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AUSTRIA
- SPORTS AND OUTDOOR
ACTIVITIES |
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Whatever the season, if you're
looking for an active outdoor
holiday you'll be spoilt for
choice in Austria. In summer,
well-maintained footpaths and
expansive mountain scenery
make it something of a
paradise for walkers.
Fast-flowing alpine rivers and
tranquil lakes offer a great
range of water-based pursuits,
and most holiday resorts of
any size cater to tennis,
swimming and golf enthusiasts.
In winter, wherever you are in
alpine parts, you'll be in
striking distance of a winter
sports centre of one sort or
another. Winter sports have
deep roots in Austria, and
locals will ski or snowboard
anywhere there's a serviceable
slope. The season generally
lasts from early December to
early April, though skiing and
snowboarding are possible all
the year round on a small
number of high-mountain
glaciers.
Walking
Austria offers some of the
finest walking ( Wandern
) terrain in Europe. Variety
is the order of the day,
with lowland walks in the
east of the country, and
gently rolling hills in
southern Styria, Upper
Austria and Lower Austria,
contrasting sharply with the
more challenging, alpine
regions of central and
western Austria. Tracks are
for the most part well
marked and well maintained,
and numerous,
well-positioned signposts
often include an estimation
of how long a particular
route will take.
In alpine Austria, much
of the tourist
infrastructure developed for
the winter sports crowd is
available for ramblers and
hikers in the summer, and
the basic forms of mountain
lift (cable cars, gondolas
and chairlifts; see
"Skiing and
Snowboarding") are
often pressed into service
from late spring until early
autumn in order to convey
sightseers and walkers to
higher altitudes. Walks that
require spending a night or
more on the mountain utilize
the network of mountain huts
( Hütte ), which
provide rudimentary dorm
accommodation in mountain
areas. Some huts are
privately owned, but most
are run by the Österreichischer
Alpenverein or their
affiliates. Details of some
all-day mountain walks and
more ambitious hut-to-hut
walks are included in this
guide.
Lake and river activities
Austria's many lakes serve
as centres of warm-weather
sporting action -
predominantly the lakes of
the Salzkammergut, the Wörthersee,
Ossiachersee and Millstättersee
in Carinthia, and the
Neusiedler See in Burgenland.
All of them are well
equipped with windsurfing
and sailing schools,
the latter usually offering
a range of courses in a
variety of craft. Courses in
all disciplines tend to last
a week, although shorter,
two-day crash courses are
often available. Expect to
pay around öS2500/?181.68
for a seven-day course.
Courses will be in German
and, although not all
instructors speak English,
most schools will make an
effort to tailor their
courses to suit your needs.
Most sailing and windsurfing
schools will also rent out
surfboards and boats to
those who already have
experience. On the larger
lakes, waterskiing
and paraskiing are
usually on offer.
Scuba diving is a
popular activity in the
lakes of the Salzkammergut,
although each lake only
allows diving in designated
areas, and at certain times
of the year (transgressors
will be fined). A one-day
course should cost around öS500/?36.33,
a seven-day marathon öS50,000/?363.36.
Skiing and snowboarding
Almost all Austrians know
how to ski ( Schifahren
), and for those living in
alpine areas skiing
represents (for much of the
year at least) the major
recreational activity. The
emphasis is very much on downhill
skiing, although nordic
(cross-country) skiing is
practised almost anywhere
there's enough snow to make
it practicable. The
increasing popularity of snowboarding
is injecting the Austrian
skiing scene - and the après-ski
scene - with a new vigour.
Most resort areas have a
mixture of terrain suitable
for different ability
levels, with runs coded by
colour: blue runs are for
beginners, red runs for
intermediates, and black for
advanced skiers only.
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