International Mountain Bicycling Association – Swiss
IMBA Swiss is committed to the sustainable promotion of mountain biking in Switzerland.
In 2024 the IMBA Europe annual Summit will take place at the Stadtgalerie in Mödling, a small town located south of Vienna, bordering the south-western part of the Wienerwald. After two consecutive IMBA Europe Summits in Alpine destinations, Val di Sole (2022) and Valposchiavo (2023), we will shift the focus of our 2024 edition to mountain biking in peri-urban areas, with its own unique challenges and opportunities.
René Wildhaber und die BikerCrew Flumserberg laden auch im Sommer 2024 – am 22. und 23. Juni – die Digger-Community zu den iXS Digger Days an den BikerBerg Flumserberg ein. Die Teilnehmer:innen erhalten am zweitägigen Event Bau-Tipps im Gelände sowie Informationen zum legalen Trailbau. Für die begehrten sechs Plätze können sich Interessierte ab dem 25.03.2024 über die Webseite renewildhaber.ch bewerben.
Do you want to play an active role in shaping IMBA Switzerland? Then you’ve come to the right place!
We are looking for support in the areas of communication and finance on our board. If you are interested in making an active contribution and supporting our mission, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us. We look forward to working with you and shaping the future of IMBA Switzerland together.
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A look behind the scenes at yesterday’s IMBA Switzerland delegates’ meeting in Lucerne. In addition to the inevitably dry agenda items, those present had the pleasure of hearing an exciting outlook for the coming year from our President Andy Stalder.
A special highlight will undoubtedly be our IMBA Meet and Ride in the Zurich Oberland – a must for all bike enthusiasts!
Under “Varia”, our dedicated members shared their experiences and current topics. One particularly controversial topic that has been on everyone’s minds is the ban on mountain bikers riding in the forest at night and in winter, which affects some regions.
Despite all the challenges, we are positive about the future and remain determined to represent the interests of our mountain bike community by driving forward discussions on current issues and looking for solutions.
Bike Region Voralpen
Biketrails Ostschweiz
flow Bikeverein
Mountainbike Luzern
Swiss Bike Communitiy
Trailfriends Zürich
Trailnet Nordwestschweiz
Trailworks GmbH
vast trails GmbH
Weg Dynamik GmbH
Zürioberland Biketrails
We all voted in favour of the Cycle Route Act in March 2022. In October, FEDRO and SwitzerlandMobility announced the consequences of this at national level.
At the 2nd National MTB Symposium on 25 October 2023, Silvio Zala from FEDRO and Dave Spielmann, Bruno Hirschi and Dominik Hub from SwitzerlandMobility provided information on the direction being taken. The Federal Roads Office (FEDRO) is the federal government’s specialist agency for non-motorised traffic. SwitzerlandMobility supports FEDRO as the national specialist organisation for leisure cycling, including mountain biking, in the implementation of tasks relating to the Cycle Route Act. Two cycle path networks are planned for implementation, one for everyday traffic and one for leisure traffic, which includes mountain biking.
Since 2008, SwitzerlandMobility has built up a large network of routes at national, cantonal and regional level with the Mountain Bike Country. These routes are documented in detail on its website and in the app of the same name. With the new contribution agreement with FEDRO, SwitzerlandMobility has taken on many new challenges and tasks as the national specialist centre for mountain biking at the beginning of 2023. The existing mountain bike country is to be massively expanded.
In principle, an attractive and official cycle leisure network should provide guidance. The focus here is on the shared use of the existing path infrastructure, as an independent MTB infrastructure would be neither ecologically nor economically feasible. Unbundling should only be considered if there is high utilisation pressure in highly frequented areas.
A major focus in the further development of mountain bike country will be on local recreation. While the routes have so far mainly been located in tourist areas, SwitzerlandMobility lacks the “trails close to home” for the general population. In future, in addition to the routes, trails, paths, pistes and MTB facilities (pump tracks, skill centres, etc.) are to be included in Mountainbikeland and supplemented with variants, feeder routes and other connections. The MTB infrastructure should not be considered independently and in isolation, but must be networked. This should not only be done between the leisure and everyday cycle networks, but also with public transport, motorised private transport and other important connections.
The signposting will also be future-oriented. The existing, regulated and standardised signposting can be adapted, but should remain clearly separated from information such as trail name, difficulty levels, obstacles, etc. In terms of difficulty levels, the development could move from the current three levels to the five levels proposed by our “Planning & Realisation of MTB Infrastructure” expert commission in accordance with the ITRS.
The Cycle Route Act has already achieved a great deal at all levels and will continue to do so in the near future. We, too, are staying on the ball and actively helping to ensure that we can all enjoy an attractive and official cycle leisure network.
