SUISSE ROLLING

WHAT DOES AN ENDURO WORLD SERIES CONTENDER GET UP TO ON HOLIDAY? HE GOES BIKE RIDING IN THE MOUNTAINS, OF COURSE!

WORDS BY PAULINE DIEFFENTHALER

with Jérôme Clementz

Although just three hours from their home, Jérôme Clementz and Pauline Dieffenthaler had only explored the Swiss mountains on skis and in winter. For once, they stepped out of their usual busy summer schedule of racing and riding in far-flung corners of the world, and went to see what biking adventures lay on their doorstep. Pauline takes up the story:

PICTURES BY STEVE JOOSCH & JÉRÉMIE REUILLER

With 62% of Switzerland being covered by the Alps, there’s a lot of mountain to choose from. Which slice would we carve our tyres into? Deciding that the Valais offered the greatest concentration of glaciers and would give us the best backdrops for photographs, we enlisted local guide Martin, from Alpine Trails, to make sure we sampled all the best bits. We aimed to visit three different valleys, to ride the glaciers, and to reach snowy peaks as high as 4,000m or more. To make the most of the scenery and in the hope of the best views, we planned our trip for the end of August, when the weather conditions would be at their best.

Joining us for the trip were Corentin ‘Coco’ Macinot, an 18-year-old rider with aspirations of life on the pro circuit, Jérémie Reuiller with his video camera, and his friend Steve Joosch for photographs. With Steve being a studio and fashion photographer, and not a rider, young Corentin had no worries about being the inexperienced one of the crew.