Hello travellers!
Stubai, Austria. My second holiday outside the Czech Republic since the beginning of the corona.
This time we explored Stubai, one of the most beautiful valley in Tyrol. Many of you know the Stubai Alps only from winter skiing on the glacier, but there is so much to do in summer as well. Fans of climbing, ferratas, hiking, cycling, as well as adventurers who are not afraid of paragliding or a wild water rafting, will have the time of their lives here.
To begin with, I would like to recommend the Stubai Super Card, which will make your life easier when it comes to cable cars. It applies to all cable cars in the valley and really pays off for the weekend.
How long to spend in Stubai?
We went for 3 days, but I’d say it’s not enough. We enjoyed each day to the maximum & fell into a coma at 10 pm every single day. If we had more time, I’d book 4 or 5 days.
Accommodation
Hotel Rastbichlhof is located directly in the valley, so everything was really close. Apart from the Stubai Glacier, which is the furthest, we spent a maximum of 10 minutes in the car. It takes about 25 minutes drive to the glacier. It’s a typical Tyrolean hotel with friendly staff. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to enjoy their facilities, because we were spent literally all day in the mountains.
1 Ferratas
It’s neither hiking nor climbing. This hybrid sport started to amaze me a long time ago and since then I’ve done a bunch of ferratas all around the world. Our research revealed that the most beautiful one in Stubai leads to Elfer. The classification is C/D, it takes about two hours to compete it, plus an hour-long hike from the upper station of the cable car to the ferrata start. It was Jarda’s first ferrata, so I was a little worried that I chose too difficult one. But luckily he’s the same kind of an capricorn as me, so he would never cry or give it up.
The access path from Elfererhütte itself was absolutely magical.
The ferrata started with a vertical chimney (D), led through the Östlicher Elferturm (C) to the very top of the Elferspitze and then further along the ridge to the other side of the massif.
We took our harnesses off on the yellow-labeled path called Stubaier Höhenweg, which got us back to Elferhütte. Then we took the cable car back to the valley.
The ferrata is perfectly described on the Czech ferrata website (unfortunately only in CZ version, but I’m sure oyu will find more information online). The ferrata set can be rented, for example, in Intersport in Neustift (two sets cost us EUR25 for the whole day).
2 Baumhausweg
Because we are supermen, after a four-hour ferrata we took the last cable car to the opposite hill called Schlick 2000. The Baumhausweg starts in the Mittelstation, so you don’t have to go all the way up.
And what is it anyway? A paradise for children! But we are quite children, so we enjoyed the wooden tree houses as much as the children would.
3 Sunrise at Schlick 2000
The first cable car to the Schlick 2000 mountain range runs 3 times in August at 5.20AM. And we were lucky for this morning ride, because one of the 3 times was last week! The sunrise at the StubaiBlick lookout at 2,160 meters above sea was unforgettable. You can even book sunrise breakfast or yoga!
4 Whitewater Rafting
Who wouldn’t want to ride on an eight-degree glacial river with turquoise water! But it’s not easy, you have to work hard, because the whole section is in nice rapids.
We used the company called Rafting Stubai and we did not regret it. I have the whole instructor course because of the Eco-Challenge, so it was nothing new for me, but we were also tought how to swim in a strong current (yes, in the ice cold water!).
5 Paragliding
Paragliding is a popular experience in Stubai. Dozens of parachutes hover over the valley every day, and we couldn’t resist either.
It was my eighth flight and I must say it was one of the best ones. Both me & my instructor were of an adventure spirit, so he did crazy things with me. We flew upside down several times and did various spins and turns!
6 Stubai Gletscher
Glaciers – my favorite thing in the world. But you probably already know that. Therefore, I wouldn’t leave Stubai without visiting the highest point – incredible 3,210 meters. There’s a gondola going all the way up, so forget about hiking for several hours. It was really cold up there, so if you come here, don’t forget your jacket!
7 Wildewasserweg Stubai
Even though we returned from the glacier around 5PM, we couldn’t resist one more hike. We completed the second stage of the so-called Wilderwasserweg.
We started hiking (well, it was more like sprinting) from Grawa Wasserfall (you can check out my article from last year here) and in 55 minutes we got over an elevation gain of more than 600 meters. According to the guide, this part of the route takes 2 hours, so you can imagine how fast we were going. Our destination was Sulzenau Alm, where I wanted to take a picture of the river from a drone. These kinds of riverbeds are typical for Iceland, that’s why I wanted to see them here so bad.
It takes about 6 hours to go through all 4 stages of the route, but unfortunately we didn’t make it due to limited time, so we chose only the second part. But if I had one more day, I would hike the whole thing, because at the end you will get to a glacier, which is supposed to be spectacular as well.
Another legendary trip is over. To sum it up, in 2.5 days we hiked 49 kilometers and climbed 579 floors, which equals 1737 meters. Active vacation exactly as I like it!
E.