[Source: SwitzerlandMobility] All presentation slides and the videos of the presentations are public and can be viewed on the SwitzerlandMobility website in German and French. ASTRA: Federal Office for Non-motorised Traffic [ DE / FR / IT ] ITRS - International Trail Rating System
On Monday, 28 August 2023, the representatives of the mountain bike organisations arranged at the IMBA met in Lucerne for the first presidents’ conference. IMBA President Andy Stalder gave an exciting review and insight into the activities of the last few months. In the subsequent round, there was lively discussion about the expectations of IMBA Switzerland and about the venue of the next IMBA MEET & RIDE 2024, which is still to be awarded to a mountain bike organisation. To crown it all, Andreas Trummer from Trailforks showed the benefits of a digital tail platform in an online session.
Things are happening in Switzerland as a mountain biking country! A big thank you goes to everyone who attended the very first Presidents’ Conference, especially Born Mountainbike Magazine, MTB Switzerland and Trailforks. We are already looking forward to the next chapter!
Would you like to take your mountain bike trail maintenance skills to the next level? With the mountain bike trail maintenance training you will gain the knowledge and techniques to maintain the trails sustainably, protect nature and create a safe experience for all users. Join us and become a professional in mountain bike-friendly trail maintenance!
The courses combine short theory blocks with practical outdoor exercises to ensure that you can immediately apply and consolidate what you have learned.
Sign up and benefit from the expertise of experienced trail builders who have all completed further training to become trail maintenance instructors.
Together with Trailnet Nordwestschweiz we will be present with a stand at the Bikefestival Basel. Our president Andy Stalder will supply and entertain our stand visitors with a coffee machine.
The Bikefestival Basel offers an expo with exhibitors and food stands, a pump track and a kids village, as well as a varied programme for young and old. Among other things, the traditional race series CIC ON Swiss Bike Cup will take place, where the world’s best cross-country riders will compete. The Saturday morning is reserved for the hobby bikers of the Baselbieter Bike Challenge. Neither the time nor the ranking is in the foreground: it’s all about the joy of biking. The Kestenholz Jump Show and the Pepita Trial Show also offer something for those interested in action. Top athletes show their spectacular tricks on the courses every year. Admission is free.
The entire stand crew is looking forward to exciting and varied discussions.
More info at: https://www.bikefestival-basel.ch/
We invite you to submit an abstract(s) for the IMBA Europe annual summit in Valposchiavo, Switzerland, June 1st-3rd. In order to be able to showcase a wide variety of relevant, interactive and engaging presentations during the IMBA Europe Summit, we are encouraging people to submit a presentation, story, (research) project, intervention, or practical session idea to reflect upon our main Summit theme and subthemes. The format of the Summit will include two full days of plenary sessions, breakouts and outdoor interventions divided into two sub themes – Tourism and Trails on Thursday and Participation and Community on Friday. The Summit will finish off on International Bicycle Day, Saturday June 3rd with a full day of riding at the Vivabike Valposchiavo Bike Festival.
More detailed information on ticket pricing, travel advice, program and activities will be published in the coming weeks on the IMBA Europe Summit landing page.
***The submission deadline for abstracts is February 28th. The abstracts can be submitted on IMBA Europe homepage.
We are proud to host the IMBA Europe Summit 2023 with Valposchiavo Turismo. Wednesday 31 May 2023 is the national IMBA Switzerland day, from 1-3 June 2023 the IMBA Europe Summit will take place, of course in Valposchiavo. Reserve the date, we are looking forward to seeing you!
Valposchiavo is described by the hosts as a small valley that lies somewhere between Switzerland, Italy and the vastness of the sky.
Why Valposchiavo?
Sustainability is at the core of everything they do in Valposhiavo, from the restoration and maintenance of trails, to managing tourism and agriculture. Vivabike Valposchiavo strives to expand their mountain biking offer in Valposchiavo without creating new trails. In order to do this, they rely on what they call, ‘trail recycling’, which is recycling historic paths that are hardly used today, but which can be very exciting as bike trails.
In 2021 Vivabike Valposchiavo were the winners of the Take Care of Your Trails ‘Most Innovative Crew’ award, for their innovation in trail maintenance and means in how they recruit and engage volunteers in trail maintenance.
Last year our Trail Care Crew was awarded the IMBA-TCoYT Most Innovative Trail Crew Award. So we are very happy to host the IMBA Europe Summit 23 and share our idea of trail recycling and sustainable biking with bikers, trail specialists, tourism experts and mountain lovers from all over Europe…. and yes, besides discussing and riding our natural trails, we will also have time to enjoy the delicious local dishes.
Kaspar Howald – Director of Valposchiavo tourism
Read Announcement on IMBA Europe homepage
Find out more about why Vivabike Valposchiavo won TCoYT “Most innovative crew” award on TakeCareOfYourTrails homepage