Orienteering in Austria and Switzerland
Hiking in Austria
July 1980

Introduction

On a trip to Europe In July 1980, Pat and Dick de St. Croix combined the Swiss Five Day and the Austrian Alpencup Orienteering competitions with five days of Hut Hopping in the Austrian Stubai Alps. At both Orienteering competitions we camped at the camping facilities provided by the organizers. On the hiking trip in Austria we stayed in mountain huts.

Tuesday July 8

Our flight from Canada took us to Frankfurt Germany where we rented a brand new Opel Kadette then headed for Burgdorf Switzerland for the Swiss Five Day Orienteering competition. Ted was waiting for us at the campsite when we arrived at about 3:00 pm after a wet drive from Frankfurt. It had been raining in Burgdorf and the campsite was wet and muddy. Beside us was a couple from Ireland with two small children and they gave up after two days and left because of the rain.

Wednesday July 9, Day 1

The first day of the competition was near Neuchathel where the rain continued for most of the day. The orienteering area was quite rugged with some climbing. Dick found the map hard to read in the rain. he made two mistakes but managed to correct them.

After the competition we were invited By Dieter Wolfe to go to the Sportsplace near Neuchatel where we had a swim, supper and stayed overnight. Dieter Wolfe had also invited a lot of the top world orienteers and we were invited because of Ted.

Thursday July 10, Day 2

The second day was near Murten and the map was easier to read and there was no climbing. Dick managed 5.0 km in 52 minutes. We all went for a shower and a swim in Murten then back to Burgdorf and camping.

Friday July 11, Day 3

This was an interesting day. We drove to Grindelwald where we took the cog railway up to the finish area. Then we climbed up to the start which was at 1840 metres and just below the base of the Eiger. This was a difficult area, it took Dick 77 min. to do 3.8 km. After the meet we drove to Steffisburg near Thun and stayed in a small hotel since Ted had developed a cold.

Saturday July 12, Day 4

This day of competition was near Heimenschwand and after the meet we drove back to the campsite at Burgdorf. After supper we explored the town and some caves across the river.

Sunday July 13, Day 5 and final day.

The final day was at Burgdorf and it was a chase start. Dick, who was in the H 50 class, started 93 min. after the first runner. This meant that the first runner was already finished when Dick started. Ted did not run this day because of his cold. After the meet was over we saw and heard an older Swiss man blow a very long Alpenhorn. After that we drove to Wil where we stayed at the Freihof Garni Hotel. This was the same hotel where we had stayed in 1975 with Yngve and Lola Odell for the 1975 Swiss Five Days after we did the Tour du Mont Blanc.

Travel to Liebnitz for the Alpencup

On our way to Innsbruck we climbed up to the Neuswagen Castle near Fussen. After arriving quite late in Innsbruck we went to an information booth in the train station and found a place to stay at the Technical School on the Inn River. The next day we drove through Zell-am-Zee and Schladming to Gröbming where we stayed in the Kirchwirt Gasthaus opposite to the church. The next day we drove on to Liebnitz and set up camp at the Sulinsee Camp area for the Alpencup.

Three Day Alpencup

The Alpencup was a very good meet with good maps and organization. I have three memories of the Alpencup. One day after finishing my run and looking for the showers I saw some mist rising where the showers were. Yes they had brought hot water for the showers in the town fire truck. The second memory was of Ted giving out some of his supply of maps to some boys from Yugoslavia. the third memory was at the awards ceremony where they had young girls in ethnic costume parade into the area, each carrying and ringing cow bells of all sizes. These bells were the awards and Ted received one for his third place in H-21, Pat received one for her second place in D-50 class. Dick was fifth out of nine in H-50 class. After the very pleasant awards ceremony Pat and Dick drove to Mautern. Ted traveled back to Sweden with some of his Orienteering friends.

Travel to Hut Hopping

From Mautern we drove to Salsburg where we went up to the old fortress and later stayed in a nice Gasthaus. The next day we drove to the airport in Munich and returned the car. Then we took the train to Scharnitz where we stayed at the Gasthaus Lowenhof opposite a sawmill. We walked around this small town in the rain and did some window shopping.

Hut Hopping in the Stubai Alps

Day One-Tuesday

We woke up to a beautiful day. Before we started hiking Dick bought some hiking socks and a Austrian hat. At 10:30 am we left for the Karwendal Hut which was a long hike beside the Karwendalbach, a fast flowing stream. Arriving at 6:00 pm at the hut we were surprised to be greeted by three American girls from Vermont who were working there for the summer.

This was a nice friendly hut and we had room for two that overlooked the valley from Scharnitz.

Day Two-Wednesday

This was a second clear day and we decided to stay at this hut for a second night. During the day we climbed up to the nearby Hochalmkreus. There were other people walking above us and at one point Pat was hit on the hand by a falling stone.

Day Three-Thursday

Another clear day and on the way to the Faalkenhutt we stopped for lunch at a group of farm buildings in a very large alpen meadow. At the hut we had a room for two with a great view.

Day Four-Friday

This was another clear day and our objective was the Lamsenjochhutte. We stopped at the small village of Eng-Almen where we bought some milk and a loaf of bread. We arrived at the hutte early and had to wait until 5:30 when we were given two beds in the dormitory.

Day Five-Saturday

We left the hut at 9:15 am and hiked down the steep road to Pertisau. At a small hut for smoking meat we bought some milk. Later we stopped for lunch in the woods beside the road. We found that Pertisau was a very clean new town with many tourist places. At 2:15 pm we took the cruise boat to Seespitz where we climbed on a narrow gauge railway train to Maurauch. At Maurauch we bought some food and then we took the Rafanspielbahn up to the Erfeter Hutte.This hut was run by two friendly young men who spoke very good English. We realized that on this day there had been four modes of transportation: on foot, by cruise ship, by train and by cable car.

Day Six-Sunday

This day we stayed at the Erfeter Hutte and went on a loop hike to HochiB, Streichkopf, Dalfazalm and around below the Rotspitze where we had a nice view of the Achensee Lake. Back at the Hutte we enjoyed a good supper complete with some gluewein. This hutte stays open in the winter as it is good skiing in this area.

Day Seven-Monday

Today our route took us by the Rofanspitze and then we went a long way around to the Bayreuther Hutte. Part way along we had trouble finding the trail. During the day we heard a low wind noise overhead, looking up we saw a sailplane. We arrived at the Hutte at about 5:30 pm and found it to be nice and clean with lots of room but no English spoken here. This was the last real day of hiking and we had enjoyed everything very much. All the place names mentioned here are on the two Kompass Wanderkarte 1:50 000 maps that we carried on the hike, Map # 26 Karwendal-Gebirge and map # 27 Achensee-Rofangebirge

Travel back to Canada

The next day we hiked down the mountain along roads and across the Inn River to Brixlegg. Walking through we found a gasthaus beside a stream and a church. The next morning we took the train to Innsbruck. In the station the same young Austrian as before found us a good pension ten minutes from the station. We had supper at a nearby restaurant where they had a good tourist oriented program of music and dancing later in the evening. The next day another train took us to Frankfurt where we again stayed the night in a good pension. The next day a train ride took us to the Frankfurt airport and then a plane took us back to Canada.