Journal · Monte Rosa, Italy · September 2026
One week from the warm hills above Lake Maggiore, across the Monte Rosa massif, to Aosta. Seven riders, two guides, and a mountain that rarely took its clouds off.
It started hot. The first trails twisted through the hills behind Lake Maggiore, steep and technical, with the lake shimmering somewhere below and everyone already looking for shade.
The first night was in Quarna di Sotto, a small village above the lake, with a dinner far better than anyone expected from a place that size. Over Monte Mottarone and up the long climb to the Massa del Turlo, the riding opened up: ridgelines first, then a long descent through forest into Val Sesia.
Some days the mountain decides how you get there. The way up to the Mantova hut, high under the Monte Rosa glaciers, was on foot, bikes on shoulders, one step at a time over rock and scree.
That night was spent at altitude. In the morning the valleys were full of cloud, with the ice right above us.
A lift, a Land Rover shuttle and a flowing forest trail after the Bettaforca. An easier day, and a welcome one. The night after was at the Rifugio Tournalin, where the hosts made it feel less like a hut and more like being invited home.
The Roisetta day was long, mostly walking, with the summit lost in cloud the whole time. Pizza and pasta in Valtournenche fixed that.
Then Monte Zerbion: a full circle of peaks from the top, a ridge to start, and a long run down through larch forest to Châtillon. The week ended in Aosta with an aperitivo and dinner at an osteria that knows how to feed hungry riders.
Monte Rosa is not an easy week. Some trails you earn by carrying, some days the mountain stays hidden. That is exactly why it stays with you.
Photography: Eric Haufe. Guided together with Eric Haufe of Ride Alpine Trails.
