“DAY RIDE 2022-1”
This ride report is about a short adventure day ride in Austrias federal states Tirol and Salzburg, which I made in Summer 2022.
The day itself was a real stunner and led my black beauty and me into alpine areas, right at the edges of the Kitzbüheler-Alps and the High-Tauern-Mountain-Range. Enjoy …
DATE: August 2022, DISTANCE: 84 KM or 50 MI, GRAVEL/STREET RATIO: 70/30%, HIGHLIGHTS: Many great panoramic views whilst riding through a skiing area in summer
On this sunny day, …
my black beauty Чернотa was again the weapon of choice for the incoming riding day. In the morning we left our place of stay …
and followed a small back country road along the Salzach Valley. It didn’t take us long till ….
we reached the entrance to our main goal of the day, which was the skiing area “KitzSki” which lies between Tirol and Salzburg near the famous city Kitzbühel. Quick, we …
gained height …
at this …
beautiful day. Each meter which we climbed …
the amount of trees decreased.
Since a few years in the heart of the famous skiing area “KitzSki” is this …
man made “Snow Reservoir” located. Each winter, the snow cat drivers collect a huge amount of snow in this natural dent in the terrain. At the end of the skiing season, the collected snow gets covered with huge isolating mats, to protect it against the summer heat. Later in autumn, the mats got removed, and the snow gets spread to form a narrow skiing lane. This way, the skiing area “KitzSki” is able to open a small part of its skiing area very early in autumn. This then looks like this:
Source: www.orf.at
Somehow crazy, isn’t it? But that’s the way how the skiing area operators overcome the climate change with long winters. Therefore, they use methods like this, or bury more and …
more pipes for the usage of snow making systems.
From the top of a nearby hill, I took another glance southwards to the main alpine mountain range of the HighTauern. After …
another glance back …
we rode on further …
westwards until reaching …
this advertising spot, with the name of the ski area, we just rode through. In winter time, on a sunny day, when snow lies as high as Чернотas mirrors reach, this is surely a top-notch photo-location. No matter, the ride continued. Here …
at this bend I stopped for making this three …
pictures of the stunning …
high alpine area. Near the…
rope way station called “Zweitausender” (“Two-Thousander”),
is a shallow mountain lake located. Just a stone’s throw away …
lies the name giving peak of this rope way station. Чернотa did not ask twice and braapt us both over …
to the top of the 2004 meters high peak “Two Thousander”. Now it was time for a short break and a little snack. Whilst I was munching a cereal bar …
we both enjoyed the …
scenic view to the east. With the late morning, our ride …
continued northwards.
we followed the gravel tracks …
down into an unknown valley, where a bunch of …
cows haven’t been very impressed about the appearance of Чернотa and me. So after taking that pic we climbed the other side of the valley and followed …
the trail atop a hill range. Just one or two kilometers later …
the track ended right at another …
ropeway station. On the way back out of this dead end, I took the opportunity and …
quenched my thirst at this well through. Next we hit again further eastwards and stopped …
at this T-bar-Lift-Station. Around two decades ago, I worked here for one winter season as an engineer. It was astounding for me, that this relict of ancient rope way was still on duty after surely more than 40 years.
I threw a glance through the windows into the hut. It was interesting to see, that nearly nothing has changed in the last twenty years besides a new microwave stove. Thinking back to the time when I was working here made me smile: Working at one of the most remote rope way stations in the area, meant a lot of skiing each working day! *hehe* 🎿😎
But that is history. I jumped on my pony (no, not that one in the picture) and we followed …
the track of the T-Bar-Lift hill upwards. At its end …
lies the peak “Bärenbadkogel” with its big mountain hut, which is a nice place for resting. Taking a glance back …
I saw again the snow depot and huge cloud towers rising, which meant, that a change in weather will appear within the next hours. So Чернотa and I rode on …
the well maintained gravel track, …
which followed for a long stretch along this scenic valley in Tirol.
A shallow creek crossing later, …
the weather still looked fine for a while, so I decided to ride up another …
mountain. It`s always impressive how …
remote this area is.
The view from up ther was …
tremendous. As far as the eye can see, just mountains and valleys. The valley in the center of the picture is called Felbertal. A tunnel on its end connects the Austrian federal states Salzburg with Eastern-Tirlol. A few years ago, my black beauty and I rode some gravel on the other side of this alpine mountain range. This was another stunning adventure. A detailed ride report you will find here:
➡ THE LONG WEEKEND RIDE IN THE ALPS 2017
The color of the clouds turned more dark, so it was time …
to descent through the timberline …
and ride back to my place of stay. When I arrived there the …
scenery turned a lot more unpleasant. It wasn’t long before the first heavy rain showers appeared.
Total riding distance along this dayride: 84 km or about 50 mi
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