Category Archives: Sports

Mountain Biking in the Bregenzerwald, Austria, 6-2014

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On a very hot June morning my friend Alejandro and I set out to explore the local mountains by mountain bike. We went from Bregenz to Dornbirn and then started scaling the “hinterland”. At Kehlegg we reached a point high above the Rhine valley. Continuing on through the woods on dirt roads we climbed higher and higher until we reached our destination, the Weissenfluhalpe. Sharing the view from this lovely spot were numerous mountain bikers and countless cows that are spending the entire summer in lofty heights on fat meadows.

Weissenfluhalpe

Alex arrived with a bang, his rear tire exploded exactly as we pulled up to the hut. We decided to have a “Radler” first, a refreshing drink mixed from beer and lemonade, it translates to “biker”. After a short break we proceeded to fix Alex’ bike. Since we didn’t have a spare tire we cut up the old inner tube and created a few layers of protection under the gash, and then put about half of the normal pressure in the tire. We were wondering how long this temporary fix was going to last. But alas, we made it down the other side of the mountain to Bezau, the main town in the Bregenzerwald. After a wonderful raspberry cake at the Café Natter we decided to continue our quest. We jumped on the main bike path through the valley and cruised (I cruised and Alex hobbled) to Andelsbuch. From there the bike path is the old railroad track of the narrow gauge Bregenzerwald train (lovingly called the “Wälderbähnle”), http://www.waelderbaehnle.at. The train now runs only from Andelsbuch to Bezau because there were several land slides in the gorge of the Bregenzer Ache, along which the train used to run. After Egg the track dives down into the gorge and stays next to the river all the way to Kennelbach, close to Bregenz. Currently the track is only maintained until the campground in Doren, http://www.camping-bregenzerache.at. After that it becomes very difficult to navigate, there is a half collapsed bridge and two tunnels to cross, and countless small land slides cover the track and make you carry the bike for up to several hundred meters. We had planned to do it, but progress was seriously slowed by the continuous flattening of Alex’ tire. He had to work at least twice as hard as me during the whole ordeal. We were considering what to do next at the campground when a very nice man overheard us and offered us to drive us to our car. We had been on the road for around 5 hours by then and gratefully accepted this amazing offer.

biking the Bregenzerwald

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Sailing on Lake Constance, Austria, 9-13

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 Lake Constance is as close to my heart as the sea is to the fisherman whose livelihood depends on it. I grew up a few hundred meters from its shores, and it seems like I lived in the water during the summer months during my childhood. The lake is shared by Austria, Germany, and Switzerland, and the Rhine has its first river delta, a bird sanctuary, on the Austrian shoreline. Besides its natural beauty the lake is home to all kinds of water sports. Fortunately the amount of power boats is strictly limited so that sailing enthusiasts make up the majority of boaters.

In Bregenz it is possible to have a small sailboat without being a member of a yacht club, the city owns a meadow on the lake, and anybody can apply for a spot there. I received mine after waiting for a year, and then looked for a sailboat that would suit my needs. I found it in an older but sturdy Laser II that can be sailed singlehandedly or with two people, if there’s enough wind. With a sailing area of under 12 square meters it keeps below the legal requirement for having a sailing license. So now I can take my bicycle and ride down to the boat for an enjoyable cruise on my favorite lake. Come with me!

Bodensee

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Spring Skiing in Lech, Austria, 4-2014

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Lech am Arlberg is arguably the most prestigious ski resort in the Alps. On one hand it is the Eldorado of deep powder snow, on the other a quiet winter Mecca where the royals and the super rich mingle undisturbed by paparazzi. To me it is a magical place where in the past I’ve rented an old hut without hot water and showers with twenty-five of my best friends every year, where I taught skiing as a student during holidays and semester breaks that enabled me to ski for 3 months every winter and I got paid doing it, where I’ve had countless deep powder free riding memories, where I came to every Christmas with my family when we lived in California, where I experienced the most amazing hospitality I’ve ever had on this planet, where I’ve got to know every single hotel owner in the many different places we stayed at, and where I still take friends from around the world because it is so special.

The ski area is connected with the neighboring towns of Warth and Zürs. A short ski bus ride away is the Alpe Rauz, from there a chairlift takes skiers into the area of St. Anton am Arlberg, which is in the neighboring state of Tyrol. A total of 94 cable cars and ski lifts create 340 km of groomed pistes and 200 km of deep powder runs. Modern skiing began here in the early 1900s with Hannes Schneider teaching his Arlberg technique.

