The storm we had been trying to out run since Werfen was no match for the mighty Austrian Alps. When we emerged from the last of the tunnels through the Western Tauren Range the storm was nothing but distant cloud fingers clawing in vain at gaps between the peaks. Greifenburg is a quaint village located in the Upper Drau Valley between the A10 and the ski town of Lienz. Its colorful buildings (maybe a dozen at most) surround the intersection of two roads leading off into a maze of even smaller settlements.
The Upper Drau Valley
Greifenburg
Waisach, home of our bed and breakfast, was one of those settlements on the other side of the Drau River. The 500-year-old building has been continually improved and upgraded into its present form, a picture perfect Austrian villa. It was by far our favorite lodging of the trip. Our host was named Bettina and her hospitality was icing on the cake. Down the drive was a small chapel complete with an Onion Dome clock tower and church bells. Bettina’s free-roaming pet rabbits completed the idyllic setting. At night they would mischievously nibble graveyard flowers, causing a great deal of trouble. What a place to live!
Waisach #7 Our Bed and Breakfast
Waisach Chapel
One of Bettina's Rabbits
Greifenburg is a hang glider's dream. Down the road from the church was a long, grassy LZ. I spotted a glider being broken down and sped down to meet the pilot. He told me about Fliegercamp or Flying Camp. It was an upscale European campground complete with a full restaurant, fun park, swimming pool, lake, grass LZ, and hourly shuttle to launch. It was just across the river from Bettina’s place. I had brought my beater harness and helmet, but there were no hang gliders for hire at camp. The pilot I met was with a group of Dutch students and instructors, one of which offered to lend me his Sport 2. It was an all to common testament to how hospitable the hang gliding community is.
Fliegercamp
E30 Touring w/ Hang Glider Rack
Renault 4 GTL Camper Car
This thing was awesome!
The next morning the remnants of the storm had made it to Upper Drau Valley and shaded the sky with a thick stratus layer. We drove up to launch behind the Dutch pilots and rigged. The manicured launch was 4,000 feet above the valley floor. It was one of the nicest I've seen with a log cabin featuring indoor bathrooms and even a snack bar! The morning's stillness lingered in the air offering only sled rides to the students that launched. I could have waited a few hours for the clouds to burn off, but this was our honeymoon, not a hang gliding trip. A sledder would have to suffice. In the Sport 2 I would have enough reach to explore the valley, but not be able to venture too far away from the LZ.
Greifenburg Launch
My Borrowed Sport 2
Flying in Austria was a treat. The air was smooth, but rich with the smells of morning. I enjoyed a three dimensional tour of the Drau Valley below steep rocky peaks, green valley walls, and the glacieral turquoise waters of the Isel River. If I looked carefully I could almost see Julie Andrews singing the Sound of Music in the grassy alpine meadows below.
My Flight
Greifenburg
The Upper Drau Valley to the West
To the East
Bettina's Place
Fliegercamp
Movie of my Flight
I landed at Fliegercamp in front of a considerable crowd. I promised Jo I wouldn’t hotdog the borrowed glider, which I kept with the exception of a diving turn to final. In short order she showed up and we were of to our next adventure. The choice was between rafting, cayoneering, or Via Ferrata. A super nice lady at Fliegercamp’s activity center, who offered to lend us her Via Ferrata gear, made the choice simple.
Via Ferrata is a method of negotiating rocky terrain through a network of fixed spikes, ladder rungs, and cable bridges. It was first used in WWI to move troops through the Dolomites. While not as technically challenging as rock climbing it still takes a fair bit of athletic ability and tolerance of heights. It was like negotiating a huge natural jungle gym. The ease of the climbing features was negated by slippery wet rock and metal. At times it was like climbing a slip and slide. A few of the cable bridges spanned violent waterfalls who's boiling waters had carved subterranean tunnels through the rock. If you fell into the caldron your body would wash up down stream naked and bloated. Even hooked-in the stakes of a fall are higher than rock climbing, with the potential for a long fall through anus-tearing spikes before the arresting gear took hold. As a result, other than in a few spots, Via Ferrata hasn't really taken a foothold in overly litigious America.
On the Way to Unterpirkach
Our Via Ferrata Route
The Bottom of the Canyon
The First Bridge
The Route to Get There
The Second Bridge
Jo After the Third Bridge
The Fourth Bridge was the Scary One
Clear Blue Water
The Final and Tallest Waterfall
Success
I Swear I Saw this Dam in a Bond Movie
The View from the Top
After the hike down we headed back to the lakeside town of Weissensee for dinner. Back in Greifenberg the town was celebrating Friday with traditional Austrian music and fireworks. Bettina said it happened every Friday night all summer long. We hiked down to the cornfield and listen to the show. The reverberations of the fireworks against the steep valley walls produced a surround sound effect that my iPhone movie just can't do justice. It didn’t take long for us to collapse in exhaustion from a day well recreated.
Reverberating Fireworks
The next day we bid Bettina a warm farewell and headed west for Lienz and beyond.
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