAILToN