10. Tourist information & infrastructure. There are excellent tourist information offices in every town and village.  They can direct you to whatever service, need, or requirement you have in any known language.

9. The people. The locals are friendly and welcoming, and they love the mountains as much as you do.

8. The food and the drink. Very good quality and great value for money, and did I mention the beer is excellent?

7. Public transport. This is one of the outstanding features of Austria.  A car is not necessary because you can get a train, bus, taxi, or gondola to or from most anywhere.

6. The valleys, villages, & towns.  Beautiful, charming, full of character, and more authentic than in other alpine countries.

5. The mountain culture. The people here have lived in these mountains since before the Romans arrived.  The mountains are an integral part of their lives.  They may work in town or still run the family farm, but at every opportunity they hike the hills and climb to the summits.

4. The mountains. I have traveled widely and seen some of the highest and most famous peaks in the world and this is my favourite place in the mountain world.

3. The paths. The mountain paths form a network connecting huts right across Austria.  It is possible to travel for days or even weeks at a time, on well marked paths, and passing through the most amazing places you have ever seen.

2. The huts. Are the biggest single difference between walking in Austria and North America or even the other alpine countries.  The Austrian hut system sets the standard for comfort, quality, and hospitality. The best of the them, like the Bonn-Matreier Hut or the Badener Hut manage to create a warm, welcoming atmosphere which is the perfect finish to a long alpine day.

1. The light packs! In North America you’d be carrying the tent, sleeping bag, stove, fuel, food, and all the rest of it which is just not necessary in Austria.  Light packs equal enjoyable walking, it’s as simple as that.

2. One of the most useful things I’ve found recently is the Google translator which you can find at: http://translate.google.com/#.  I have been using it recently and found it to be an excellent tool.  Monika, who is a fluent German speaker, tells me that the translations are generally accurate.  Something that cannot always be said about those ‘translate this page’ programs which can make even the simplest phrases unrecognizable.

3. The Google Translator is great but I also discovered an excellent German language instruction site on the BBC for working on your German before heading to the Alps. http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/german/.  It is excellent, practical, and thorough.  I highly recommend it.

4. Last but not least, depending on a volcano in Iceland or who knows what events or circumstances your flight to Europe from North America may delayed or cancelled.  You might want to check on insurance coverage for unexpected delays and cancellations.  One well regarded specialist firm is TravelEx.  We have not used them ourselves they are rated highly by other travelers.  https://www.travelex-insurance.com/

We get out into the Boise foothills throughout the year but as the spring advances  into summer we try to get out into the high mountains nearby.  One of the most scenic of these areas is the Sawtooth Range.

We drove to Stanley last Thursday afternoon, camped overnight at a USFS campground and on Friday morning walked in to Observation Peak.  The walk was fairly long, almost eight hours in total, but the weather and the views from the summit were outstanding.

We’re only three weeks away from our departure for the Tirol so  we try to duplicate the conditions we’ll find there in our training walks here at home. This was an excellent training day for the Alps given the length of the walk, the elevation gain, and the exposure to altitude.

Unlike the Alps there was no Alpine Club hut to be found, so after returning to the trailhead we drove into Ketchum to get a meal and a few cold refreshing beverages before continuing on to Boise.  All in all a good day out and so close to home.

Even very fit people who are unfamiliar with mountain sports may struggle when faced with the reality of putting on their pack and climbing 1,000 meters in the course of a 3 to 6 hour walk on a winding, rocky path.

Get out there cycling, running, walking, and hiking now.  You’ll be glad you did!

The secret is to mimic the intended activity in your training. The closer your training resembles the activity the more effective it will be.  For our trips the ideal training program would consist largely of 3 to 6 hour walks up and down hills carrying a pack weighing 20 to 30 lbs.

Unfortunately, most people don’t have that kind of time available and they can’t get into the hills every day, or even every weekend.  This is where difficulty lies for the average person. If you don’t have easy access to mountain terrain then you’ll have to find substitutes. Here are a few suggestions; running, swimming, cycling, rowing, aerobics, and walking. Which brings us to the second problem; time management.  You will have to make your physical training a high priority.  Aim to get in a several workouts of 1 to 2 hours each week with a longer workout of 3 hours plus on the weekend.

Regardless of how you do it you must find a way to build strength and fitness going uphill carrying a load. Even if you make maximum use of the substitutes mentioned above, you will still not be  building the movement skills required in the mountains. In order to build those skills you’ll have to use other activities such as cross country running, soccer, racquetball, or mountain biking. Look for activities that will build balance, strength, aerobic capacity.

