27th June 2023 | James Cove, The Tirol.
We are continuing our summer tour in the Tirol sampling some activities on offer in the mountains away from the winter months. We’ve just jumped on an E-mountain bike. NEW
We’ve been on skis and now we’re on wheels.
We went on skis high up on the slopes of the Hintertux glacier, and we also went deep into the same glacier on a visit to Nature’s Ice Palace.
Now we’ve headed east, over to St Johann, and first on our list of activities is E-mountain biking.
PlanetSKI in St Johann: Part One
Now we need to get this debate out of the way immediately.
Using an e-bike is not cheating.
It takes you further afield, up some steep gradients and allows you to enjoy more of the mountains.
Would you rather be the two speeding up the hill in this video or the two puffing away?
Be honest.
I know which one I would rather be.
Right, now we have got that debate settled once and for all we’ll look at the experience, plus the massive growth in the activity.
We’re E-biking in the stunning mountains around St Johann in the Tirol.
We collected our bikes from the main Intersport rental shop in the town, Intersport Patrick.
It now rents out more E-bikes than conventional bikes.
The cost is €49 (£42) for a day.
I reckon that is pretty good value.
Out of interest if I had wanted to buy this E-bike would set me back around £5,000.
We are off on a full day out with a local mountain bike guide, Christian Vogel.
He explained how the E-bike worked.
First we were off for a bit of training at Kurt Exenberger centre in nearby Oberndorf.
E-bikes are different from normal bikes.
The first thing you notice is the weight.
They come in at around 20kg, that’s more than twice the weight of a regular bike and that makes steering and braking different – especially when going downhill.
Breaking is key, according to Christian.
Then we were off.
A route for the day was up a steep black run to Stanglalam. We cycled to its start from St Joahnn and then it’s 4km uphill via Haslach.
We then returned back down on a red route and headed back to St Johann, making the 6-hour ride (including lunch) a circular experience.
“The great thing about e-biking is that everyone can do it and people are able to cover so much more ground in the same time,” said Christian.
“I have seen a sharp growth in recent years and it just gets more and more popular.”
There are over 200kms of road and mountain bike paths in the St Johann area.
It should be pointed out that you have to pedal an E-bike – the more you put in the more you get out.
If you don’t pedal the bike stops.
The E-bike allows you to choose the amount of effort you want to put in as Christian detailed in the earlier video.
I opted for mid-range effort most of the time and enjoyed the fabulous scenery in this part of the Tirol.
Instead of starring at the road a few meters ahead with sweat pouring off my brow, I was soaking up the scenery as I ascended to Stanglalam.
I stopped not for a rest, but to savour the moment.
You can also chat merrily away to your cycling companions as you pedal uphill.
Lunch was at Stanglalam – one of my favourites in the resort.
Not least for the views.
Then it was downhill.
Coming down paths that crossed the slopes that I am more used to skiing in the winter.
I was last skiing here in the winter of 2022.
Now I’m back in summer.
As mentioned earlier the bikes are heavy affairs so you need to concentrate, especially on loose gravel.
All too soon our day ended, and we reflected on one of the best days we had experienced in St Johann– winter or summer.
As we celebrated with a beer (or three) at a roof top bar in town, The Cube, we laid our hiking plans around St Johann for the next day as we continue our summer tour in the Tirol.
The summit of the Kitzbuheler Horn at 1,996m was winking at us, so that is where we going.
It looks like a decent enough hike.
It’s a shame no-one has invented E-hiking boots.