Passo d’Orsinora (Gatscholalücke)

Depart Airolo (free parking at the Pesciüm cable car) and climb up to the Gotthard Pass on the iconic Tremola, the old road with long stretches on beautiful cobblestones.

From the pass we continue on the Tremola, not without taking a look at the reminders of which this transit place is full.

Soon we leave the cobblestones and make our way toward the large dam we see on our left, to reach Lake Lucendro and lap its north side on a spectacular mule track.

In the midst of the idyll we abandon the road and resign ourselves to pushing our bikes for an hour on an impassable trail, but one that never requires us to put the bike on our backs. After an initial steep section that takes us to an elevation of 2400 meters, we pass several beautiful lakes in sequence, namely Valletta Lakes and Orsinora Lakes. Since the terrain flattens out, we also manage to do some short sections in the saddle.

Our goal is the Orsinora Pass (Gatscholalücke), which we reach at 2528 meters above sea level. The Realp valley opens up before us and in the distance the road leading to the Furka Pass.

The first part of the descent is promising, over rather gentle meadows with lots of boulders, and it is all done in the saddle.

The problem comes when the trail keeps going up and down, becoming very impassable and forcing us to push the bike downhill as well. Up to an elevation of 2200 it is a pain. After that the trail becomes more passable, to the point of being cleared of weeds, and promising very well.

The pleasure is short-lived, because the gradients become high again and many switchbacks follow one another, many of them very challenging, in sequence and with traverse rocks. You will find yourself pushing the bike very frequently, not least because the further down you go, pu the trail becomes narrow and battered. If nothing else you are in the midst of blueberries. This brings us to Realp, where we first follow a dirt road and then the road that takes us to Hospental and then to Andermatt, from where we take the bike path to end the tour in Göschenen. We take the train and in 10 minutes return to Airolo through the old Gotthard tunnel.

Tour I would not recommend because of the high percentage of pushing bikes, even on the downhill.