Photo 15

Photo Essay: A ride to the snow

This will be my last ride in the high mountains for 2015. It’s the end of October, and the weather is perfect for one last ride into the high mountains. The temperatures are an amazing 14C at the top today, but that will change tonight with the coming bad weather. This is the last chance to do one of the great climbs in Europe – the Timmelsjoch. The Timmelsjoch creates a link through the Ötztal Alps along the border between Austria and Italy.

81A_9730_mini

It’s also known as the Passo Rombo, but this was Austria long before it was Italy, and that’s what it was originally called back when it was first mentioned in records dating back to the 13th century, so I generally give a nod to the name that has been usef the longest and from the beginning – it’s the best you can do in a region where the languages are as fluid as they are here. At 2,474 meters (8,117 ft), it’s one of the higher passes in Europe, but certainly not the highest. It is, however, a monster.

81A_8584_mini

If you’re going to ride the Timmelsjoch (and you should), do it from the Italian side, starting in St. Leonhard. It’s 29 kilometers to the top from there at an average of 6.2% with an elevation gain of nearly 1800 meters. Like I said, it’s a monster. You can do the Timmelsjoch all by itself and call it a day. Or, if you’re feeling a bit more adventurous, you could do the Timmelsjoch, descend back down to St. Leonhard, and then head up the Jaufenpass as well. If that’s not enough, you’d be well-served to do one of the most difficult granfondo’s of them all: the Ötztaler Radmarathon: Kühtai, Brenner, Jaufen, Timmels. Hard doesn’t begin to do that loop justice.

D4B_5049_mini

On this late fall day, we only have eyes for the Timmelsjoch though. Starting in St. Leonhard, we wound our way up the valley through blazing forests of orange clad in some of Castelli’s finest for Winter’14. The larch trees’ needles have all turned, and we’re fairly convinced these might be the most beautiful trees we’ve ever seen in the fall.

D4A_3403_mini

The orange needles are like nothing we’ve ever encountered, and we can’t stop talking about them as the road winds ever higher. About halfway up, we round a bend, and we can see what we still have to do. In the far distance, across the valley, we see the road slice diagonally across the face of a monster slope, disappearing into the rock itself. We didn’t know it at the time, but there’s a tunnel that takes you through the disappearing section and into the final push for the pass.

D4B_5042_mini

This is where things get interesting. The road steepens, and there’s a long stretch of around 10%. It’s not anywhere close to crazy steep, but after you’ve been climbing for over an hour already, the gradual steepening of the road bites hard. Fortunately, the views to the surrounding mountains explode outward and upward, while traffic seems to dissolve to nothing.

D4A_1611_mini

It’s just me and my friends, Christophe, Jered, and Ashley. We’re a happy band of lucky riders – enjoying these last hours of perfect fall. It feels like we’ve won the lottery, and in a way, we have. This is one of those special days, and they’re worth a hundred normal rides. When you get one of these rides – don’t shrug it off or pretend that it’s a normal day. Breathe it in, reach your hand out and touch the orange needles, talk about it, smile about it, but whatever you do, don’t suffer. This isn’t a day for all out efforts or tunnel vision. This is a day for pure enjoyment.

D4B_4861_mini

And so we did. We marveled at the mountains we get a chance to play in, the giant amphitheater of the mountains with us on center stage and the white-capped peaks our spectators.

D4B_4798_mini

We climbed, and we did our best to keep the effort light, but the mountain made sure that we didn’t finish without some earnest work. The final switchbacks across the great face saw our talk quiet a bit, but only for a little while – a huge tribe of goats had made the road their home. A few sat lazily in the middle of the road, while others clashed horns in the late afternoon light. The top followed soon after. We stopped at the top for a moment, ate, drank, donned jackets, and then headed back down. If 1800 vertical meters is a daunting uphill task, then its downhill brother is 1800 vertical meters of joy. We dashed downhill for our final big descent of the year.

That was a good day.

Enjoy the images!

D4B_4562_mini

 

D4A_3690_mini

 

D4A_3643_mini

D4A_3579_mini

D4A_3530_mini

 

D4A_1742_mini

D4A_1461-1_mini

D4A_1460_mini

D4A_1326_mini

D4A_1223_mini

D4A_1101_mini

81B_1115_mini

81B_1110_mini

81B_0380_mini

81A_9877_mini

81A_9303_mini

81A_9213_mini

81A_9021_mini

81A_8649_mini

Words and photos by Jered Gruber – GruberImages

You Might Also Like

15 Comments

  • Ian Walker says: November 21, 2014 at 07:19

    Gorgeous pictures, if they don’t make you want to climb mountains on a bike then nothing will.

    Reply
  • RJ Sharpe says: November 22, 2014 at 12:25

    Spectacular shots. Well done!

