Rodel in Hochgurgl

Our last day in Austria and the snow is falling. In other words a good day for rodel! We went to Hochgurgl and tried their 3 kilometer long run full of tight hairpin curves. Then we took a number of lifts up in the snowstorm to have lunch at the Top Mountain Star Restaurant at 3082 meters altitude. Cool.

Paragliding, snow-shoeing and igloo

Today I revisited Neustift in Stubaital for some paragliding. The 11er-lift takes you up to a big launch in a ski slope, then you have 830 meters to play around in before landing in the valley just a short walk from the ski lift. I like this place - flying is easy and the views are spectacular.

In the evening we went to an igloo village in Kühtai to stay over night. They used 5000 m3 snow to create a number of snow-igloos where you can eat, drink and sleep. We started with a simple but very nice dinner, deer stew and knödel. Then we donned snow shoes and walked up the mountain to a hut for a hot chocolate. And a great rodel ride down again :-)

Sleeping in the igloo was fine, despite temperatures of -6°C to -10°C, you just need to dress right and have a good sleeping bag (provided).

Rodel, horse-sled, joddeling and gourmet food and champagne

Today we headed for Rangger-Köpfl and a day of rodeling. This time we didn't have to walk up so could do five runs - more than 22 kilometer in total! It is quite fast, the run was 4,5 kilometers long and I reached speeds of 52 kilometer per hour. Fun!
Then we had a horse-sled tour booked, which was followed by drinks, song and joddeling in Fritz the horseman's barn :-)

In the evening we had a very good dinner at Europa Stuberl, then August Penz spoiled us with some excellent Champagne (Bollinger Grand Anée) in his cool bar, 5th floor.

Hiking and rodeling in the dark

What a wonderful night!
First we hiked up a mountain on a snowy forest road. After 70 minutes of constant uphill we reached a little hut where we was welcomed with a fire and a hot mug of glühwein. And a warm old wooden hut where at least 50 persons where merrily drinking beer and eating knödel, schnitzel and other traditional fare. So so did we.

Then we mounted our rodels (toboggan, sleds) and rode them back down again on the same road. Only this time it took less than 20 minutes (plus a few photo-breaks), reaching speeds over 30 km/h. Great fun!