Cross-country skiing in the Austrian Tyrol is not for the faint-hearted

By Neil English

Pole positions: Neil's XC group at Seefeld go through the basics with instructor Michael Multerer


We Alpine skiers all know the truth, don't we? Alpine ( downhill) skiing is the real deal - the stuff of proper, adrenaline-seeking sportsmen and women.

Nordic (cross-country) skiing is namby-pamby - best suited to pensioners or scaredy-cats who can't handle the slopes.

Well, after trying out some cross-country, or XC, for myself, I can tell you what a load of tosh that really is.

I've just returned from a predominantly XC-based ski trip and now know why many of the most effective gym and domestic exercise machines are based on cross-country skiing movement.

It was on the train after my XC experience in the magnificent Seefeld region of Austria that I started to get the message.

As I typed on my laptop I noticed aches and pains in my armpits. Even my thumbs ached. Then, as I tried to manoeuvre my luggage on to the upper racks, I felt the pain in my upper and inner thighs, hips, buttocks, groin and back. Oh, and my shoulders and chest. And this was all on top of the normal aches you find in calves, knees, quads and hamstrings after alpine skiing.

Happily, all these aches felt like a healthy kind of pain, and I realised I had been getting a pretty comprehensive workout - due to the incessant poleing action of XC, which requires outstretched arms, using poles 50 per cent longer than alpine versions, to maximise forward propulsion.

I had taken my quest to learn XC as seriously as possible, choosing one of the most highly acclaimed regions for the sport in the world. Seefeld sits at the base of the Leutasch Valley and is crowned by the mountain ranges of the Wildmoos nature reserve to the west, the Wetterstein massifs to the north and the famous ridge of Karwendel peaks to the east.

This traditional Tyrolean farming village and winter sports resort hosted the Nordic events of the Winter Olympics in 1964 and 1976. More recently, Seefeld was voted winner of the 'Excellent XC Ski Trails' category by a panel of Ski Atlas experts - beating 231 other destinations to the accolade.

It was easy to see why this magnificent region caught the eye of the Olympic committee. Among the hundreds of miles of all grades of recreational trails --trails that pass frozen lakes, cut through larch forests and dissect high open plateaux - the area also offers the kind of terrain capable of rigorously testing the world's greatest XC champions, many of whom are among the fittest athletes on the planet.

One of these god-like specimens, Michael Multerer, was our instructor. He's a senior member of the coaching squad at Seefeld's XC ski school, which is headed by former Austrian national XC team member Martin Tauber.

Thanks to Michael's magnificent presence, all six of our group made significant headway in our early attempts at the classic style of XC skiing, which mostly involves channelling the skis along man-made grooves on a prepared piste. I found it difficult to trust putting my entire weight alternately on one ski - a skill that is required to optimise the length of forward glide with each scissor movement of the legs. Equal measures of rhythm and balance are crucial.

When these factors combine, XC gliding is a genuinely gratifying sensation - and I have vowed to do more of this sport in the hope that one day my technique will be good enough for me to properly enjoy the serenity and majesty of my surroundings.

In keeping with Seefeld's Olympic heritage, there are numerous winter sports to test your nerve in this region - but none is pain-free!


Dashing through the snow: Neil takes the reigns


Tobogganing remains one of the most popular winter pastimes in Austria and there are scores of designated tracks for all abilities. The only complaint from the ardent tobogganers in our party was that of 'sore bottom'.

Ski touring - in which you use combination bindings and fit 'skins' to the soles of your skis so you can climb without slipping backwards - is rather more physically challenging but no less enjoyable.

The Seefeld region also caters for alpine skiers, and the slopes we tried immediately above the town on the Seefelder Joch and Harmelekopf mountains were rather tantalisingly adorned with a foot of fresh snow.

Taking in the views, letting the skis run on the exhilarating pistes and occasionally venturing to the sides for a dip into the powder far exceeded my alpine skiing expectations from this trip. And that was before sampling any of the nine mountain restaurants or the long, floodlit, night-skiing run.

Throughout the Leutasch Valley, there are also hundreds of walking trails and, like the XC tracks, most are civilised and blessed by trail-side benches at vantage points and cosy mountain huts - called almstuben - serving refreshments.

One of the most exciting ways to spend a half or whole day is with the local company Tyrol Alpine. Its founder, and our guide, Martin, treated our group to a combination of husky-sledding, huskydrawn snowshoeing through the forests and via ferrata - or 'iron road' - which involved crossing a steep-sided canyon on a zip wire, abseiling, and hiking along cliff ledges attached by safety cables.

Children as young as eight can do all this as there are itineraries tailored for all abilities and temperaments, making this kind of adventure a memorable thrill for the whole family.

Travel factsHeadwater (01606 720199, www.headwater.com) offers seven nights in the four-star Hotel Xander in Seefeld, including breakfast, tea, dinner, equipment hire, the services of a Headwater XC ski guide, return transfers and flights from Gatwick to Innsbruck, from £1,187 per person. Flights from other UK airports can be arranged.


source: dailymail