№24 — Snowshoeing
After skiing down the mountain for almost a quarter century, I decided to spice things up this winter weekend and walk up and down the mountain instead of taking the lift to the top. I decided to try out snowshoeing.
For the uninitiated, let me briefly explain what snowshoeing is. You walk up and down the mountain wearing over-sized pieces of plastic so you don’t sink in. You also get ski poles for balance and the more difficult passages. That’s it. Simple, isn’t it?
Austria does not really have a shortage of lower mountains, especially in lower Austria. What Austria does have is a shortage of snowy lower mountains close to Vienna. Therefore, we traveled into the unknown regions of the dark kingdom known as lower Austria.
There, in the darkest corner of the Mostviertel, close to Mariazell and Annaberg, we met our guide in the village in St Aegyd am Neuwalde. After getting ready at the basecamp, we traveled 10 kilometers up a mountain pass, also known as Gscheid, to reach Camp I.
At Camp I, we put on our equipment and started into the unforgiving, snowy widths of the Türnitzer Alps. We fought against wind and weather, climbing through steep woods, narrow rivers and across open plains until we finally reached Camp II.
After almost losing our first group member to the mountain, we mustered what last strength was left in our muscles and — powered by some Haribo sweets — attempted the summit push.
It was brutal. The wind was blowing, snow and ice were all around us and the slope was too steep to get a proper foothold. But in the end, we conquered the mountain and reached the summit at 1150 meters.
We had some hot tea on the top and made our way back down, which was actually a lot of fun because it is a mixture of running, walking, and sitting on your behind and sliding down.
Almost down, we crossed a few smaller rivers, some of them covered in snow. While chatting with a friend, I did not pay attention, broke through the snow and almost fell into the water. I already saw my end like the protagonist from “To Build a Fire” by Jack London.
In the end, everybody made it home safely and I am seriously considering buying snow shoes. It seems like a cheaper alternative to the full ski touring equipment, which sets you back a few thousand Euros…
