The village is still asleep.
Somewhere a fountain runs. The Matterhorn still carries the last of the night on its shoulders, and the first sun hasn’t found the valley floor. Tyres pumped, one coffee, no plan except up.
Valais · A story in five chapters
One day.One valley. One very big mountain.
Scroll to ride. A single day on two wheels, from the sleeping chalets of Zermatt over the glaciers and down into the vineyards of the Rhône.
Scroll to start riding
Gold, all the way up.
It’s the end of September and the larches have turned. The trail climbs in switchbacks through needles that glow like lamps. The only sounds are breath, chain and, far below, a cowbell.
A ledge as wide as a handlebar.
Centuries ago people cut water channels, the Suonen, into these slopes. Now a narrow trail runs beside one. Rock on the left, sky on the right, and a thin thread of meltwater keeping you company. Nobody talks. Nobody needs to.
Above everything.
The air thins. Snow patches, the whistle of a marmot and a glacier that has been here far longer than any trail. This is the top: 2,740 metres on the altimeter and the whole of Valais behind you. Helmet off for exactly one photo.
Down through the terraces.
Two thousand metres of descent later, the terraces catch fire in the evening light. Vines, dry-stone walls, the first lights of a wine village, and a table where someone has already poured the Fendant.
Ride complete · 20:00
Dusty, tired, exactly where you wanted to be.
- Distance
- 86 km
- Climbed
- 1,150 m
- Descended
- 2,150 m
- Highest point
- 2,740 m
- Time in the saddle
- 13.5 h
Made with Pylot
Every ride deserves a website.
A trip, a club, a guesthouse, a shop: describe it and Pylot builds the site, with your own domain and email. Your story, live in minutes.
A story ride, composed from many Valais days. It is not a route recommendation: check trail rules, conditions and your own limits before you go.