Day 48: Pozza-tively Brilliant

17 Aug 2011

David chases Mauro down the new Furious Line trail

Day 48: Exploring the Pozza bike park. Another epic day. This time at the Pozza half of the Val di Fassa Bike Resort, 15 minutes down the road and round the corner from Canazei. We spent the day with Mauro Tarter, Marketing Manager of the bike park and an extremely handy bike rider too. An ex pro-snowboarder Mauro was once the head coach of the Iranian Ski and Snowboard Teams! Apparently there is epic powder there but no bike parks – yet. I grabbed a coffee in the Cafe-Bar Paninotecha next to the lift and got the blog from the day before online – we had just spent too long on the trails and had run out of time the previous evening. Meanwhile Mauro and Tim went to investigate the trails.

At Pozza it’s a gondola lift which takes 1 bike and 1 person inside each bubble. It could take more if it was modified (i.e. hooks on the outside), but even in the height of the busy tourist season there was not really a wait. As the bike park grows then no doubt so will the uplift capability. A word of warning though – it stops for lunch between 12 and 2 so you are forced to take a break as well. The lift takes you up to Buffaure, about 700m above the town. Just below the top lift station there is a small hut – bike park headquarters, which acts as a hangout for riders to meet, chat, leave bags etc. There is music playing and drinks available, and it’s a really cool focal point for the park just like the ones at the bottom of snowparks in the winter. First place we’ve seen really apply the concept to bike parks. Off the top there are 2 trails, the ‘Z-line’ trail, billed as a freeride trail, and the new DH trail called ‘Furious Line’. In the morning Tim and Mauro checked out Z-line to scope it for photo spots. This is a technically challenging trail, with steep switchbacks and plenty of cool singletrack. We’ll get pictures on this tomorrow if the weather stays good.

Mauro leads David down the ridge-line off the top

For lunch we turned tourist. From the top of the Buffaure lift there is a 4-person chairlift that can take you higher again. Unfortunately bikes are not permitted but if you can leave your bikes somewhere safe then it is well worth going up for a big feed in the restaurant, and to check out the amazing panoramic views. Over food we talked more with Mauro about the Fassa development and of particular interest to anyone thinking of coming here is the fact that the park has agreed a discount for riders with local businesses. If you show your bike park pass at various hotels, campsites and restaurants in the area you get 10% off, and there is an increasing number of partners in and around both Pozza and Canazei.

After lunch we all headed down the new ‘Furious Line’ DH trail, which only officially opened on the 23rd of July this year. It is a converted hiking trail and it is bloody brilliant! It has to be the best natural trail we have ridden on the URT, with non-stop fast roots and rocks, taking you down through natural gullies and berms. It just leaves you grinning from ear to ear, and is up there on a par with X-Line at Saalbach-Hinterglemm for the fun-factor. If you are tempted just to visit the Canazei half of Fassa as it offers a few more trails then think again – it is most definitely worth the trip to Pozza.

Mauro on the rocks on the Furious Line trail

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