Most of the bike events focus mainly on racing and competitions. People who like to compete can test their skills and face other racers. However, not all riders want to race and fight for hundredths of a second. Some people prefer to enjoy the good ride on nice trails, and just have a good time while riding. Great Days bike event was preapred especially for this second group of riders. Shortly, it is an amazing three-day bike adventure that will show You the potential and best trails of the Carosello 3000 resort located in Livigno, Italy. Great riding is completed by trying local delicacies and live music events in the afternoon. The “Great Days” is recommended and actively participated by the legend of the MTB scene – Hans “No Way” Rey. This year, thanks to the invitation from Remek of Ale Jazda, I became a part of the Jafi Sport team and together we participated in Great Days 2021. Below you will find my impressions of this trully great event.
Great Days 2021 – What is all about?
As I mentioned in the introduction, Great Days 2021 is an event aimed at practically every biker. To participate, You do not have to be very experienced or super fast rider. The main focus on this event is not on racing each other. It is all about riding with friends in relaxed atmosphere and have an unforgettable bike adventure. This format reminded me a bit of a great Slovenian adventure on Trans Julius. However, Great Days gives the riders even more freedom. There are no e-bike restrictions and most of the rides here, are in groups. The Carosello resort is known mainly for long and incredibly scenic Alpine Single Trails. It is ideal place for bikers of all skill levels. Happy groups of friends and even whole families, took part in the event. The ride each day was enriched with the opportunity to try local delicacies and have fun with live music. So what exactly happened in each of the “Great Days”?
Great Days 2021 – Day 1 – Sunset tour with Hans Rey
Great Days 2021 started Friday, July 16th. For local participants it is a typical weekend event, so it starts later in the afternoon, at 6 PM. Normally at this hour the Bike Park Carosello is closed. But at that time we gathered all together to catch the sunset on the trails. The hole trip was leded by Hans Rey himself. As he admits, he loves this place and is always happy to come back here. I’m not surprised. The whole group of more than 50 participants was taken up by the Carosello gondola lift. Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t perfect, and the sun was hidden behind the clouds. No scenic sunset today. However, the views of the alpine peaks and the Livigno valley were still impressive. At the top, we had short introduction and we’re off to the trails. In total, we had more than 12 km of great Single Trails waiting for us that day.
“Coast to Lonely Planet”
We started the ride with the “Coast to Coast” trail, which gently traverses the highest peak of Carosello. Enjoying the great views on the way, we reached a completely new Single Trail called “Lonely Planet”. This winding alpine trail, has a lot of nicely shaped corners. Again it traverses the hill so it is very long, and not very steep. Almost the entire length, the surface has been smoothened out and only occasionally it passes over some rocks. Officially, this trail is marked as red, but there are no technically difficult elements on it. “Lonely Planet” took us to the other side of the mountain, offering great views of the Federia Valley. Along the way, there are a few straight sections where you can go faster if You want. There are also a specially marked viewpoints. It was really worth stopping by, after all, it’s not a race, it’s an adventure!
Roller Coaster to Calcheria
Going further, we entered the “Roller Coaster” trail. It is a typical flow trail with some rollers, tables and big berms. While going next kilometers of very well-prepared single trails, we descended to the level of the forest. The end of our trail for today, was a bike and hike trail that gently winds between the trees. It takes us a little bit back from Livigno, and to the begining of Federia valley, straight to the La Calcheira buffet. After a really good and very long descent, place welcomed us with drinks, snacks, DJ and a bonfire. Language barriers disappeared as quickly as the “vouchers” for drinks. There are no faster and slower riders here. Thing that counts is a good and relaxed atmosphere. After while came dark night, and we still have to go back thru almost all of Livigno, to the Carosello gondola station. Then Hans comes with good solution to have a “beer pit stop” in one of the bars on the way. We (and pretty big group of other riders) couldn’t refuse :)
Great Days 2021 – Day 2 – Tutti Frutti Challange
Luckily, on second day we had time to regenerate because the challange started after 10.00 a.m. This time we had a team game. We gathered four riders in “Team Jafi” and picked up the map of the Tutti Frutti Challange. It shows the routes included in the trip – not only Bike Park Carosello trails, but also the surrounding routes, showing more interesting places. All teams received points for riding each marked section. In any order that we wanted. The “collected” points were verified using the Instagram application. One person just had to take a photo in a certain place and publish it to Insta Stories with the special hashtag. Points were awarded not only for riding the trails, but also for noticing “strange things” put in place by the organizers. Animal lovers could prove themselves, for example, in milking a goat, or in catching on picture some marmots. Additional points were also awarded for catching a Chicken or a Gorilla, who were riding on bikes in the bikepark. Quite unexpectedly, at one of the berms, we were also caught by a speed camera… Piotr also provided a big point bonus for our team. Despite the not “too summerish” temperatures, he jumped into a mountain river. There were many more tasks on the list.
