Striding and gliding our way across the Austrian Alps
There comes a time when pulling on a helmet and throwing oneself down an icy slope loses its appeal –and yet I still yearn for clean mountain air, Alpine scenery, gluhwein, exhilaration.
Which brings my husband, Jon, and I to the Austrian ski resort of Leutasch, which offers the prettiest cross-country ski trails for complete beginners.
Miles of groomed and signposted trails run right in front of out hotel, the Hubertushof. It is typically Tyrolian – all blondewood panelling with music box wrap-around balconies.
The trails follow the river
Ache, which meanders along the bottom of the Wetterstein valley.
We are kitted out in slimline, hitech leggings, a fleece and a light waterproof jacket.
No helmet, no goggles and softsided lace-up ski boots as comfy as old trainers.
But once our toes are snapped into crosscountry skis, we get our first big shock: the skis might be super-light but they have no metal edges – making stopping, standing and steering difficult.
I had pictured myself gliding along tree-lined tracks but my shuffle is humiliating.
‘Swing your hips,’ shouts Yohannes, our instructor, ‘stride and glide’.
He sashays off ahead of us, balletically balancing on one leg, the other stretched out behind him. I am a duck on an icy pond, skittering in all possible directions.
Piste bashers set neat parallel cross-country tracks into the snow trails each night, but if you’re pigeon-toed like me, it’s a perpetual battle to keep those skis in the tracks.
Picking up a new skill in your 50s is tough, but it’s some consolation to find falling over doesn’t hurt when you are moving so slowly.
This type of skiing provides a proper full-body workout and by day three, the shakes set in as the muscles around the ankles and knees, which have been furiously twitching to keep me upright, scream for mercy.
We abandon the skis to indulge in Hubertushof’s selection of home-made cakes and strudels on the sun-drenched terrace. Then it’s down to the basement to ease those knackered muscles in the sauna and pool.
Almost everyone else is naked in the spa. We get chatting to Colin and Anne (identified as British, like us, by their equally prudish lack of nudity).
Both in their late-70s, they go cross-country skiing twice each year and have no plans to slow down.
This is encouraging. And on our final day, we experience brief moments of euphoria as we achieve something close to the meditative rhythm of ‘stride and glide’ on beautiful and almost deserted trails. It’s a wonderful feeling – only shattered when Colin streaks past us in the fast lane. Despite the dent to our pride, it’s great to think that Jon and I might have found an answer to the call of the Alps without the horrors of crowded lifts and vertiginous pistes. Cross-country skiing has come to our rescue.
Who knows, one more trip and we could be sufficiently accomplished to keep up with Colin and Anne.
Headwater offers a sevennight, self-guided cross country skiing trip to Leutasch from €1,484pp. See headwater.com for details.
Ryanair offers flights to Innsbruck, Tyrol’s capital, from €143 return
(ryanair.com).