Adventure Add-On

Climb Every Mountain

by Leah Larkin

The top of the world awaits Austria’s summertime visitors.

Steep, stony, narrow — and scary. The hiking trail to the Rinnenspitze, a 9,900-foot peak in the Austrian Alps, was more than we anticipated. We had set out for an uphill trek, but this seemed more like serious mountain climbing. The last section of the trail over rock was rigged with cable to grab so we wouldn’t fall off the precarious precipice. But what to do with our feet? The rocks teeter-tottered as we stepped on them. In mountain lingo, this is called rock scrambling. It seemed more like rock roulette.

We instantly forgot our fear and aching feet as we reached the summit and savored the thrill of success. Ranges of craggy peaks, some streaked with white patches of glacier, were all around. It seemed we were on top of the world, which was how we felt.

For many years my husband and I lived in Germany and often ventured to Austria for summer adventure, especially hiking and bicycling, and even summer glacier skiing. Austria’s mountain lakes and rivers also offer outdoor adventure: sailing, kayaking, canoeing, rafting, fishing. Golfers can swing their clubs on courses surrounded by spectacular scenery. Those on horseback enjoy superb trails with super vistas.

Our trek to the Rinnenspitze was part of a weekend excursion: one day to that peak and the following day to the Asperer Turm, elevation 9,688 feet. We spent the night at the Franz Senn Hut. For a mountain hut, this one was first class, with running hot and cold water, indoor toilets, even showers. Most huts are Spartan abodes and can be an adventure in themselves — dorms lined with bunks or Matratzenlager (mattress camps) with mattresses on raised planks, where each hiker gets a section, a pillow and a blanket. At the Franz Senn Hut, we had the luxury of a semi-private room.

Evenings in huts are jovial. After a dinner of hearty mountain fare everyone sits around long tables, exchanging tales of adventure and often linking arms and singing. There’s usually a guitar on hand and someone in the crowd who can strum favorite tunes.

Our hike to the Asperer Turm took us along a surging stream and up a long valley where clusters of cows lazily munched on grass. The trail climbed higher, skirting the edges of dirty glaciers, then into rocks and gravel. The adrenaline shifted into high gear as we navigated the final skinny paths with treacherous drop-offs. Again, the reward was the amazing panorama from the peak. During the entire six-hour round-trip hike, we saw only four other hikers. We felt as if the mountain kingdom was ours alone.

Austria has 25,000 miles of hiking trails for all skill levels and 241 mountain huts. The not-so-fit can ride to the tops of many mountains in chairlifts or mountain trains, walk around, take the obligatory photos, then walk or ride back down. The more ambitious can strap on a backpack, as we did, and set off for a day or a week or longer. The super adventurous can explore the wild and dangerous terrain of glaciers and pinnacles that are accessible only after strenuous climbs with ropes and ice axes. For those not wanting to venture into the heights on their own, mountain communities offer a range of guided hikes.

“Hiking and mountaineering are good — good for the body, the heart, the mind,” said famous mountain climber Peter Habeler, who now runs a mountaineering school in Austria and was our guide on the Eagle Trail, a 173-mile route in the Tyrolean Alps near Innsbruck.

We began our hike with a ride on a cable car, then followed an easy trail that offered gorgeous views of the Achensee, Tyrol’s largest mountain lake. We hiked past cozy mountain huts and under grandiose peaks. Habeler reminded us that hiking is not speeding: “It’s a good counterpart to today’s fast life — fast cars, fast everything. It’s a good way to see and find new horizons.”

Bicycling also leads to new horizons. Austria has 6,250 miles of marked routes for pedaling, mainly on paved bike paths or less-traveled roads. Our first experience on Austrian trails was a three-and-a-half-day excursion on the 175-mile Salzkammergut route east of Salzburg. We loaded our hybrid bikes onto a cable car to reach the first night’s hotel at the top of a mountain. Along the route, we boarded a boat with our bikes to cross a lake, and we toured the summer residence of Emperor Franz Joseph, an ice cave and a Baroque church. We took time to explore some of the towns along the way — Bad Ischl, St. Wolfgang and Hallstatt — all dominated by onion-domed churches.