Kurt Refsnider reflects on a transformative bikepacking trip through the Alps, where he and Kait Boyle took advantage of the region’s abundant infrastructure, such as gondolas and mountain huts, to enhance the experience. By focusing on shorter hut-to-hut rides with lighter gear, tackling steep descents and high-elevation trails on full-sus bikes, they deepened their appreciation for the human-powered amenities that make this rugged region more accessible. If you’re curious about hutpacking, read on below!

“Maybe we’re doing it wrong?” Kait said after yet another group of hikers were shocked when we told them we were wild camping and carrying all our gear rather than staying in rifugios. The hikers ambled on, and we resumed the steep but still-rideable climb up toward an imposing limestone ridgeline capped by pointed pinnacles.

It’s now been ten years since that moment, but the realization that no one else was following trails through the Alps in the same manner remains remarkably vivid. And a decade later, we found ourselves back in the Italian Alps, laughing about our earlier adventure as we wrapped up a mind-blowing 160-mile loop through Italy’s Stelvio National Park, a loop boasting a brake-pad-roasting 48,000 feet of descending, only half that in climbs, and countless hundreds of switchbacks.

At that point of revelation back in 2014, were two weeks into a month-long traverse along the length of the Alps, trying to ride as much singletrack as possible along the way. We had covered 400 miles, labored through 150,000 feet of climbing without taking a single gondola, and we were exhausted. We carried a tarp tent and sleeping bags, an alcohol stove, and typically at least a couple days’ rations – that was packing pretty light by bikepacking standards, but multiple grueling 4,000’ climbs each day, followed by equally long descents on our hardtails, had worn us down.

Nearly every day, we pedaled (or hiked our bikes) past a rifugio or two – huts where we could have slept and gotten a couple meals – and nearly every day, we passed by a gondola or two that could have whisked us up effortlessly to the clouds. But we were stubbornly accustomed to the self-supported nature of backcountry travel in the remote western United States.

Human-Powered Enhancements

All this mountain infrastructure of the Alps is strikingly different. It feels downright luxurious. A friend coined the collective huts, gondolas, lifts, shuttles, and high-elevation restaurants as “human-powered enhancements,” a term that seems quite fitting as it all allows folks to get higher up and deeper into the mountains with more ease and without huge time commitments.

Ever since that trip, we’d talked about returning to the Alps and bikepacking there “the right way.” I’ll never be one to say there’s one proper way to spend time in the mountains, but in a place so rugged and with so many amenities to make it less daunting to get deeper in and higher up, it seemed like it would be worth concocting a trip that would take advantage of all that.

Hatching a Plan

Instead of a multi-week odyssey, we set about finding a few different destinations in the Swiss-Italian borderlands for shorter 3- to 5-day hut-to-hut adventures chasing the biggest descents and the most stunning ridgeline riding we could find. Call it hutpacking. We mapped out all the huts, all the gondolas, all the high-elevation trails, and all the 6,000-foot descents we could find and settled on a few destinations – the Davos-Lenzerheide region, Stelvio National Park, Engleberg-Andermatt, and the Aosta Valley. Instead of our loaded hardtails, we’d ride full-sus trail bikes with DH tires, packed with just a bit of clothing, an ultralight sleeping bag, knee pads, and snacks. This was going to be a far cry from each of our typical approaches to bikepacking.

In planning out 3 weeks of hut-to-hut bikepacking, Kait and I laid out a few different multi-day routes connecting as many gondolas as we could, got us to huts every night, and would let us ride as much high-elevation singletrack and as many massive descents as possible – think 5,000 to 6,000 feet! Exceptionally light setups meant we could maximize the fun on all the steep and rocky trails – we carried at most just an ultralight bivy kit, clothing for high-elevation adventure, and a few days’ worth of snacks. Steep, technical descents were still a blast with that limited amount of extra weight, the bike-on-the-back climbs were quite manageable, and unloaded day rides from a couple of the huts let us get into even more rugged and remote terrain.

An Introduction to Hutpacking

Each evening, we rolled up to a hut of one sort or another, grinning from the day’s riding and unsure of exactly what to expect of the accommodations and social scene. All we knew was that there’d be a tasty hot dinner and that we wouldn’t wake up covered in frost. Some huts were converted from former alps, high-elevation farmsteads where cows were tended to in summer months. One we stayed in still kept a couple dozen cows that spent nights directly beneath the bunk room and would get riled up at 4:30 am milking time each morning.

Other huts were elaborate stone structures that sleep upwards of 70 people. Some are located to support mountaineers, and others have been built in scenic areas with hikers in mind. One we stayed in stood among an array of hundreds of large wooden statues carved by the owner over his decades spent up there! Each hut has a staff on hand to cook dinners and breakfasts for guests, and some offer lunches to anyone who stops in. Need a mid-day bowl of exquisite polenta and a piece of sweet cake soaked in warm cream? They’ve got you covered.

The multi-course dinners include anything from simple but delicious traditional spätzel to elaborate dishes made by professional chefs, and they serve everyone with huge appetites in mind. Sleeping arrangements ranged from private rooms for small groups to large rooms that sleep 20 or more people in long bunks. The rooms might be a little stuffy and filled with snoring, but for $70 or $80 USD a night (including meals!), we were stoked.

Alpine Dreams

What are the trails like in the Alps? In short, the singletrack ribbons are as good as it gets if you love steep trails, tight switchbacks, massive views, and feeling pretty dang miniscule. We managed to log nearly 130,000 feet of descending, miles and miles on sinuous ridgetops, and quite a few 6,000-foot plunges, all with “just” 75,000 feet of climbing in those ~450 miles. Those other 55,000 feet of vert? Those were quickly and effortlessly gained using all those “human-powered enhancements” – lifts, gondolas, and buses. I’m not sure where else in the world this type of adventure is possible, but I’m sure glad we returned to the Alps to try a new-to-us style of bikepacking leaning on all the infrastructure in place to make those big mountains a bit more easily accessible.

Ride 1: Davos-Lenzerheide
4 days, 110 miles
19,000’ climbing
29,000’ descending

Ride 2: Stelvio National Park
5 days, 158 miles
27,000’ climbing
48,000’ descending

Ride 3: Engelberg-Andermatt
3 days, 89 miles
12,000’ climbing
27,000’ descending

Ride 4: Aosta Valley
4 days, 69 miles
18,000’ climbing
25,000’ descending

That’s one for the bucket list! Drop any questions in the comments.