Tutti Frutti
On the one hand, this whole game sounds a bit weird. To be honest, at first we weren’t quite convinced of chasing people in disguise. But in the end it turned out that we had a really great day. I was filled with a good riding, mixed with a lot of a laugh. The idea of a Tutti Frutti tour is in my opinion really cool. Thanks to these additional trails we have reached places like the top of Madonon. There apart from great views, is an open mountain hut with an even more open toilet. Challenge like Tutti Frutti is a great motivation to see more, instead of repeating the descents only on the standard slopes. Even the Panoramica trail in the lower part of the forest was hiding some interesting sections. Thanks to this challange we visited couple of cool places, that we propably wouldn’t go normally.
Val Federia
When riding the vast terrains of Carosello we could use gondolas and the chairlift. Together, as a team, we managed to cover all the Tutti Frutti trails and score a lot of additional points. We were really in a hurry for last gondola ride of the day, to complete the final descent to the Federia Valley. The trail that goes there is a phenomenal single trail. It is more natural, and if You decide to let go off the brakes, it can give a lot of fun. It leads straight to a vast valley with amazing views and on the end of it, there is only one mountain hut with cold beer. Basically it is very beautifull “end of the world”. That last ride down was a truly epic summary of the day. A moment for a chill out, and then we had to go around the entire mountain on a gravel road and return through whole Livigno again…
Oops…
While going back through the city, we were still looking for some additional points. On the way we met an”opponent” team from Germany. And they made us realize that the “Tutti Frutti Challange” already officially ended more than 2 hours ago… Well we thought that counting points from stories will not end until 10 PM. Of course, it turned out that the awards ceremony for the challange, was also earlier. Although this information did not worried us very much, because we had a really “Great Day” in the mountains, on bikes. Interestingly, the team on the second place on the podium was missing… Exactly, it was our team with second place that day. We were just to busy with riding and having fun. But still for the proper end of this day, there was a live concert. The band played really good Rock’N’Roll . It was supposed to end up with one beer, but it came out as usual…
Great Days 2021 – Day 3 – Threesome Race
For the third “Great Day” was planned the Threesome race. The word race, however, still does not mean a rough fight for hundredths of a second. The event is once again focused on competing with in the teams. After the previous day (and night), we managed to appear in the previously arranged squad. The rules turned out to be even simpler than we expected. All teams gathered at the upper gondola station. In each of them, one person competed on the gentle but long Cross Country Flow route, another on the slightly shorter and faster Flow trail, and the last one, on the “The Bomb” enduro trail. Interestingly, we all started at once, and on foot. So first we had to run for the bike. If someone had support in the form of an E-bike, he just had a slightly longer distance to run. As everyone got to their equipment, a short uphill was waiting for all of us. Then the competitors followed their chosen variant of the trail. There was no time counting over here. All three trails met by the middle gondola station. There the whole team had to reunite. When all three riders from the team are ready to go, then they have to ride the Blueberry trail together to the finish line located at the bottom station of the gondola.
How did we do?
