This Article first appeared in
AAC(UK) Newsletter 184
published Winter 2009
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Snowshoeing in the Wipptal
by Allan Hartley
For this year’s snowshoeing meet in Austria we headed for the Wipptal valley on the Brenner, taking up residence in the small town of Steinach at the comfortable Zur Rose Hotel managed by the Holzmann family. Franz Holzmann was particularly helpful throughout our one week stay.
As a base, Steinach is very convenient; being easily accessed from Innsbruck by a regular train service. The Club’s previous snowshoe meet in the Goldberg Group of southern Austria near Klagenfurt, whilst in a good area, was quite a journey. It took most of a day to get to the Bonner Hut. My other trip using the Innertal branch valley off the Wipptal, based at the Hotel Sporr at with its famous church drop of the Tribulaun Mountains was excellent, but I felt we were tied to the valley and its immediate surroundings. At that time, when David Hoad was managing the meet, I just felt that Steinach, whilst probably more expensive, would give us more options to explore. The Stubai and Zillertal are relatively close by and easily accessible, plus we would have the use of our own bus, access to the concessionary ski-buses and a chair lift within a short walk. When David announced he was returning for another adventure on the high seas I was asked to take over the meet.
For myself I am happy to say that Steinach offered more opportunity as a venue. We had several trips on the east side of the Stubai and one on the edge of the Zillertal, but sadly the week was marred by indifferent weather so we didn’t get the “Koenig wetter” we desired and get to see a lot; but the snow conditions were excellent with lots of it.
As a group we comprised me, Peter Jobson, Mark Jolleys, Richard Denby and lady stalwarts Jane Hughes, Ros Adams and Janet Clark, with a number in the group being new to snowshoeing. Throughout the week we were guided by Bergführer Hannes Wettstein a familiar face to members attending the various Bergsteigerschule training courses.
Quite the contrary to the stereotyping of walking with tennis rackets strapped to your feet, snow shoeing allows those folk like myself, who do not ski, to explore the mountains in the full depth of winter under snow conditions without having to learn a whole raft of new skills. All that is needed are your normal winter boots and clothing, a set of snow shoes and some trekking poles and away you go. One of the main advantages of snow shoeing is that it is relatively safe. If you do fall over you are unlikely to hurt yourself (unlike skiing where you continue travelling whilst falling until you come to a sudden stop!).
The main advantage of snow shoes is that it allows you to walk on very deep snow whatever the condition. They also allow you to get in to places that are difficult for skiers to access such as woods and forests; as we experienced when we explored the slopes above Gries, returning directly through the forest from the summit of the Sattelberg 2115m permitted us to experience some brilliant winter scenery.
Apart from the snow shoes the three additional pieces of equipment we all have to carry are a snow shovel, an avalanche probe and an electronic beeper transmitter/receiver affectionately known as Pieps. On one of our outings (whilst Ros was indulging her passion for building a rather risqué snow lady) Hannes our guide gave us a demonstration of the Pieps in use. The new devices are much better than the old models and eliminate the need for changing frequencies. The direction indicator is much easier to follow. Having mastered Pieps we had a demonstration of the use of the avalanche probe and whilst the use of a shovel seems self-evident instructions for digging from the side to avoid further injury to the buried person was less so. The thing with this extra bit of kit is the hope that you will never have to use it, but mountains are mountains and normal sleepy slopes can easily become avalanche prone in winter.
I am not sure what the forthcoming year will bring but I am very keen to revisit Steinach and have another go at some of the promenades we undertook this year, particularly the visit to the Maria Waldrast monastery that is dominated by the nearby rugged peak of Serles. It may be possible to link one or two villages together for a multiday schneeschuh-bergtour.
If you want a winter experience and do not ski then give snowshoeing a go. I can guarantee you will enjoy it.
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Last updated: 15 December 2009