The Adlerweg. Mike Wells
at lunchtime. Apfelwein (cider) made from apples can also be found.
Austria is a major wine producing country, although almost all Austrian wine comes from the eastern part of the country, with little or no production in Tyrol. Most wine produced is white with Gruner Veltliner the most commonly used grape along with Riesling, Muller Thurgau, Weissburgunder and Rulander. Red wine, mostly produced from Pinot Noir (Blauburgunder) or Zweigelt (Rotburger) grapes, is growing in popularity. Imported, mostly Italian, wines are readily available and often cheaper than Austrian wine. This is not surprising as Italian wine producing regions are closer to Tyrol than Austrian vineyards. Wine can be bought by the bottle, or as house wine (offene weine) by the glass or carafe in sizes achtel (125ml), viertel (250ml), halbe (half litre) and litre.
At the close of a meal, Austrians typically drink schnapps, a distillation of alcohol from a wide variety of fruits, berries and herbs. Tyrol is a major producer of fruit schnapps (typically about 40% alcohol) and fruit liqueurs (less strong, at about 20%). Small local suppliers often produce these (there are 20,000 registered schnapps distilleries in Austria) from fruits such as pear (williams), apricot (marillen), plum (zwetschken), and bilberry (myrtille). Particularly distinctive tastes are those of krauter, a distillation flavoured with herbs, and enzian from the root of the gentian flower. Schnapps is usually bottled commercially, although sometimes you will find local distillations decanted into unmarked bottles. Many refuges have a haus schnapps, sometimes home produced. Beware, quality and strength can vary greatly from sophisticated smoothness to throat burning firewater!
Coffee is the Austrian hot drink of choice. Legend has it that coffee was introduced in 1683 when retreating Ottoman troops left bags of beans behind after the Battle of Vienna. Coffee is served in a wide variety of styles. Mokka or kleiner schwarzer (small black) is similar to expresso, kleiner brauner (small brown) is served with milk; verlangerter (lengthened) is diluted with hot water; melange (mixed) is topped up with hot milk; while einspanner is topped with whipped cream. Italian styles such as cappuccino and café latte are also commonly served.
Tea is growing in popularity. Schwarzer tee (black tea or English breakfast tea) is widely available, along with a range of fruit and herbal teas. Tea is served with lemon. If you want it with cold milk, you need to ask for tee mit kalt milch. To warm yourself up on a cold day you could try hot chocolate with rum, a popular winter après-ski drink.
TYROLEAN FRUIT SCHNAPPS
There is a particularly wide selection of schnapps at Tuxerbauern distillery in Tulfes, near the bottom of the Glungezerbahn cablecar (Stage 13). An excellent souvenir, but not very practical to carry around. However as Tulfes is only a short bus trip from Innsbruck, you could always return at the end of your walk and pick up a bottle or two before travelling home.
Amenities and services
Shops
All towns and larger villages passed through have grocery stores, often small supermarkets, and many have pharmacies. Opening hours vary, but most open early. Grocery stores close at 1300 on Saturdays and stay closed all day Sunday. Clothing and outdoor equipment stores can be found in St Johann, Kufstein, Pertisau, Innsbruck, Leutasch, Ehrwald, Lermoos, Elbigenalp and St Anton.
Post offices
All towns and some villages have post offices. Opening hours vary.
Currency and banks
Austria changed from using Schillings to Euros in 2002. There are banks in St Johann, Kufstein, Unterlangkampfen, Maurach, Pertisau, Absam, Innsbruck, Igls, Weidach, Ehrwald, Lermoos, Elbigenalp, Haselgehr, Holzgau, Steeg and St Anton. Normal opening hours are 0800–1230 and 1330–1500 (weekdays only), with extended opening until 1730 on Thursdays. Most branches have ATM machines, which enable you to make transactions in English. Contact your bank before you leave home to activate your card for use in Austria.
Telephones
Austria has extensive mobile phone (handi) coverage, even in mountain areas where signals can often be received from the valleys below. Contact your network provider before you leave home to ensure your phone is enabled for foreign use and that you have the optimum price package. If you plan to make many local calls once you have arrived, it usually pays to obtain a local SIM card. The international dialling code for Austria is 0043. Some DAV refuges are contacted via Germany (international dialling code 0049).
An increasing number of hotels, guesthouses and even a few refuges make internet access available to guests, often free but sometimes for a small fee.
Electricity
Voltage is 220v, 50HzAC. Plugs are standard European two-pin round.
Bschlabs church from the opposite side of Bschlabertal (Stage 19)
The natural environment
Physical geography
The Alps, which form a high mountain barrier between northern and southern Europe, are some of the youngest European mountains. They were formed approximately 50 million years ago, being pushed up by the collision of the African and European tectonic plates. The Alps run west to east through Austria and consist of three parallel mountain ranges, the high, mainly granite, central Alps flanked by the slightly lower northern and southern calcareous limestone chains. The Adlerweg traverses the most northerly of these, the Nordlichen Kalkalpen, following the range from east to west. For much of its length there are extensive views south across the deep glacial defile of the Inn valley with the higher permanently snow-capped central Alps on the horizon, and occasional views north across the Alpine foothills to the basin of the Danube beyond.
The chain is broken into a series of blocks by a number of north to south glacial river valleys that have broken through the mountains. As their name implies, the calcareous Alps are composed mostly of porous limestone, with the exact composition of this limestone varying from block to block. The two most significant geological aspects of the region are glaciation and karst country.
During the great ice ages, ice sheets covered all of central and northern Europe. As the ice retreated, great glaciers carved deep valleys through the Austrian Alps, the deepest and longest forming the Inn valley. Running east from the Engadine region of Switzerland right across Tyrol, where it separates the northern and central Alpine ranges, it reaches the Danube basin beyond Kufstein. Along its length, the Inn is joined by lateral glacial valleys flowing in from north and south. Most of the glaciers have long since melted and only a few remain, mostly in the high central Alps. The only remaining glacier encountered by the Adlerweg is Pazielferner above St Anton and upper Lechtal.
The enduring legacies left behind by the retreating glaciers are characteristic deep U-shaped valleys and morainic lakes. Throughout the walk you will be able to trace old glacial flows, from smooth bowl-shaped cirques surrounded on three sides by high jagged mountains, down stepped valleys blocked by terminal moraines containing either morainic lakes or the dried up beds of earlier lakes. The descent from Birkkarspitze (Stage 11) is almost a geography lesson with every kind of glacial feature on show.
The receding glaciers stripped much of the topsoil, leaving large areas of smooth limestone exposed. The steady slow erosion of this bare limestone by acidic rainwater causes limestone pavements to be formed. While karst pavements are seen on the surface (notably above Zireineralm, Stage U6), most karst features are hidden below ground in a series of sinkholes and cave systems. Zireinersee lake (Stages 7 and U6) is a karst lake with no visible outlet, while the Hundsalm Eishohle cave (Stage 4) is part of a karst cave system.
Glacial cirque below Birkkarspitze (Stage 11)
Walking the Adlerweg, you will encounter a few morainic lakes, some trapped by terminal moraines and some by lateral. The most notable is Achensee, the unique geography of which is described in Stage 8, while the descent from Fern pass (Stage 17) provides excellent views