IMG_4037The White Ring is the longest ski race in the world according to the Guinness Book of World Records. The race starts in Lech on top of the Rüfikopf and follows the ski run down to Zürs, the participants then take the lift up to the beginning of the Madloch, the infamous 5 km ski run down to Zug. A chair lift takes the entrants up the Kriegerhorn and the race course finishes back in Lech at the bottom of the Schlegelkopf.

 

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Winter Paradise Bregenz, Austria, 12-2012

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Bregenz is the capital of the most western Austrian state of Vorarlberg. It lies on the eastern shore of Lake Constance, a lake shared also by Germany and Switzerland. The lake functions as a heater in the winter, so often there is little snow in Bregenz during that season. Sometimes, however, Bregenz is inundated with lots of “white gold”, and then the local mountain, the Pfänder (1064 m)  is dressed up in an amazing white outfit and becomes a playground for the local people, skiing, ski touring, sledding, snow shoeing and hiking being the sports of choice.

_DSC5435There is a 3.5 km ski run down the mountain, the “Schlauch” (hose in English), where a downhill race was run for many years. As a kid my dream was to ski the Schlauch in “Schuss” position, with my poles tucked in for speed. Unfortunately I was not a very good skier back then, but when I found myself on top of the run one sunny morning – after returning to Bregenz decades later – I decided it was now or never.

Pfänder Snow

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Downhill Skiing in St. Moritz, Switzerland, 3-2014

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The Berghaus Diavolezza is a mountain hotel at 3000 m, an outpost of the St. Moritz ski area. It offers both simple and luxurious accommodations, and a breathtaking view of the Piz Palü, a 3901 m high mountain, which is often the destination of ski touring guests at the hotel. The main town of St. Moritz is reachable by the famous “Rhätische Bahn“, which has UNESCO World Heritage status for the track between Thusis and Tirano, with one stop located at the bottom of the Diavolezza cable car. St. Moritz is one of the most glamorous ski resorts in the Alps, with the Corvatsch mountain (3303 m) being the highest peak reachable by cable car in the area. A spectacular 10km glacier run guides the adventurous skier from the top of the Diavolezza to Morteratsch, where the train takes you either down to St. Moritz or up the valley towards the Bernina pass. The area is located on the Southern side of the Alps and this year it received enormous amounts of snow. Sahara sand was blown across the Mediterranean by strong winds and created colorful patches on slopes with southern exposure. A beautiful train ride back to Chur completed our four day stay at the top of the world.

Diavolezza5

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Ski Touring in the Silvretta, Austria, 2-2013

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Bielerhöhe (2037m) is a mountain pass that connects the Austrian states of Vorarlberg and Tyrol near the Swiss border. It is located at the end of the Montafon valley, which was one of Hemingway’s favorite hangouts. It plays a big role in hydroelectric energy production, there are several dammed up lakes in the vicinity, all produce electricity. The highest peak of Vorarlberg, the Piz Buin (3312m), is very close and a favorite destination for mountain climbers. In the summer a winding road leads up to the pass but in the winter it is only reachable by cable car and shuttle bus. It is a very “James Bond like” experience to be shuttled through narrow tunnels and come out to a breathtaking mountain scenery in a picturesque Alpine setting. Two hotels at the pass provide the means for many to enjoy one of Vorarlberg’s great pastimes, ski touring.

Bielerhöhe
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Ski Touring in the Dolomiti, Italy, 4-2014

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As we closed the doors of our car at the end of the narrow valley near San Vigilio di Marebbe in South Tyrol we entered a landscape seemingly out of the minds of fantasy movies like Lord of the Rings. Sahara sand had blown from North Africa and left yellow patches everywhere which gave the scenery an even more otherworldly appearance. It is rare that there is so much snow this far south at the beginning of April. This winter had been bad for ski resorts north of the Alps, but it delivered huge amounts of snow in the south. South Tyrol is a great mixture of Tyrolian “Gemütlichkeit”,  Italian food, and culture. The valley we where in was one of the few areas where they speak “Ladin” in addition to German and Italian. The so called Pederü hut was a newly built Alpine hotel with all the amenities, great food, wine, and hospitality. We spent the first night in anticipation of scaling the mountains the next day.

Breakfast was at 6:30 am, an hour later we got into our touring ski boots and strapped the skins onto our touring skis. It was cloudy in the morning and we followed the road up the hill which led to another couple of huts which was  to be our destination the following day. Quite a few other skiers were on the same path, but we hung a left up a steep ravine higher up and were soon alone. Higher and higher we climbed until we got to a saddle with a breathtaking view of the surrounding peaks. At the same time the sun came out to complete this spectacular scenery. The snow got soft very fast.

