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Summer Hiking On The Hahnenkamm - Read My Experience
Despite effervescent mountain guide Engelberts 15-plus years of experience
, I was unaccountably anxious about scaling the illustrious Streif on my first day in Kitzbuehel. Happily, the hike started with a ride on the famous Hahnenkamm cable car (in fact, a gondola lift system) we were to be walking down the mountain, not up whisking us away from the bustling Kitzbuehel centre and over the ancient emerald forests below. Alighting at the Bergbahn summit station into the pure mountain air, the panorama before us was dazzling. With views all the way down the endless green valley to the imposing Kitzbueheler Horn and hazy peaks beyond, I felt suitably humbled by the magic of Mother Nature. Dragging myself away from the flawless vista, I followed Engelbert back to the station and into the mountain railway museum housed there.After a pocket history of Kitzbuehels rise to cosmopolitan alpine resort status and a shot on the downhill ski stimulator, it was back to the breathtaking alpine loveliness for a brief climb into a cloudless blue sky to the starting house
of the famous race and the start of the walk. If I had ever entertained delusions of being a downhill skier, standing in the starting gates of the Streif soon changed my mind. The sheer drop was staggering, but vital, Engelbert
explained cheerfully, for the racers to achieve the fastest acceleration possible. Descending on a slightly gentler slope to the side, we made our way to the unimaginably steep Mausefalle (mousetrap) section of the course, the ground
dropping down in front of us at a heart stopping angle 85% at the steepest point, Engelbert said soberly.
The ensuing descent followed the dramatic racecourse, section by section from the flat, gliding Gschss to the penultimate Hausberg jump, stopping for a well earned hot chocolate and apple strudel at halfway point, the Seidlalm.
Trekking down the mountain immersed in the vast natural landscape and Engelberts sparkling narrative, I was on such a high by the end of the walk it was hard to imagine how championship racers must feel as they cross the finishing
line at speeds of up to 140 km an hour. As I skipped through the gates, I was buzzing; delighted to have done the legendary Streif, even if Hike Kitzbuehel.
Summer Hiking on the Hahnenkamm
Modern cable car technology, directly from the sophisticated centre of town to the hiking area on the Hahnenkamm. it was minus the snow and the skis...
And in a sublime, slightly surreal, Heaven and Earth scenario, after the dizzy heights of the Hahnenkamm, the next days hike was along the verdant valley floor between Jochberg and Kitzbuehel. Taking advantage of the free daily guiding service again, I listened contentedly as Engelbert paid homage to the farming community, taking us past 500 year old farmhouses the oldest in the district their deep overhanging eves a natural shelter for neatly stacked walls of tinder dry logs. In olden times, there was hot water only once a week, Engelbert chimed, on a Saturday, they would get up early and bake the bread then after washing their clothes, they would wash themselves.
As well as the historic attractions en route the 15th century Schwertern fountain, the Baroque Parish Church of St. Andrew this walk is in fact fantastic for a spot of property watching with architectural examples anging from the
newer eco-conscious chalets to the 1930s homeland preservation style buildings of Alfons Waldes era. Back in Kitzbuehel, merely meandering through the cobbled streets of the atmospheric Old Town to luxurious former high society
favourite, the fabulous Hotel Zur Tenne, is another unbeatable walk. From the elaborate late Gothic portal above the Casino Kitzbuehel to the haunting sound of the carillon ringing out from St. Catherines Church to commemorate World War II casualties, every splendid structure you see is steeped in history.
Yet step around the corner and youll find an Aveda spa, a Louis Vuitton boutique and a Kostner shoe shop! Thats the thing about Kitzbuehel, its an extraordinary juxtaposition of
authenticity and dynamism; on one hand a near mythical place of picture postcards and legends, on the other a cutting edge destination with almost limitless outdoor activities and first class visitor facilities. So if I have just one
cautionary note, its this: prepare to be bewitched by Kitzbuehel - I know I was.
by: Bettina Gustav