Or: Lara keeps yelling “I can do this!”

Hey, lookie, I’m finally making a new post!

OK. So I’ve finally settled in here in Austria (see Lara’s post: The 2021 Adventure), and figured I should post about our new adventures (I’m hoping to also go back and put in other adventures we’ve had since our 2016 trip, like the total lunar eclipse in 2018). So, let’s start off with the adventure Lara and I had climbing the Alps!

A visit to Innsbruck

So, now that we’re in Austria, and both have had our first COVID immunization shots, we figured we should go on a trip to see the IFSC Innsbruck World Cup. So, we booked a train and a hotel room, and then looked up what the specifics were for COVID rules for spectators at the event (we probably should have started there). That’s when we discovered, nope, no spectators allowed this year, and that our train tickets were non-refundable. OK, so it looks like we have to just go do a weekend getaway in Innsbruck, shucks.

We did some digging in to things to do and came up the the plan of wander around town and go do a Via Ferrata/Klettersteig. Our plan was to leave Thursday afternoon and come back to Vienna on Sunday. Lara is back to working in the office, so she would go straight to the train station from work and I would meet here there. We packed up the hiking and climbing gear in my backpacking pack (still slightly damaged from my failed attempt at flight), and another bag with clothes and such. On a nice and pleasant, not too warm at all (totally not 31°C/~90°F) day, I grabbed the bags and hopped on the subway with plenty of other folks. I met Lara, and off we went!

We got to the hotel after the sun had set, so we didn’t get to see the full awesomeness of the views, but once the sun was up…

Innsbruck Altstadt

So, the weather forecast was looking a bit sketchy (although it seems that, compared to the US at least, the forecasts here are best guesses), so we decided to just spend the day wandering around (and, hey, if our feet brought us to the Kletterzentrum and we just so happened to see the World Cup, well, these things happen). We decided to start of the day with a delicious brunch at Breakfast Club. On the walk there, we got to see the Triumphpforte arch, and, strangely enough, a store selling clothing made from Austrian Alpacas.

After delicious food (did I mention it tasted good?), we were off on a walk through the Innenstadt. We had no real plan other than to walk through the old city, towards the river, along the river, and, well, that was about as far as we thought ahead. Innsbruck is a beautiful town. We walked down Maria-Theresien-Straße, which is adorable. I didn’t grab a picture of the “Golden Roof,” but you can find plenty of pictures of it out there. The Inn river is a cool milky color (unlike the muddy or clear rivers I’m used to back in the states), and the houses on it are fantastic.

After a long while of walking (including through the, not pictured but still fantastic, Innsbrucker Hofgarten), but before we got all that close to the Kletterzentrum, we both got hungry, and decided to head back. We grabbed drinks and snacks by the Golden Roof, just in time for a rain storm, so, it was a bit of perfect timing. We waited out the storm, went back to the hotel, ordered some schnitzel, watched the lead climbing competition finals, and finished our plan for tomorrow’s Klettersteig.

Discovering how out of shape we are/Hiking and climbing in the Alps

So, the next, um, (still-technically-) morning, we grabbed some coffee and set of on a regional train towards Seefeld in Tirol. Once there, we headed to the Standsteilbahn station to go up the mountain, where a herd of cows were, all with cowbells on them, creating a never ending symphony of noise. We rode the steilbahn up to begin a hike towards the (what we came to realize is) aptly named Seefelder Panorama Klettersteig. The location the steilbahn drops you off gives amazing views, so we knew this was going to offer fantastic sights.

However, once we started on our way, we quickly discovered that a few years of not being at altitude made things difficult (also, a few years of not hiking and a year+ of pandemic lockdown induced lack of exercise did not help). So, the hike was a bit… slow… Not because we were out of shape or anything, no, not that, but because there were good views to be had (that’s the lie I’m telling myself and I’m sticking to it). Our entire hike up was accompanied by the sounds of cowbells drifting up from the valley below.

Eventually, we got to the start of the Klettersteig. We ate a little lunch (well breakfast bars), caught our breath (again, not out of shape, just, uh, the views were too breathtaking [you believe me right?]), and geared up. The climb was really cool and offered some great views.

Unfortunately, the climbing is also a bit exposed. It’s also a bit obvious just how much of a drop it could be. There were times I was a bit nervous, but otherwise I was OK. Lara though… she doesn’t do well with exposed climbing. After we got about half way through the first half, there was a small rest, and Lara was a bit stressed. There is an “emergency exit” hike out, but it’s at the halfway point, so, unfortunately, we had to push on. Right after this rest, there is a very steep, long, and not great section if you are nervous… For all of this section, Lara was chanting, with increasing loudness (though decreasing certainty in her tone), “I can do this.”

Well, she did make it through and do it! We got to the half way point where there are great views, and, more importantly for Lara, the early exit hike.

We took the exit trail down to the trail we took up, walked back down to the Steilbahn, and went back down to Seefeld. We had a bit of a wait before our train, so we went in to the adorable town (adorable seems to be a theme throughout Austria). We grabbed some delicious ice cream (I had tiramisu flavored ice cream, Lara had Ferrero Rocher flavor), hopped on the train, and went back to our hotel to let our muscles relax, eat some pizza, and watch the bouldering finals (we wanted to watch the semi-finals, but that video was pulled down [see ORF’s apology about the issue here], and then the finals had a two hour rain/thunderstorm delay in the middle).

The next morning, we checked out of the hotel, went to the train station, grabbed some breakfast, and hopped on our train back to Vienna. We did get to see the Kletterzentrum, as it turns out the train goes right by it! We can’t wait to go back and actually go in to the Kletterzentrum (and maybe try a different, less exposed Klettersteig).