Touring - big tours in the Rockies - vertical!

ok, this question was inspired by outashape's thread "24,000 feet of climbing - I'm scared!" about the Challenge of Pedal to the Peaks in Colorado...

i've been in Germany for 2 years now and what is really popular here is what is called a "TransAlp" tour which is a CROSSING of the Alps in 6 to 12 days using the mountain bike - often doing many high passes and small trails. it is very popular as there is a hut system so you only have to carry your basic gear and food and lodging are provided in the mountain huts for $30-50/day. because the hut system is so well developed from hikers and mountain climbers and skiiers, you can basically pick any route and find easy accomodations and ride 50-150km/day (30-90 miles).

anyway, there are many touring companies that offer Transalps -- actually, in connection with our local Alpine Club (deutsche alpen verrein - M97) a friend and I are leading a 9-day TransAlp the beginning of August. ours is only medium difficulty with about 11,000 meters total vertical (36,300ft) and about 500km. last year i rode as co-guide on a difficult tour that was 15,000 meters of vert (49,500ft) in 8 days with 450km. see www.m97.de for details (in German)

anyway, i've ridden a little out in the Rockies - in Jackson Hole and a little in Colorado - but as far as i know there is not really much like a TransAlp in the Rockies. my question: are there any guided tours or people who do multi-day tours in the rockies? or are mostly of the "tours" in the Rockies on the road with SAG support? i think the hut and cheap hotel situation is less developed than in the Alps and massive Alpine climbs carrying camping gear can be really tour -- not counting water we travel with MAX 7kg or 15lbs!

i do know that there is a TransRockies Challenge which is in the Canadian Rockies and is modelled after and put on by the European company that does the TransAlp Challenge - a very hard 8-day mountain bike race with 19,000 meters of vertical and mayn passes over 2600m (8500ft). it is the end of this month (July) and is touted as the most difficult mountain bike race in the world. see http://transalp.upsolutmv.com/en/ for info (in English and German) ---- i almost signed up this year, but without sponsorship it's pretty pricey... maybe next year (if i work on a sponsor)

anyone know of other stuff?
i guess i'm just curious, plus maybe some time in the future i might do a tour... or i might even thinking of organizing a tour depending on if it is feasable...

There is an offroad mountain bike route that follows the Continental Divide from the Montana/Canada border to the N.M./Mexico border that many do multiday tours of mostly camping along the way I believe.I don't know of organized tours but I don't have a mtn. bike yet so I don't follow this as closely as onroad touring.Maybe there is an opportunity for you to organize such a tour along this route lol.See this link for a journal of a tour of this route. http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/journal/?pics=small&doc_id=164&mtime=20030616125208

oh yeah i forgot about that route. if i remember right (last time i researched was 2000) there are actually 2 Continental Divide bike routes: a mostly road one that is all mapped out and does not go really high and a fireroad/trail one that goes through higher passes that in 2000 was still missing a few pieces. i thought about doing some of it summer 2000 as i moved from Oregon to Massachusetts, but ended up just doing the drive in 2.5 weeks in the car with some climbing/hiking and a little riding in Jackson Hole and then traveled 2 months in SE Asia and Europe instead... but i was in Jackson Hole a few days and met a guy doing a week or so of the trail with a BOB trailer.

i would think with full camping gear (which the guys in the link above had) you can't do as much vertical as many do in the Alps --- there are routes with 2000 to 3000meters per day (6500 to 10,000 ft), but with only a backpack of 7kg it's very doable. for our tour last year we averaged 2100 meters per day and i could have done a lot more (but most of the group was near the limit)

i just finished packing my TransAlp gear --- this weekend is the 2-day "test tour" for the 9-day TransAlp i will lead from August 1st through 15th... i just packed my bag and with extra repair gear (as the guide i should have extra stuff) and my bag topped the scale at just less than 7kg! we're only going for 2 days this weekend, but we're packing as if we were going the whole week.

a friend and i are contemplating doing a 2-week Western Alp crossing next summer as a guided tour --- if we can work out the route and all - it would be cool as most of the routes here are in the more developed eastern alps which are also shorter routes...

anyone else know about any routes in the Rocky Mountains?

also, i have heard that there are a series of huts from Colorado to Utah that are used for cross-country ski touring in the winter. anyone know if these are open for mountain biking in the summer and what the route is like and how pricey they are?

Have you checked out AdventureCycling.com?

Also, I know of no hhut system from Colorado to Utah.

I just drove through Utah this am. It is one vast state with, at times, over 100 miles between anything. Huge rock precipices, at least in Southern Utah - no water. I am writing this from Grand Junction, CO, where, at last, I saw the Colorado River. I can't imagine how you would have a hut system in that area??

There are hut systems around Vail and Leadville, and I do believe there is some mtn biking, although no bikes are allowed in any widlerness area around here that I know of.

nathank You got my curiosity going on this one so I did a web search with the terms hut/Colorado/mountain bike and came up with many tours and information on this.Apparently there is the San Juan hut system from Telluride to Moab and another hut system in the Vail/Leadville/Aspen area.Like you said these were developed for crosscountry skiing so the maximum elevation gains appear more in the range of 2000' daily for most of the tours/routes I saw however one tour operator in the Aspen area claimed to have local knowledge of mountainbiking trails and had some more advanced options I believe.Prices seemed to range from $600-$1000 for a 3-6day tour which seems steep to me but maybe I'm just a cheapskate lol.By the way I use to backpack on foot elevation gains of 6000' plus loaded with all camping gear therefore I think it is very doable by bike though I haven't yet due to my current location .I know many loaded bike tourists do these kinds of elevation they just probably go slower than you may prefer though with the added weight it is a good workout.