“He’s ours because he’s on our side,” says the Carinthian. “But from our side it’s the most beautiful,” says the East Tyrolean. Both nod. Everyone agrees and trudges towards Austria’s highest mountain – the Großglockner – with snowshoes on their feet. 21 different routes lead up to the summit cross at 3798 meters. The wild Kalser go away at midnight and are back for lunch, they say here. On peak days, more than 200 climbers are at the top.
But we didn’t come to go summit hunting, even if it would be tempting given the abundance of mountains. Rather, we want to chase the “Big Five” of East Tyrol here, at the end of the Kalser Glocknerstraße, and find out right away that we will only see four at most. The Murmele, as the East Tyroleans affectionately call the marmot, is in its burrow at this time of the year – asleep. We don’t envy it. It’s a beautiful winter’s day, with unusually mild temperatures and skies that live up to its name.
Find the chamois
A day made for observing wildlife in the national park. Ranger Simon equipped us with binoculars. He carries a spotting scope himself so we don’t miss anything. The first sense of achievement comes as a pack of chamois on a mountain ridge. While your eyes are glued to the binoculars, the ranger’s ears listen to explanations. The chamois is the most common large animal here, easily recognizable by its black-brown winter fur. Our eyes also spot an ibex and five goats. Their rubbery pads and hard hoof edges make them perfect climbers even on the steepest rock faces. Because almost every part of its body was once said to have a magical effect, the ibex was almost wiped out, says Simon. But thanks to successful resettlement in the 1960s, there are now more than 1,000 in the Hohe Tauern National Park.
If you take your binoculars off and let your eyes wander with your eyes free, you will see a mountain backdrop that could not be more impressive. Eleven of a total of 166 3000m peaks in East Tyrol rise up on just one side of the Ködnitztal. Tourers pass by at a steady pace on the way to the Lucknerhütte or Stüdlhütte. We content ourselves with a view of mountains, snow-covered alpine huts and the idyllic Ködnitzkirchl.
“There! Look!” Simon has spotted something high up in the sky. The heraldic animal of the national park circles over one of the peaks. “We’re in the hunting ground of the golden eagle,” he explains. In the absence of availability of its favorite food – marmots – the bird of prey is looking for other mammals. Its flight span of just over two meters is only surpassed by that of the bearded vulture. Its 2.9 meters is just as impressive as the elbow-length pieces of bone that the bird of prey is able to devour in one piece. The scavenger is also considered to be extremely curious, which has frightened many two-legged friends when a bearded vulture soared 20 meters over their heads.
Not only the animal world impresses
Fearless and satisfied with the completely bloodless yield of 20 chamois, ten ibex and two golden eagles, we start our way back. “It’s possible that we’re just walking across a marmot den,” the ranger says jokingly and promises to tell us more about the cute mountain mouse, which is its Latin name, later. At 24, Simon is the youngest of the national park’s 16 rangers. “With us rangers, nature is in the foreground and not the summit, as with the mountain guides,” explains the East Tyrolean. Both abound here, as does seclusion.
Due to its location at the most south-western tip of Austria, many a tourism development passed by the Tyrolean enclave. Today one is happy and the untouched nature is the greatest asset. You will search in vain for ski areas with hundreds of kilometers of pistes or large hotels. And then there are the people who impress with their warmth and innovative ability.
Like Bruno Gasser, for example, who has lived in the Alpe-Stalle hut in the Defereggen Valley for 40 years. He welcomes his guests every day and serves them homemade Schlipfkrapfen from mum or East Tyrolean gray cheese. You then go down with the toboggan on the floodlit run.
Or Philipp Jans – the 40-year-old agricultural engineer has realized a boy’s dream with his farm. But he doesn’t milk cows, he milks 300 goats on his Figerhof in Lana. He only feeds them hay that is aerated. His Glocknerkugeln made from goat’s stew are a dream, but the innovative farmer also has mountain cheese and Camembert in his range.
And then there’s Kathi Polentz, owner of the Figolalm, which doesn’t correspond to a typical alpine hut at all, but is still very cozy. In 2008, at the age of 21, she took over the hut in Kals at 1770 meters from her father. “I want the food that I offer to be done,” she says in the friendly East Tyrolean dialect. The map is small but fine. A Brettljause with products from the region and the gray casserole soup are particularly recommended.
Deep winter relaxation
So many delicacies call for movement. At the end of the Defereggen valley at 2017 meters above sea level, we strap on our snowshoes one last time. It goes towards the Staller saddle and the Obersee. A popular destination in summer, it resembles a lonely gem on this winter’s day: only a handful of tourers, a few cross-country skiers and winter hikers are out and about.
The snow under our feet crunches in the long shadow of the mountains. The transition into the sun presents a landscape that knows only two colors: white and blue. The path across the frozen lake to a small summit cross is neither dangerous nor sweaty, but balm for the eyes. And then Simon has another surprise in store. There it is at last! A primed specimen, but he kept his word – a marmot.
The Hohe Tauern National Park
The Hohe Tauern National Park stretches over 1856 square kilometers across the federal states of (East) Tyrol, Salzburg and Carinthia – a high mountain landscape with 300 peaks over 3000 meters, 15,000 animal and 3500 plant species.
With rangers: The range of tours in winter includes, among other things, wildlife observation, sunset tours, feeding shows, snowshoe hikes in wintry primeval forests, photo tours
Stay: at the Hotel Outside in Matrei and at the Taurerwirt in Kals. Both are family-run hiking hotels at 4-star level with excellent cuisine and partner companies of the national park.
Info: hotel-outside.at, taurerwirt.at; hoch-tauern.at; nationalpark-partnerbetriebe.at
Source: Nachrichten
