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ItalianoUpdated 10.02.2023
Frau Holle has gone all out and the Achensee region is currently presenting itself as a winter fairytale.
If you don't want to hit the slopes, you can also enjoy the winter away from them: on a winter hike with the Nature Park Rangers or in the new virtual cross-country challenge. At the "8th International Achensee Balloon Days" the motto is once again: get in, take off and storm the sky!
A special experience for all those who don't strap on skis is the winter hiking programme at Lake Achensee. Until 17 March 2023, you can roam the Karwendel Nature Park, Austria's largest nature park, with trained nature park rangers. On the instructive excursions, whose programme changes daily, animal observations, but also snow and botany are the order of the day. You hike through snow-covered mountain forests and to alpine pastures, observe chamois, squirrels, deer or stags and also get answers to the questions of how mountains were formed all around and why there are valleys and cirques.
In the Achensee region, you can not only indulge in cross-country skiing on over 220 kilometres of trails that run in the spectacular ambience between mountain and lake. Cross-country fans can also compete in a virtual cross-country challenge there, which includes three trails: The seven-kilometre "Seeloipe Oberautal", which is an easy circuit in Achenkirch, and the 14-kilometre medium-difficulty trail that leads from the entrance to the Karwendel valleys through Falzthurntal to Gramai. The "Pulverer Mahd Runde", which starts in Steinberg am Rofan, is 6.5 kilometres long and challenging.
All you need for the cross-country challenge is a GPS watch or a smartphone app. The fastest runners per trail (classic style and skating) as well as the amateur athletes who are the first to run all three trails are determined. By taking part in the competition, which lasts until 5 March 2023, cross-country skiers automatically become part of the "Achensee Cross-Country Skiing Community". Among this community, attractive prizes will be raffled off after completion of the challenge, such as a private cross-country skiing training, a ski bag or a cross-country combined boot. The new virtual cross-country skiing challenge at Tyrol's largest lake is organised by Achensee Tourism in cooperation with the renowned cross-country skiing portal www.xc-ski.de. Conditions of participation can be found at www.xc-ski.de and www.achensee.com.
Snow-covered slopes, wildly romantic gorges and a bird's eye view of the wintry Achensee: The "8th International Achensee Balloon Days" from 27 February to 5 March 2023 make it possible. "You don't need any previous experience to take a balloon ride as a passenger," says Martin Tschoner, managing director of Achensee Tourismus. "You just have to bring a bit of a sense of adventure and time and you're in." The balloon experience as part of the Balloon Days on Tyrol's largest lake lasts about five hours, starting once a day early in the morning in Achenkirch.
Passengers have to help set up and take down the balloons, the balloon flight itself lasts one hour (sometimes longer). The brave passengers are rewarded at the end with a certificate that ceremoniously elevates them to the noble status of balloonists. Tickets for a balloon flight as part of the "Achensee Balloon Days" cost 350 euros per person and can be booked at www.achensee.com.
The "Nightglow" is also particularly atmospheric: on 28 February 2023 (from 8.30 p.m.), colourful hot-air balloons glowing in the darkness romantically set the scene on the northern shore of Lake Achensee. Food and drink will also be provided on this evening.