Words by Kona Ambassador Markus Zieher.

Freeriding in an area which is normally not rideable but smoothed by tons of snow? It makes more sense with skis but let’s try it with the bike.

Together with photographer Christian Frumolt I travelled down south to check out a cool area in Graubuenden, Switzerland close to the Berninapass. Chris knew that place from a Photo trip he did a year ago. With the idea to ride some freeride lines I brought my Operator for this trip to the high alpine mountains.

We were on our way to the zone after an early wake up alarm. As we stepped out of the car we got freshed up by a heavy wind. With the rising sun the wind calmed down a bit and we started to shoot. The warm days, the wind and the cold nights packed the snow well, which helped alot to make it possible to ride down on top of this deep snow.

The hard surface was grippy but at the same time it was tricky not to catch some soft spots and get thrown over the handlebars. A few hours later the sun was high up and we called it for that morning session.

After a short Coffee to warm up we drove to the next spot. There is this red train which winds its way through the mountains. It´s called the Bernina express. We wanted to get a shot together with the train. After we checked the timetable we had a time window for when the train would come.

It was a mean waiting game with the heavy cold wind and the below-freezing temperatures. Chris and I were freezing cold and I wanted to quit… but Chris was sure that the train would come the next minute. And so it was. I rushed back and rode down. In the end the shot came together.

The next day we went skiing on that white stuff and enjoyed another facet of the winter.