Use your weekends and holidays to seek out hilly or mountainous terrain and then try to mimic the demands of an Alpine day.  That is; aim to spend 3 to 6 hours going up 1,000 meters and down again.  If necessary climb your designated hill several times!

Hopefully this update of an earlier blog is more suited to those who simply want to get more enjoyment out of their walking holiday in the Alps.

This is something that none of us ever wish to use but the fact is that the mountains can be a dangerous environment.  Whether due to the conditions, the chosen path or route, or other unforeseen circumstances.  If you are contemplating a trip to the Alps, whether planning to go with us or not, take the time to read the following article which was just published in the Spring 2010 newsletter of the Austrian Alpine Club/Sektion Britannia.

http://www.aacuk.org.uk/Article_071.aspx

To briefly summarize the article; the cost for a 30 minute helicopter flight from where the author was injured to the hospital was 2,400 Swiss Francs (that’s $2,268 US at the current rate).  It’s worth keeping in mind that the authors injury was nothing dramatic-he stepped on a loose rock which caused him to fall.  How often have you done that? Unfortunately, in this case it resulted in a broken leg and ended his holiday.

The good news is that the cost for his flight was fully covered by the insurance provided with his Alpine Club membership.  The author does recommend additional travel insurance which specifically covers ‘mountaineering activities’ to cover actual medical expenses, i.e. hospital stay, medications, and in his case surgery and physical therapy.

This is the first article I can recall where the author describes in detail the administrative side of a mountaineering accident.  Not as dramatic as ‘Touching the Void’ but probably more realistic for most of us.

The Self-guided option can be just the thing for some people.  Your schedule may not allow you to join us on our group trips which are scheduled months in advance.  Perhaps you want to travel with a group of your own friends or family members.  Or you may want to travel as a couple and walk at your own pace on a route of your choosing.

We have also had clients who had traveled to Europe in the past but had been reluctant to walk the paths & overnight in the mountain huts because it was outside of their experience.  We can provide a detailed itinerary, maps, reservations, and contacts, which will make it possible for you to walk from hut to hut in the Alps with confidence.

The cost for these Self-guided trips will vary with the choice of itinerary, the dates selected, and the duration of your trip but on average the cost will be approximately 50% of the cost of a Guided tour.

Take advantage of our experience and local knowledge.  We can provide you with set itineraries based on the guided trips described on our website (www.highroadtrekking.com) or we can design a custom trip just for you.  Just let us know your travel dates, the area you’re interested in, and we can put together a proposed itinerary.  Based on your feedback we’ll make any changes necessary to create the trip that works best for you.

Hiking on the Sella Group

When we discovered that Sierra Trading Post was holding a weekly “Share your Adventure” Photo contest with the weekly winner being issued a $50 gift certificate, Monika entered one of her photos and won!

Her photo was taken while hiking on the Sella Group in the Italian Dolomites. Here’s the announcement of Sierra Trading Post’s blog: http://blog.sierratradingpost.com/

We look for information on the website which is outdated or trips which need to be modified or changed completely.  Then we review every page and every photograph.  Adding information or tips which we discovered during the treks we’ve just completed, changing itineraries where necessary, updating photos, deleting outdated material, etc.

This is all done at home on my iBook G4.  But the critical step of placing the new pages onto the website itself is left to my friend and comrade from my years as a firefighter, Jeff Hughes aka ‘Tex’.

Besides being an excellent firefighter, outstanding photographer, world traveler, bon vivant, and fashion plate (not to mention redneck mechanic) Tex is also very knowledgeable about all things IT related.

It was Tex who took our ideas, itineraries, and photographs in 2007 and created the High Road Trekking website and who each year takes our updates and makes the necessary changes to the website.

This blog is just to say that we hope our customers find the website useful and attractive but we also want to say thanks to Tex for doing such an excellent job and for working so patiently with us.

Psychologists at San Francisco State University have conducted a study (http://edition.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/02/10/happiness.possessions/) and discovered that over time, the things you own can’t make you as happy as the things you do.

They found that the happiness generated in acquiring a new thing, whatever that may be, gradually faded after a few months of seeing it every day, while the happiness generated by experiences continued long after the event itself had passed in the form of memories.

Experiences helped fulfill the participants’ social need for bonding with other individuals. Researchers found that when spending money on an event, most people take someone with them, and that shared experience builds a stronger bond between them.

Another reason for feeling increased happiness is that people tend to feel more alive when actually in the experience and even later upon reflection. Can your new computer do that?

The experiences that one encounters travelling, especially in the mountains, where the air is clean, the food is healthy and the exercise is invigorating, just can’t be beat and now we have another  reason to add to our list: it’s an experience that can make you happier for longer.

Monika