The XC route took Remek, who has so much power in his legs that he would overtake any e-bike rider. In the end, he didn’t have to do it, because he pushed so hard, that no one could catch up with him. Matiz had to ride the Flow variant, mainly because he had the biggest “Flow” after the previous night… I’ve got enduro variant, with “The Bomb” trail. By far this is the most difficult one in the whole Carosello resort. In total, over 8 minutes of rough stones, steeps, and tight corners. Of course, many people overtook me on the first climb. But while going downhill, I caught up with most of them. But overtaking over there was out of the question. Fortunately, my trail variant was the shortest one, so I was able to rest for a while before the rest of my team showed up at middle station. Remek came after me. He was even faster than everyone from the shorter and faster Flow trail. After a while, Flow riders appeared, and our last guy also. A quick regroup and we are the first complete team to go down towards the finish line. Matiz already had more than 15 minutes of ride, and he was running out of Flow a bit … In the end, however, he made it down and as the “Jafi Poland” team we crossed the finish line on first position.
Threesome Race or Panoramic Tour
The Threesome Race was another, interesting experience. A joint start and simple rules definitely reduce the pre-start stress, and add some fun factor to it. When discussing the rules, it was stated simply that this race is also mostly about having fun. Combinations such as “if I cut this corner, I’ll be faster by half a second” was out of the question. I must admit that while the Flow and XC variants were nice and easy, then the Enduro trail was a pretty tough one. However, if someone was not ready for this type of race, then at the same time, he could also choose a bike trip with a local guide and get to know even more of the amazing surroundings of Livigno.
Party in the Wood
The awards ceremony for the race, and the official ending of the event were to take place in the forest, in the middle of the mountain… Fortunately, it turned out that it was quite easy to get here and even our team managed to get there on time. The place was a beautifully situated, small shelter, in the middle of the mountains. There was a barbecue waiting for us, with local food, a cold beer and live music. The sun started to peek out from behind the clouds, and atmosphere of the place was just unbeatable. It was a perfect summary of “Great Days”. In my opinion, such amazing places and atmosphere of the event differs it a lot from other bike events and festivals. It is worth to mention that the event wasn’t very big, or over crouded. It makes You even more to feel like a part of team, and not only the another number on the starting list. At the very end of this adventure, there was also the award ceremony for the race, and some time for photo with Hans.
Great Days – participation
Great Days is an event for all bikers. To use the potential of Carosello well, you just need to feel good on singletrails and flow tracks with rollers and berms. The vast majority of them are easy and do not contain technically difficult elements, such as big jumps or drops. However, more experienced riders will not be bored either, because there are a lot of places when You can go really quick and catch the flow. With the expansive views of the Alps all around, You just can’t have the fear of open spaces. To take part in Great Days, you need to register via the Carosello web site. A full 3-day package is available, but also a single packages for each separate day of the event. There are no special age or equipment divisions here. Everybody can ride and play together. The recommended bike for riding here is the most versatile All Mountain or Enduro bike. It also easily can be done, on a hardtail. The Carosello bike park and the organizers of Great Days will also welcome with open hands every person on the E-bike. If you are only focused on ambitious descents and would like to come here on a typical Downhill bike, then better go to the neighboring Mottolino bikepark. But You can also rent Enduro / All Mountain bike on the spot and catch some magic of Carosello trails. While riding here, sometimes you have to pedal a bit, but it’s definitely worth it.
Great Days 2021 – Summary
The whole trip to Livigno appeared in my plans very unexpectedly. I didn’t even think too much about what might be waiting for me here. However, it turned out that it was really worth fighting for this couple free days at work. I spent a few truly “Great Days” here. Of course, when going all the way from Poland to Livigno, it is necessary to stay here for more time than these 3 days. However, this event is ideal to discover the most interesting places in whole area. On the one hand, the atmosphere here allowed everybody to chill out and relax. On the other hand it really motivated us to ride more and explore new places. Personally, I have starts in “important” competitions already behind me, and for now at least, I do not intend to come back to them. However, such events as Great Days are something that can give you a lot of positive energy for riding. Great vibes, cool people, good food, and lots of laughs nad fun. All this on the various trails of the Carosello Bikepark. Great Days is a regular event and it will surely return in the next year. If you plan to visit Livigno with a bike, I highly recommend you to include this event in your trip. If you are looking for inspiration to ride cool Alpine single trails, I also recommend Great Days, or if You come in the other date, just ride full Tutti Frutti Trip. Personally, if I have the opportunity, I will gladly come back here next year to see what the organizers will prepare for Great Days 2022.
About Livigno
Official website: livigno.eu
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Bike Parks: Carosello 3000, Sitas, Mottolino Fun Mountain