Illhorn Meretschialp

Illhorn is no longer a secret, if only because of Yura's report: https://www.mtb-mag.com/fotostory-sullillhorn/

Yesterday, as we rode the comfortable chairlift up to Tsapé, we met a local guide who told us that the smoothest and most beautiful descent is from above Illsee, after shouldering the bike for about 200m of elevation gain and 30 minutes of effort.

Let's start from the beginning: this route can be done with more or less mechanized ascents. In the meantime I will list them, to avoid them just ride on the obvious roads and lanes, or follow this trail: https://itinerari.mtb-mag.com/tours/view/12670. You start from Sierre by postal car, change (usually) in Vissoie where the connection is already ready to leave from Chandolin. I recommend reserving seats for bikes, as there are only 6 in the back plus a few in the trunk, but there are lots of bikers around.

From Chandolin, either go up to Tsapé on the dirt road, or take the chairlift. This is where the trail starts: you'll follow a trail up the mountainside, with a few meters of pushing right at the start by the chairlift. Very scenic, it will take you to the Tsapé pass.

NB: we did not climb up to Illhorn, as we were already planning 200m push/pull.

First part of the descent to Illsee very rocky and with some pushing points. Don't be discouraged: at the lake you pedal quietly down to the dam, which you cross, having in front of you what awaits you: some strenuous portage on the steep trail to the top of one of the mountains around the lake.

From here begins a descent of a thousand and one nights. Basically 2,000 meters of elevation gain where you hardly ever put your foot down, perfect for MTB. You pass by the Meretschialp and from there begins a kind of toboggan in the forest with natural banks, an incredible libido. When you come to a dirt road you cut it many times on a path, again, perfect, before almost reaching the valley, ride a bisse, and then climb so as not to miss another of the highlights of this tour: the Tibetan bridge over the Illgraben.

Don't think it's over, because the trail continues into a forest that in summer has that typical scent of a seaside pine forest. It goes on for miles, still on trail, until the junction of the cantonal road leading to Vissoie, follow it briefly uphill and continue on trail until practically in Sierre.