On top of the world – A week in the immaculate Austrian Alps

I was fortunate to spend a week in Saalbach, Austria, for 100km+ of trail running, hiking, and mountain biking to my heart’s delight.

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Ever since I got my first mountain bike when I was ten years old has it been a dream to go to a bike park. I spent my early mountain biking days watching New World Disorder 1 through 10 on repeat, learning from the greats of free riding while feasting on the rock, punk and rap heavy soundtracks layered over footage of road gaps and flow trails on 26-inch aluminum bikes. Fast forward to 2023, and I found myself planning a two and a half month Euro trip, including a stop at one of the great alpine bike parks. For ten days in the middle of the trip, Georgia would jet off to London to see her best friends, and I would meet a friend in France to watch a Springbok Rugby World Cup game, followed by a week in Saalbach in the Austrian Alps. I left Bordeaux in France the morning after the Springbok game for a 630 flight to Nice and another to Vienna, but Vienna in the north east is nowhere near Saalbach in the mid-west. Three trains between Vienna, Salzburg, Schwarzach and Zell am See should have solved that problem, but apparently a layover 15 minutes is not long enough, and I missed the second train and also desperately needed to pee. I rushed to platform seven for the Salzburg Zell am See bus and caught it minutes later, still full of pee and the bus full of local commuters. That bus stopped, I shit you not, 84 times in 150 minutes. And at none of these stops could I alight for the water closet. Eventually a rainy Zell am See loomed into view and just one bus remained, which brought me to the Promised Land. I was grumpy, underslept and missing my girlfriend until I got to my Saalbach apartment and I was a changed man. I would argue ski resorts in summer are at their most special – fields of endless deep green, snow-capped peaks in the distance, and trails, gondolas and ski lifts poking through the trees. Fresh alpine air righted the wrongs of the 14-hour travel day before, and when I woke and saw a light drizzle, I knew the first thing I should do was trail run. Briefly consulting my paper map, I embarked straight from the apartment and up the nearby valley, encountering early on some majestic single tracks along the Spielbergbach River. And the gradients meant I would not do all that much running. The climb continued to the famous Spielberghaus restaurant, with a sign proclaiming it the home of Valentina Höll, downhill mountain biking champion, and I knew I was in the right place. At the top, my single track home was closed on account of urgent forestry, and instead I continued up to the top of the Kohlmais lift and rode it down. If ever there was a bastard climb, it was that one. A relentless 900m over just 9km and my legs were crying out when I got into the lift. I’d stocked the fridge with schnitzels, pasta and other carbs, so it was a couple of hours at home before I set off to Bikefürst to hire a bike. No rest for the wicked. With lunch scarcely down the hatch, Yannick from Bikefürst had rented me a Mondraker Superfoxy R, a long-travel enduro bike, which I figured would do the trick, and a full set of safety gear including kneepads, spine, shoulder and elbow protection, and a full face helmet. The rest of my gear, including gloves, baggies, bibs and cycling shoes I’d lugged all the way from Africa. Worth it for six days out of 74? Probably not. On that day one, I explored the southern side of the valley via the Schattberg X-press lift, starting with the famous Hacklberg Trail. But with sunset approaching, I figured I’d need a trail pointing roughly in the direction of home and not the neighboring Hinterglemm. So I left Hacklberg and found X-Line, a black trail. In other words, reserved only for the most skillful riders, but in any case, the only way down and which I thought would end right near my apartment. How bad could it be? Boy, I was out of my depth, alone on a new bike. On a steep and technical trail used mainly by experienced enduro and downhill riders. I battled my way down, wishing away the cramp from my fingers, and halfway down suddenly arrived on a segment of woodwork I’ve subsequently dubbed The Roller Coaster. Scary as it was to hit something at that gradient and speed, it’s been locked firmly in the memory bank as a top-three biking event. It was day three of six when Yannick suggested I hike to Stemmerkogel, one of the area’s higher peaks. So I packed a lunch in my hydration pack, donned my Beau Miles hat from Decathlon, and hopped into the Schattberg X-press gondola once again. I knew we had the running paradise of Madeira in Portugal up next, so I made sure to hike and not run so as to avoid any overuse injuries. I promise I managed to hike the entire outing, not running even once. At over 2,000m, the air was cool with a light breeze and the sun shone warmly. Clear cut single tracks in all directions, happy hikers of all ages and the 360-degree vista, including granite, grass and snowcapped peaks. On the way down, hiking became too slow – shock, horror. I had things to do like reading and gazing into the abyss. So I started running – 1,000m that goddamn trail descended, positively rinsing my knees, and I ended up in the small Hinterglemm village next door and got the bus home. Subsequent rides that week revealed other woodwork on Hinterglemm’s Blue Line, which I hit a few times in the wet. Even the non-wood berms were spectacular. On this series of three left-right-left handers on Blue Line, I managed to pull seven lateral G-forces and passs pilots training at the same time. Fun is an understatement. The combination of being deep in the mountains, on a strange bike, with ski lifts removing the pain of ascending and dozens of kays of manicured singletrack make for a quite surreal experience. A dream come true, just 21 years after my first ride. So Saalbach: a nightmare to reach affordably, surprisingly cheap to live off of groceries once there, and the perfect benchmark for your next summer outdoor adventure trip. Ain’t no doubt I’ll be back.