Now we are sitting here, resting and our arms are sore from braking. With over two–thirds of or descend to go Fabrizio points out that we head into another valley towards the little village of Cogne, this is the starting point for a lot of Gran Paradiso tours. Gran Paradiso was the first National Park in Italy, founded in the 1920s. The trail we follow is flowy and challenging at the same time, descending all the time. But it’s long, very long and steep. Some tight switchbacks, some wide–open straights. The perfect mixture! It’s like ordering Tris di Pasta (trio of pasta), because you cannot decide on just one, everything is so good.

Finally we roll into Cogne with a big grin and a lot of dust on our faces. The last part is an easy roll–out on the road back to Aosta to catch the last gondola ride up the mountain. It is about ‘beer o’clock’ as we roll into the hotel’s garage.

Next morning we move on to La Thuile, a little ski town at the border of France. A very unique bikepark that gives us a warm welcome – all the runs are organic! Which means they are handbuilt and natural, so it feels like real mountainbiking and not like bikepark riding. We enjoy ourselves in the morning before hitting the trails towards Courmayeur later in the day. We find a very nice trail in the valley, with a clear view of the Mont Blanc glaciers and Dent de Gigantes. The Dent is the tooth of an ancient giant which got stuck in the glacier. Legend says that all the bad demons of the region are caught inside this huge rock prison. Maybe that’s why the spirit on the trails in the Aosta Valley is so positive that even if you meet somebody, coming a little too fast around a corner, they will cheer on you.

Saturday morning and Fabrizio has another secret trail to show us, so we find ourselves climbing up an old military road to the Col de Croix. We got shuttled to the pass of San Carlo on the road and from there it is a one hour grind through beautiful landscape. Larch trees surrounding us on the way up, and with gaining altitude we finally see the big mountains around us. On top we stand face to face with the Mont Blanc reigning over the rest of the peaks. The air is thin but the climbing felt good after the descending of the last few days. After checking out the old military buildings it’s time to shred. Surprise, surprise: we descend on the other side of the mountain and have a technical downhill all the way to the front door of our hotel. Could it get any better. It possibly could… we need a reason to come back.>>