Livigno: 'The Lake District on Steroids' - My Perspective

By Nic 

When we decided to set up MonkeyMTB we knew we had an awesome product. To quote this month’s Singletrack Magazine “It’s an easy landscape to fall in love with – like the Lake District on steroids”.  So it should be pretty easy to sell an awesome product right? Well sort of. The problem was that no one had ever heard of Livigno as a mountain biking destination. Having skied Livigno during the winter I had been a massive fan for over ten years and had always wanted to see this stunning landscape in the summer months with my Stumpy for company but I was in the minority. Even those regularly heading to the Alps during the summer hadn’t come across Livigno.

“It’s an easy landscape to fall in love with – like the Lake District on steroids”

I could see there was a BIG education piece to be done.  So last summer I wrote to the editors of all the top mountain biking magazines, knowing that they will get tens of these types of requests per day. So why are we different? Well firstly, I genuinely believe (and our guests have told me they echo this point) that Livigno offers some of the best natural riding in the Alps. Add to that a world-renowned bike park, quality hotels, duty free status and plenty of other activities for non-riders or the less adventurous and you really have a holiday spot which ticks lots of boxes for lots of people.

My other half James loves a mountain biking holiday. It was always a boy’s affair: a week of trying to kill yourself, tackling some rather ridiculous trails and comparing cuts and bruises ‘top trumps style’ every evening. Girls were certainly not invited and even if they were, it didn’t really feel like the type of week which would leave me feeling relaxed and ready to go back to the day job. So I never went. But I loved mountain biking. I’d been growing in confidence and had ridden most of the trails in the UK and love activity holidays so why not get involved I thought?

We had got to a point where James taking separate holiday plus a ‘couples’ holiday was hurting the purse strings a little so we decided to find a solution that would make us both feel comfortable. Somehow Livigno was mentioned as James had read about it in a magazine. I knew I would love it, not trying to be a stereotypical girl but I knew there were bars, shops, spas and Prosecco for €3 a glass. But there was a problem; there were no transfers from Milan’s airport during the summer months so we decided to turn it into a 14 day road trip sandwich with Livigno as the adventure filling surrounded in a thick doorstop of the vineyards of France.

I was expecting my highlight of the trip to be the Moet & Chandon cellar tour (it was pretty good) but it was the mountain biking which blew me away. The fresh air, the flow country trails, the confidence I gained every day and the bike park which tested my nerves to their limit and yes, the €3 prosecco in the form of Aperol Spritzers (you must try these when you visit Livigno!) post ride; the thing is I know James felt this way too. The day we rode with Nicola (now our infamous tour guide!) was one of those days we will remember forever. 

“This is going to be the best biking day EVER”

We turned up, met a load of lovely Italians who we were riding with and then noticed that Hans Rey was in our group…leading our group in fact, Holy crap! While this thrilled James, “this is going to be the best biking day EVER”, I was a little terrified “how am I going to keep up with a group behind Hans bloody Rey???” Still we cracked on and somehow I was third from front the whole trip, taking lines I didn’t know I could handle, huge drops offs with confidence and riding the narrowest singletrack alongside the biggest drops I’ve ever seen. The thing is I’ve always known I’m a technically good rider but with a lack of uphill skills and a large dose of fear. Yet somehow the scale, the beauty and possibly lack of oxygen (there’s a LOT of altitude) seemed to bring out a side of me I didn’t know I had. It helped that Nicola and Hans are the most amazing guides. ‘No pressure’, ‘take it easy’, ‘stand up’, ‘sit down’ and ‘watch those sheep’ seemed to be the mottos of the day.

I felt we’d stumbled on something unique. Something for everyone to enjoy: the Italians even take their kids here for their summer holidays!

So MonkeyMTB.com was born. Firstly to showcase Livigno as a MTB destination and secondly to encourage mixed groups of riders to come along so that everyone can experience the beauty and rush of riding the Alps. Yes of course we still cater for the craziness for those boys who want to compare sizes of jumps, falls and bruises (I really don’t know what they talk about to be honest!) but we also offer what we believe is a uniquely inclusive MTB holiday.

“Messing about on bikes never felt so good, a combination of the quality of the riding and the scenery it’s embedded within”

Fast-forward to October 2014 and we twisted Dave from Singletrack Magazine’s arm to come and see what we were all about. “At this point all I know of the location is that it is high up and Hans Rey has been involved there for some time”. And I think it’s fair to surmise that he and his team were as blown away as we were, “Messing about on bikes never felt so good, a combination of the quality of the riding and the scenery it’s embedded within”. This month’s ten page spread is such a great testimonial for us and we hope that his unbiased review will help you all see what a treat we’ve got in store for you in 2015.

Want to get involved in 2015? Well we’ve taken on board loads of feedback from last year and for this year we’ve split our weeks into themes so you get more of what you love doing most.

Enduro Week – love long days in the saddle, flowing singletrack and epic descents? Click here to find out more

Free Ride Week – want to add in a good dollop of bike park action with some nerve-jangling features? Click here to find out more 

Explore Livigno – want to mix it up and see the best of all our trails? A real mix of all the best trails so you get a taste of all types of riding. Click here to find out more

 Self Guided – want to experience the beauty of the Alps with yourself in the guiding seat? This trip will allow you to explore Austria, Switzerland and Italy via alpine trails accessed with the GPS and maps we'll provide. Click here to find out more