Peaking out on Alps hike
A thousand or so metres below us the party is just getting started. The oompah band is warming up, the lads in their lederhosen and belles in their dirndls are mingling in the church grounds.
On the lower slopes of the Tyrolean Alps just outside Innsbruck, the villagers of Igls are taking a step back in time on a summer Sunday as part of a traditional religious celebration.
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It started with cannon fire at the crack of dawn. It will end with dancing, beer and sausages in the village park that afternoon.
By then, local hiking guide Wolfgang Platzer and his party of eight will have had their heads in the clouds sweeping over Igls and be back in the village for the festivities.
Wolfgang has been up and down the peaks of Patscherkofel, the mountain directly above Igls, more times than he can remember. But for him it's always like the first time. The mountains are constantly changing and they go from beautiful to brutal in the blink of an eye, he warns.
Wolfgang says altitude and attitude are two key factors for anyone hiking in the Alps. Progress is not measured by how far you walk but by how high you climb.
Mountain guides work on about 400m every hour. On a hike like this to just below the summit of Patscherkofel, the altitude factor tops out at about 2250m.
However, many of the trails are on mountains of more than 3000m. The attitude factor is all about staying in step with the surroundings, not rushing along the often narrow trails.
Hikers must take care on the loose rocks and avoid slippery patches of ice. Most of all it is about stopping frequently to look the mountains up and down.
There's so much to see. The alpine meadows are dotted with wildflowers and splashes of red where banks of alpine roses stand out against the deep green of the grass and pines. Fresh streams from the snow melt cut across the hiking trail and frequently the way ahead is all ice.
Deep gouges in the forest below are a reminder that in winter this is avalanche country.
On the grand scale from high up on Patscherkofel, you can look into Germany, Switzerland and Italy. In the distance on the other side of Innsbruck, a multi-lane highway and railway carry trucks and freight cars through the Brenner Pass linking Austria and Italy.
The surrounding mountain peaks are a dazzling diamond ring, bright and white against the forest slopes and blue skies.
Suddenly the curtain comes down and we are in cloud with the temperature dropping. Enjoy the big picture but don't get blinded by it, says Wolfgang. There are more hiking deaths in Austria each year than fatal road accidents.
"Everything is so well organised that people get complacent," he says.
And it is well organised. The trails are clearly marked, there are warning signs, mountain huts for refuge and guides like Wolfgang to watch your step. None of this can stop someone who is clearly unfit going off on their own and having a heart attack 3000m up a mountain.
But every effort is made to make hiking safe. There are 24 guided hikes around Innsbruck which are virtually free for anyone staying in the Tyrolean capital or villages who buys an Innsbruck Card.
The cards cost about $50 for three days of travel on all public transport, entry to museums and other attractions, cable car rides and the hikes.
The hikes are graded from relatively easy to difficult and led by experienced guides. It's all about putting people on the right track for their age and level of fitness.
Hikers are picked up from meeting points and hotels and taken into the mountains, usually by bus and cable car.
They are issued with log books to record their hikes and to make notes on the scenery and wildlife. There's even bronze, silver and gold medals awarded to hikers. One hike earns bronze, three hikes is silver and 10 hikes is worth gold.
Patscherkofel is our first hike so we're going for bronze with our log stamped at a mountain hut near the summit.
Animal skins and firearms add mountain ambience to a hut in Patscherkofel, Austria. Picture: Brad Thompson, The West Australian
The hut looks like it's been torn from the pages of a Brothers Grimm fairytale and stuck to the side of the mountain.
Animal skins and a boar's head are mounted alongside a rifle, a stuffed eagle sits in the corner and there are steins of cold beer on the bench tables. Wurst and frankfurters cut the mustard for lunch with a little schnapps to warm us up.
Not all the animals in the Alps are stuffed and dedicated hiking tours set out under cover of darkness during summer to spot ibex, chamois and marmot.
There is also a dawn hike to the summit of Rangger Kopfl, where the sun rises to paint the sky a magnificent red.
Outside the hut on Patscherkofel, the cloud has lifted and the sun is shining on the splendour of the mountains and piercing through the peaks and pines to light up the valleys.
There is a warm welcome for weary legs waiting down there as Igls starts to glow from the good cheer of the villagers.
• Emirates flies daily to Vienna, connecting in Dubai from twice-daily Perth flights. See www.emirates.com/au and travel agents.
• For more information, visit www.austria.info/au.
Brad Thompson travelled courtesy of the Austrian National Tourist Office and Emirates.
