Snowshoeing in Obernberg am Brenner
February 2020

by Chris Loy

Almi’s Berghotel is rightly popular as a venue for AAC(UK) meets due to the good food, comfortable accommodation and excellent location. The hotel has a homely atmosphere with friendly staff providing that personal touch. Almi's is situated in the small village of Obernberg am Brenner in the Wipptal, a quiet tributary valley just off the route to the Brenner Pass. There is no skiing infrastructure and very little traffic as the road is a dead end. The valley has an excellent network of paths and ski-touring routes. There are also a number of peaks below 2500m that can be ascended via slopes that are generally less than 30 degrees, reducing the risk of avalanches, and making the area highly suitable for snowshoeing.

Duncan Melling and Wendy Shipley had teamed up to lead their first snowshoeing trip for AAC(UK). This meant they could support each other and offer a choice of two walks each day. Both had done their training and assessment in the Wipptal based at Almi's. They therefore knew many of the local routes and liked the hotel so much that they had no hesitation in choosing it as the base for the trip.

There were twelve participants, eight women and four men, ten from the UK and two from Switzerland. We were a mixture of people with and without previous experience of snowshoeing and with differing aspirations for the trip. The ability to offer two routes each day worked very well in ensuring that everyone could cope while still having a challenge.

We had five full days of snowshoeing. The first day, when we all stayed together, was focussed on getting to know each other, familiarising ourselves with the equipment and practising avalanche rescue. Our route took us up the stream from Almi’s, past St Niklaus Kirche (‘one of the most photographed churches in the Tyrol’) then up through forest and snow-covered pastures to the Obernberger See, about 1600m above sea level. This involved only 200m of height gain and a few kilometres of horizontal distance, but set us up well for the rest of the trip.

On the second day we formed naturally into two groups of six (seven with the leaders), with Duncan’s group consisting of those, including myself, who felt inclined to do relatively strenuous routes, although those done by Wendy’s group were by no means strolls in the park. We stayed in these groups for the rest of the trip. This seemed to suit everybody and it did not feel cliquey, as there was plenty of mixing at breakfast and in the evenings.

The weather was almost perfect for the whole of the trip, with good snow cover even in the valley, mainly blue skies and virtually no precipitation. The only limiting factor was the wind and spindrift which prevented our group from realising our most ambitious aspirations on a couple of occasions. However, we achieved a lot including reaching the summits of the Sattelberg (2113m), Allerleigrubenspitze (2131m), Koatnerberg (2198m) and Grubenkopf (2337m).

The latter ascent was on the final day of the trip. This was the most spectacular of all our summits and, with fantastic views of other mountains as distant as the Dolomites, made a fitting finale.

Apart from the snowshoe hikes, a top priority was to consume enough calories to keep us going. Almi's was well able to satisfy our appetites, serving large Austrian-style breakfasts of cereal, yoghurt, several types of bread, eggs, cheese, ham and fruit. Four-course evening meals included soup, a huge choice of salads and tasty meat and vegetarian options. In addition we stopped at various huts and Gasthofs at various times for coffee and cake or beer. There was also an excellent sauna complex in the hotel with a panoramic view of the mountains and church.

We all got on well with each other and got a lot out of the trip, despite various degrees of experience and anxiety at the start of the week. There was unanimous agreement that having two leaders was a great model for a single-centre trip like this.

Heading Towards the Grubenkopf Photo by Andy Fisher

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