Dolomiti1Another narrow slope and we had reached the highest point of the day. We took a break to enjoy some of the tea we had brought in our thermos that morning.

We took off skins, tied our boots down, fixed our bindings in the skiing position, and off we skied down the other side of where we had just ascended. The snow has breaking up and there were a lot of half frozen tracks from other skiers, and it gave us no pleasure to ski whatsoever. Further down, however, the slope widened and we moved to a trackless expanse. The snow there was soft at the top, and we could carve our turns leaving a signature for all to see. The altitude – we got up to almost 3000m – and the skiing made us breathe hard as we were descending to a high plateau. Our next goal was still another hut, so when we reached the lowest point we put our skins back on and trudged uphill once more. It was really warm by then and the snow had a distinct mushy quality. After another couple of hours of going up and down we finally reached the Sennes hut where we had some well deserved pasta and lots of liquid to replenish our fluids.

Now it was time to descend into the narrow valley below back to our hotel. It felt more like descending into hell, the canyon got very narrow and we ended up on what felt like a twisting bobsled run. The road we ended up on was a military road built in World War I. South Tyrol was the location of heavy fighting between Austrian and Italian soldiers. Both sides dragged cannons up high into the mountains and battled each other in every manner they could think of.

IMG_3954The next day we packed our belongings and headed higher to the Fanes hut. Here we stayed in a room for eight, with a shared  bathroom and a shower outside in the hallway. The sky was cloudless, which also meant that the night had been colder. We could expect better snow conditions, especially on slopes facing north. We left some of our belongings at the hut and headed to our mountain of the day, the Monte Castello. An initial climb of 150m high, we later ended up on another plateau with our intended peak visible in the distance. The Dolomiti mountains remind me of the American Southwest, with large blocks of rock rising from snowfields.

Another short downhill later we traversed a side valley, then put our skins on for the final ascent, this one took it all out of us for the next 2 1/2 hours. But we were rewarded with breathtaking views at the top and no other skiers in sight.Dolomiti2After a long break we skied down on wonderful snow, ascended back to our plateau and skied back to the hut for some welcome libations. An excellent dinner completed this amazing day.

The next day was my last, so we went on a ski tour with southern exposure. On the way up the snow was hard, but a couple of hours later in the hot sun it was soft like silk. My last run down was on an untouched carpet of snow. The road back to the Pederü hut followed, then I packed it up for the exit from this fairytale location.

 

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Bödele, Austria 11-2013

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Bödele-Schwarzenberg (700-1,460m) is a small ski area complete with nostalgic alpine ski huts in the Vorarlberg state of Austria. It’s a wonderful place for a day’s ski excursion for both downhill, cross country skiing, ski touring, or snowshoeing. Its location is at the beginning of the charming Bregenzerwald Valley which is world famous for its award winning alpine cheese, characteristic wooden farm houses, distinctive dialect, and strong cultural farming traditions. Its setting is nothing short of breathtaking. The resort looks down into the Rhine Valley and one can view the Swiss, German, and Austrian lands that lay below. The alpine village of Schwarzenberg is located not too far from the ski area. It is famous for its cheese and schnaps festival. But its real claim to fame is its long autumn tradition of the farmers in full regional dress bringing down their cow herds from the cheese making alm huts and parading them through the old streets. The cows are brightly adorned with bells and flower wreaths and the cow that has given the most milk during the summer is especially decorated and is given much applause by the appreciative tourists that line the streets. This cultural tradition is representative of the Austrian mountain life and a highlight for any tourist. In addition, the city of Dornbirn with its numerous cultural offerings can be found within a short drive from the mountain as well.

 

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Hochhäderich, Austria 12-2013

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Hochhäderich(1,250-1,600m) is a small ski resort set in the lovely valley of the Bregenzerwald in Vorarlberg, Austria. The charming area has many options for winter and summer activities such as downhill skiing, sledding, horse sleighing, snowshoeing, walking, and hiking, The well groomed cross country trails traverse a distinct upland moor biosphere that includes plant species unique to this alpine environment. The landscape is dotted with rustic ski huts that serve up hearty mountain fare and warm Glühwein. The area is located near the lovely village of Hittisau that is known for its fine traditional wooden architecture, award winning cheese, and its distinctive Almwirtschaft which are the huts where they make the cheese in the summer months. The area is a great place to explore and enjoy the alpine lifestyle.

 

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