Mountain Bike Park Is Being Built Above Saas-Grund.
For the summer season 2021, the Hohsaas mountain railways on Kreuzboden are creating three new mountain bike trails in various levels of difficulty. The Skills Park will be realized on Kreuzboden. In addition, the almost 10 kilometer long trail from Kreuzboden to Saas-Grund will be expanded.
The Saas-Fee / Saastal destination is getting one more attraction: a mountain bike skills park is being built on Kreuzboden, above Saas-Grund. The three short trails are laid out in different levels of difficulty and are located a few meters above the Kreuzbodensee. From this summer season onwards, they ensure driving fun - but also help to improve personal driving technique. "The Skills Park Kreuzboden is an ideal place to go for an active family excursion," says Bruno Ruppen, director of the Hohsaas mountain railways. The total of 1,500 meter long trails are accessed by a conveyor belt and are peppered with numerous technical challenges. Two renowned specialists with years of experience are responsible for the planning and implementation: BikePlan AG and Flying Metal GmbH.
Find a personal challenge
"Mountain biking has been an issue in the Hohsaas area and also in the Saas Valley destination for many years," says Bruno Ruppen. Discussions within the Talrat and tourist service providers have shown in recent years that the Hohsaas - Kreuzboden - Trift area is an ideal axis for mountain bikers. The Kreuzboden, located at a good 2,400 meters above sea level, plays a central role for the Hohsaas mountain railways: “The offer there with a lake, playground and restaurant is now being expanded with the three skills trails,” says Bruno Ruppen. This is of particular benefit to families who are enthusiastic about sports. The Skills Park is not only tailored to children, it also offers adults the opportunity to safely approach mountain biking and to explore personal limits.
Descent over 1,800 meters in altitude
The groundbreaking ceremony for the Skills Park on Kreuzboden took place on June 14th. The three trails will be available to the public from July 10th. In the coming autumn, the Hohsaas mountain railways will begin another construction phase, which will make the mountain bike community prick up their ears: a good three kilometers of new trails will be built between Kreuzboden and Triftalp and a total of 10 kilometers of route will be expanded for mountain bikers. The specialists at Flying Metal GmbH design the "Adventure Trail" in the medium level of difficulty with technical elements such as stone passages or roots. This trail joins the mountain bike path from Triftalp to Saas-Grund almost seamlessly. The descent to Saas-Grund will also be expanded in autumn 2021. This means that mountain bikers have access to a stretch of 1,800 meters in altitude that is made accessible by the gondola lifts. Because the section between Hohsaas and Kreuzboden is already open to mountain bikers: "This trail will also be expanded over the next few years," says mountain railway director Bruno Ruppen.
Canton contributes to the costs
The project costs for the Skills Park and the expansion of the bike trails from Kreuzboden to Saas-Grund amount to a total of CHF 521,500. The community of Saas-Grund and the Bergbahnen Hohsaas will take over CHF 271,500 of this. Saastal Tourismus AG (STAG) speaks for the project at CHF 100,000. Through the new regional policy (NRP) of the canton of Valais, CHF 150,000 is flowing into the construction project: "We are very pleased that the canton of Valais has accepted Saastal Tourismus AG's application for funding to promote mountain biking in the Saas Valley", says Tourism director Matthias Supersaxo.
