IN WITH A SHOUT AT YODELLING
Yodelling isn’t just a noise. It’s actually an effective way of communicating, as Sharron Livingston found out
THE STRUDEL I was about to tuck into was probably the best I have ever tasted. Well, certainly the most appreciated . After - all it had been a gruelling 60-minute climb up the Pencan mountain in the Austrian Tirol to reach the Zimmereben restaurant. The escapade starteda s the
Mayrhofen mosi — a gentle walk through the town to see its beautiful and sometimes ancient, timbered architecture — and ended on a veranda 220 metres high.
It made for some sensational views, then the hailstones began to tumble down. But that was okay too, because everything in these parts is served with schnapps, a potent drink that must be downed in one.
It warmed my nether regions and imbued a sense of fearlessness for the descent and all served as a prelude, because the following day, I was back up another mountain.
This one involved a four-mile trek and the chance to literally sing for my dinner.
I have no idea if anyone could hear us on the upper reaches of the Alps.
Or whether the cows we passed on the way up from the village of Kon-
isgsleiten were at all ruffled. Or even if we frightened the fish as they swam in the blue-hued lake in the green valley 2,400 metres below.
But I do know one thing. As hard as yodel teacher Christian Eder tried, myself and four other women, did not sound anything like Julie Andrews yodelling
A Lonely Goatherd in The Sound of Music — even though we hired dirndls to look the part.
Hotelier Christian put together this jodelwanderweg trail to bring the hills alive during the quiet summer months. The route is moderately challenging and devoted to this ancient form of alpine com
munication. Coaching started at the peak of the Königsleitenspitze mountain reachable by a free-touse cable car.
It was warm but breezy and as the wind played with our hair, we got a short history telling how shepherds and lovers would communicate their missives.
“They would yodel down the mountain to say ‘ I’m coming home now’.” It was important to get the notes right to avoid misunderstandings. And to get fluent with the Kipp technique (“cracking” the voice like when screaming) to go from high to low pitches.
Dressed in traditional Lederhosen and a checked shirt, Christian demonstrated.
He took a deep breath, shaped his lips into an O and out burst a fullyfledged, full-throttle yodel — an oral equivalent of the highs and lows of the valley itself. It was stunning.
There was a small pause to allow us to absorb the moment and just as we began to notice the blowy air again, another yodel ripped through winds echoing into the distance, perhaps even reaching the low-hanging clouds.
“And now it’s your turn. I want you to look out to the next peak and pretend that you are yodelling some important information to the
farmer over there,” he said.
‘THEY WOULD YODEL DOWN THE MOUNTAIN TO SAY ‘I’M COMING HOME’
“Hops-so da-re-i-ri!”. It sounded loud to me, but for Christian there was more work to be done. “The yodel should be felt,” he said.
And so, there on the mountain peak, we went through an exercise routine to loosen our limbs and lungs and began to learn the notes. The moments slipped away taking with them our inhibitions. Soon we
u n d e r s t o o d what it mean to “feel the yodel” and we called upon the full intensity of our vocals and let them loose over the mountain tops.
Imbued with a satisfying confidence, we were ready to walk the walk, literally winding from one spectacular mountain view to the next to visit the five yodel stations. At each, we picked up basic yodelling skills, listened to recordings and mimicked the sounds.
Each station had a climbable sculpture like a giant pair of Lederhosen or a cheese-shaped slide. One had a hut-like restaurant called the Larmarchalm, whose sculpture is two large horns. We stopped for beer and cheese which we took on the veranda. The owner, Franz Hubbel, whipped out his accordion and, while he played, we were able to dance or admire t he immensity of the Zillertal Alps. From there we could even see the Tux Alps where a whole different experience can be had. At the Hintertux glacier there’s a series of cable cars that make four stops up the Gefrorene-WandSpitze mountain, where views stretch from Großglockner to the Dolomites.
We made two cable car stops. The first was to Sommerberg from where we walked around four and a half km across meadows. As we descended we learned about plants that make schnapps and those that heal or wound.
The second cable car to Gefrorene Wand Lift Station gave us a dazzling insight into a glacial crevasse. It was discovered by Roman Erler of Natursport Tirol, while investigating a hollow in the glacier Hintertuxer, Gefrorene Wand (Frozen Wall) summit at 3288 meters (10787 ft).
Dubbed the Ice Palace, it features a frozen glacial lake, a glittering ice crystal chamber that’s 15 meters high, ice stalactites that reach seven meters, frozen waterfalls and myriad of natural ice formations that were so beautiful I wanted to run back up the mountain and yodel about it from the peaks.