A tough climb to a famous col and then a beautiful, sweeping descent.

Statistics

1 - 2

hrs

735

m

735

m

12

max°

Difficulty

FATMAP difficulty grade

Difficult

Description

This is a superb half day ride which encapsulates much of what riding in this area is all about - epic scenery and fast, flowing trails.

There are several ways of doing the ascent, depending on how energetic you're feeling, but we've described and drawn the toughest way here. Start out in the bustling little village of Arabba and then begin the ascent to the Passo Pordoï.

The "full fat" version of this involves riding up a jeep track and then a tarmac road, and is shown here.

The "semi-skinned" version is to ride up the jeep track and then use the Fodom cable car to reach the col, and the "skimmed" version is to ride the bus and/or the cable car and not pedal an inch of uphill! Regardless of how you got there, the Passo Pordoï is a beautiful place which is worth exploring briefly.

In winter it's home to some epic ski terrain (just check this out if you don't believe us https://fatmap.com/guidebooks/12700/sass-pordoi-:-the-best-ski-lift-in-the-dolomites...) and in summer is the start point for countless hiking and biking adventures. For this particular adventure ride east off the col along a track and follow it to the Ossario - a somewhat creepy cemetery containing remains from WW1 and WW2 Austrian and German soldiers.

The positioning of the Ossario seems somewhat random but there are certainly worse views to spend eternity looking at. From the Ossario drop onto the flowing singletrack to the south-east.

The track rolls and undulates across the hillside beneath the Sella towers and has an amazing view across to the Marmolada range too.

There are several short climbs on the track but they're rocky and awkward - getting off and pushing is easier than trying to pedal up them but they're only a couple of minutes long either way.

The riding is never hard but it does involve some rocky sections and tight-ish curves mixed in amongst the flow. The track leads to the impossibly well-positioned Rifugio Col de Burz.

Grab a coffee and then drop into Burz singletrack.

This is tougher than what's proceeded it, with some tight turns and (usually) some muddy sections too.

The riding is fun though and once you get used to the slightly steeper angle you can get a nice flow going.

All too soon the trail leads down to a jeep track, which in turn leads to Arabba.