paper trails

Switzerland

Who: From the left, Bryant Gonsalves of Louisville, Jody Jacobson of Louisville, David Bravdica of Denver, Chris Oppold of Steamboat Springs

Where: Zermatt, with the Matterhorn in background

Out and about: We took a September trip to the Swiss and Italian Alps for mountain biking the "Euro way." During one of our many excursions we climbed to 10,180 feet, taking a funicular, gondola and tram consecutively to reach the top and the start of that day's ride. From this point, we descended more than 9,800 feet in elevation and more than 35 miles on both double- and single-track trails with various levels of difficulty. Throughout the day we popped in and out of quaint villages, farms and forests. Keeping an eye on the trail was difficult, considering the stunning views of the surrounding peaks and scenery.

Travel tip: We highly recommend hiring a mountain bike guide. OTP Holidays is a great guide service. The trails they took us on were perfectly tailored to our requests and level of experience. Visit the website at http://www.mountainbiking.uk.com/ We quickly learned that finding the trails on our own wasn't as simple as we're used to around Denver's Front Range. In Switzerland, you won't find the best trails on any map. While hiking trails are well-marked there, many of them don't allow bikes.

Maneuvering through Europe's train system with bikes was at times difficult. Certain trains will allow bike carriage; others allow a bike only if packed in a bag. If you insist taking your own mountain bike, pick one destination and stay there, rather than bounce around the countryside by train with your bike in a bag and your gear in tow.