It snowed heavily overnight and when I opened the curtains this morning, the views were magnificent. An extra 20 centimetres of snow meant we were in for an excellent day of snowshoeing. Sean and Dave assessed the risk and advised us that we wouldn’t be able to go up to Allerleigrubenspitze (a 2131 metre peak)... Continue Reading →
A rest day: the Brenner Base Tunnel
We had more wine than usual last night because we’re taking a rest day today and stayed chatting after dinner. As a result, I had a headache when I woke up after too little sleep; therefore, a leisurely breakfast was called for. Some people chose to head to a retail park in Brenner, some caught... Continue Reading →
Sattelberg: snowshoeing to a peak
Today’s trip had a worrying start when Minx, Joy’s lovely black labrador wasn’t allowed on the bus, and we drove off without them 😱. We later found out that Sean had also got off the bus and, thankfully, the owner of Almi’s, offered them a lift down the valley to join us. We didn’t have... Continue Reading →
Nosslachhutte balcony snowshoe
We awoke to a beautiful morning, with blue sky and crisp fresh snow… perfect conditions for a winter hike. After breakfast, we made our packed lunches and caught the bus to the Bergeralm ski station in Steinach. Once there, we bought one-way ski passes and caught the gondola up the mountain. Next we checked our... Continue Reading →
Snowy Steineralm
Today it’s been snowing all day and we’ve walked through a winter wonderland, with moody low clouds and trees coated in a layer of what looks like icing sugar. After breakfast, we caught the bus to the start of the trail around Obernberger See. There, we put on our spikes and checked our avalanche transceivers... Continue Reading →
We snowshoed at last!
Finally, this morning, it started snowing gently. Sean and Dave, the leaders of our snowshoe trip, advised us to pack our snowshoes, as well as our spikes, as we headed up the Frader Alm Valley. The plan was to learn how to use our avalanche transceivers (although the risk was low today), practise avalanche rescues,... Continue Reading →
Frader Alm hike
After breakfast, we decided to have a short walk up a side valley, to Frader Alm, a summer farm in the foothills of the mountains. We left Almi’s and, once we left the road, put on our spikes and followed a babbling river uphill. The ice formations in the water were beautiful. Water had frozen... Continue Reading →
Obernberg am Brenner
We left the Airbnb and, after a short bus ride, arrived at Almi’s Berghotel in the Obernberg valley. We have a lovely room with a balcony and a view of the beautiful little church. We settled in and, after lunch, decided to have a short walk. It was such a lovely day that it turned... Continue Reading →
Nösslachhütte, not Nösslachjoch
Today we’d planned to walk to the Bergeralm ski area, take 2 lifts up to the top of the mountain and then walk along the ridge to a couple of peaks, Nösslachjoch and Eggerberg (both around 2230 metres high). Unfortunately, the second gondola wasn’t running today and walkers aren’t allowed on the top chairlift so,... Continue Reading →
Gschnitz: in search of deeper snow
After a leisurely morning, we once again took the bus to Trins. However, this time we stayed on until the end of the road past Gschnitz. There was more snow than there was in Trins and it was colder because the valley is narrower and receives less sunshine. Now and then (then image taken from... Continue Reading →