Dirty GOAT Challenge
The Dirty GOAT Challenge – 6 Trails. 1 Big Day.
Stopping on the Hahnenkamm Trail for a quick photo.
43 km of trail. Around 4,000 vertical metres of descending. Six trails. One day.
The Dirty GOAT is our big day out on the trails of Kitzbühel and Kirchberg.
The challenge is simple: ride the Fleckalm Trail, Kirchberg Trail, Gaisberg Trail, Lisi Osl Trail, Sonnenrast Trail and Hahnenkamm Trail in a single day.
The lifts take care of most of the climbing, but don't underestimate 4,000 metres of descending. Your hands, arms and legs will know about it by the end.
It's not a race. Start early, stop for coffee, have lunch, ride with your friends and enjoy a very good day on a bike.
Can I ride it?
You don't need to be a racer, but you do need to be a confident mountain biker.
The hardest trails are graded S3 Advanced, with natural singletrack, roots and steeper technical sections. The individual trails are one thing; riding all six in a day is where the challenge comes in.
A good trail or enduro bike, decent fitness and experience riding technical trails are strongly recommended.
Where should I start?
Staying in Kitzbühel? Start with the Hahnenkammbahn.
There's around 15 minutes of uphill riding across the mountain to reach the first trail. Yep, uphill on a downhill challenge. WTF? Get it over with early and forget about it.
From there:
Fleckalm → Kirchberg → Gaisberg → Lisi Osl → Sonnenrast → Hahnenkamm
Saving the Hahnenkamm Trail until last means you finish with one long descent directly back into Kitzbühel.
Staying in Kirchberg? Start at the Fleckalmbahn and follow the same trail order. After finishing the Hahnenkamm Trail, it's around a 15-minute flat ride on the back to the Fleckalmbahn.
Make a day of it
Don't spend the whole day chasing the clock.
We normally stop for a coffee on the Kirchberg side, ride the Gaisberg trails, then have lunch around Sonnenrast before the final part of the challenge.
If you're finishing in Kitzbühel, we normally ride into town afterwards for a beer at the Kultur Café. You've earned that one.
Just remember that the lifts don't run into the evening. Start early and check the current lift times and trail status before you ride.
A few things we'd check before leaving
Brake pads. Tyres. Water. Weather.
Carry a tube, tubeless plugs, pump, multi-tool, quick link, snacks and a light waterproof. A spare set of brake pads isn't a ridiculous idea either – 4,000 vertical metres can get through them surprisingly quickly.
Most importantly, don't chase the challenge at the expense of the ride.
Stop occasionally. Look around. Have lunch. Wait for your friends. You're riding some of the best trails around Kitzbühel and Kirchberg – enjoy them.
Six trails. 43 km. 4,000 metres down. Who are you riding it with?
P.S. Why is it called the Dirty GOAT?
The name actually came from our We Ride community.
After riding the route together, we decided it deserved to be called the GOAT – Greatest Of All Time.
And the Dirty part?
Our first ride was seriously muddy.
The name kind of stuck.