    Reply
  • Richard says: November 23, 2014 at 00:26

    Absolutely blown away by the views. Just updated my bucket list.

    Reply
  • Tom Patch says: November 23, 2014 at 00:46

    Spectacular photographs and engaging narrative! Thanks.

    Reply
  • Doug Kiser says: March 15, 2015 at 03:12

    Beautiful! Great Shots.

    Reply
  • martin McCrindle says: October 18, 2015 at 08:49

    Fantastic images, and good to see them at last….must confess I wasn’t focused on the views during the Radmarathon some years ago, was suffering too much!

    Reply
  • [url=http://www.newkakaku.com/xinq6.htm]百年の輝かしい歴史を持つのHamiltonとリーヴァを独木格の設計、無類の品質、完璧な味わいと究極の手芸表現で有名に世を一緻を欧米スターやハリウッド映画界の長年の支持と歓迎。Hamiltonとリーヴァの起源は19世紀、リーヴァ創立は西暦1842年イタリア北Iseo湖畔の1家のボートドック内ながら、若い労働者は数隻の修理Pietroリーヴァ暴風雨に壊れて、他の労働者も放棄して整備された漁船の修復、彼は優れた木工技術すぐ名高い、リーヴァ造船事業から正式に始動。Hamiltonもあって似た起源を背景に、西暦1892年Hamilton元アメリカペニスランカスター市にある小さな工場。ブルガリスーパーコピーその正確で、信頼できる技術を獲得しアメリカのタブで当時の鉄道会社や軍の採用、後により解決列車衝突やパイロットよく軌道からそれる飛行の安全問題。それぞれ時計業やヨット業発光して発熱のHamiltonとリーヴァし世界合作と相まって、成熟した技術は、優雅に挑戦し続ける革新を続け、ブランドの承諾。[/url]

    Reply
  • [url=http://www.gginza.com/%E6%99%82%E8%A8%88/%E3%83%AD%E3%83%AC%E3%83%83%E3%82%AF%E3%82%B9/daytona/f2274a6b7009b5d5.html]北斗衛星時計を採用し、中国が自主開発した北斗衛星ナビゲーションシステムの2世代の時報信号を時報、北斗衛星に覆われた範囲内で、すべての時計分秒違わない、時間精度で制御コンマ1秒以内に。北斗衛星時計は「1、2、3を測るかも」など何項のハイテク機能、即ち、衛星信号時刻合わせ、校正時計時間;二定、すなわち指向、位置決め、出力経緯度、高度の座標、地図区枚コード;三測、すなわち、高さを測る、温度を測る測気圧。BOTTEGA VENETA財布コピー未来の北斗衛星の時計を持ってショートメッセージ通信機能を使用することができ、この機能はユーザーの緊急援助、ときに、野外旅行者やアウトドア者に危険が警察に助けを求めに限り、腕時計のSOSキーをすることで、自分の位置情報や救難信号衛星で、事前設定の端末に送信して。世界の四大衛星ナビゲーションシステムは、中国の北斗衛星ナビゲーションシステムを備えているこの機能。[/url]

    Reply
  • hok3rna says: November 14, 2020 at 22:04

    The guys from https://expertpaperwriter.com/edubirdie-com-review/ write quality works with 90+ uniqueness for a low price. I advise everyone.

    Reply
  • qedoopa says: November 21, 2020 at 17:27

    I turn to college paper writing service reviews when I find a new company and do not trust it. Here I always find an honest feedback on this company with all its pros and cons.

    Reply
  • hapelian says: November 22, 2020 at 09:21

    The Eldercare Calculator can help you to choose the best dose of CBD at a time. Also here you can find many useful tips on how to use CBD, you will learn a lot of useful things.

    Reply
  • hapelian says: November 22, 2020 at 09:22

    Only https://www.eldercarecalculator.org/ this site has helped me to find the ideal dose of CBD. Before that, I tried different doses and they either didn’t help me or acted too much and I was losing my mind. But according to the rules from this site, I picked up the optimal dose, which I use more than six months.

    Reply
  • palneta says: November 22, 2020 at 09:24

    In the expanses of the Internet I found an excellent review of companies that specialize in writing essaypro reviews. Here I learned a lot of interesting things about pricing policy and terms, about writing experience, about support system, and about quality of work.

    Reply
  • Tommy says: July 29, 2021 at 08:55

    I never had issues doing examinations online, not because I was sitting down and memorized what I required. And because I found a technique to facilitate the examinations, I merely tried to pay someone to take my online exam one time. And all works have always been really good, and I have not paid a lot of money in principle for the services. And everything worked. Therefore, I suggest you check this site for people who regularly have issues with online testing.

    Reply
  • Leave a Reply to Doug Kiser Cancel reply