Via Alpina: Not Another Walk in the Woods

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Maybe you've already trekked the AT, the PCT, and an alphabet soup of other thru-hikes. I know. Those simply whet your appetite for more. So now you're looking for something a little more exotic, of course with more than its fair share of challenges. Well, you're in luck.

Recently we heard about five new trails established across the Alps. The Via Alpina loops from Italy's Adriatic Coast to Monte Carlo on the Mediterranean. By combining a network of pre-existing long distance routes, the Via Alpina traverses the continent along the backbone of the Alps for an amazing 5,000 kilometers or more. Designed as a European cultural itinerary, you can experience jaw-dropping Alpine beauty, culture, nature, ecology, history and cuisine in whatever region you choose - for as long as you can get away.

I share your sweet addiction for what I call "slow, deliberate travel." For me, it was born on the wild steppes of Tibet as my wife and I hiked 1,100 kilometers from Lhasa to Kathmandu - and it's become my passion. So I wanted to be among the first to hike the Via Alpina's entire length across eight countries: from Trieste, Italy through Slovenia, Austria, Germany, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, France, and finally down to Monaco. I hoped to descend to lower altitudes in the French Alps-Maritime before snow hid the trail in autumn.

It was bound to be more difficult than any other I'd ever attempted. That was an understatement. Each and every day meant climbing at least 3,000 feet from valley to mountain hut where I'd sleep.

Still, as a veteran of ten long-distance thru-treks, the Via Alpina sounded perfect; a physical and mental challenge combined with the best way to discover the Alps. I already knew it was an area of more than cheese and gnomes. In my mind's eye, I envisioned it as a European Appalachian Trail - only with better food and wine. Even lite-trekkers travel on their stomachs, and sausage, fresh alpenkäse, corn polenta, and wine sounded a little better than peanut butter, tinned meat, and beer.

ARTICLE OUTLINE

Introduction
From a Holiday to a Temporary Stay
Support Team
The Trek
Walking Jazz
Sweet Dreams
Skivvies and Schnapps

# WORDS: 2430
# PHOTOS: 13

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Viewing 21 posts - 1 through 21 (of 21 total)

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Jan 4, 2011 at 1:21 pm #1267280

Addie Bedford
BPL Member

@addiebedford
Locale: Montana

Companion forum thread to:

Via Alpina: Not Another Walk in the Woods

Jan 4, 2011 at 5:44 pm #1680554

Randy Brissey
BPL Member

@rbrissey
Locale: Redondo Beach, CA

There is nothing like a great article to get one dreaming!

Moments after I finished the article I found the Via Alpina website and started to imagine a trip there (or more than likely 3-4 summers doing parts [colors] of these trail).

I have spent summers riding across some of these areas covered and, on many days, I would look out when approaching a pass to imagine what it would be like to be out there on the trails.

Now I have another reason to go back to the Alps and the Dolomites.

Thanks so much for the article!

Randy

Jan 4, 2011 at 6:01 pm #1680558

Nick Truax
BPL Member

@nicktruax
Locale: SW Montana

Thanks for the great write-up, very inspiring to say the least. It is great to see beyond the usual (big 3 of the U.S.) suspects. The elevation gain/loss is equally impressive. Keep up the good work you two!

Jan 4, 2011 at 8:10 pm #1680598

Rick Dreher
BPL Member

@halfturbo
Locale: Northernish California

Ausgezeichnet! Beautifully done, inspiring read.

Cheers,

Rick

Jan 5, 2011 at 1:47 am #1680640

Trevor Wilson
BPL Member

@trevor83
Locale: ATL -- Zurich -- SF Bay Area

Great trip report. Thank you very much for sharing. It sounds like it was a great adventure. I just looked your books up on Amazon and they all have great reviews. As someone who recently moved to the land of the Alps, I will certainly be adding this book and your others to my list! Any chance your books may be made available via Kindle soon? Thanks again.

Jan 5, 2011 at 5:33 am #1680656

David Wood
BPL Member

@redyeti
Locale: South Eastern UK

A great "taster" trip report. It caught my eye especially since I walked the GR5 with my wife last summer for our honeymoon and it partly shares some of the Via Alpina routing.

In fact I instantly recognised that first picture of the Refuge de Moëde-Anterne as somewhere we stopped for a coffee!

We hiked for a few days with a Belgian guy who was completing the whole trail (the longest, red?) in four months (he'd practised on the AT and PCT first) and he also said that Slovenia was a "challenging" place to hike. He was there in very heavy snow and ended up walking with some Slovenian military guys who were out training. Without them he reckoned he may have been in trouble.

I published a few articles on the GR5 (some more to come are half written but I've been buried in other things) on my blog which may help anyone planning the Via Alpina also:

http://drw.me.uk/RedYeti/category/big-walk/gr5/?order=asc

As well as an ebook that apparently is more fun to read than I expected since it was only a blow-by-blow diary!

http://drw.me.uk/RedYeti/2010/06/29/gr5-the-book-a-gr5-honeymoon/

Reading this trip report certainly makes me hanker to get back out there. Might have to buy the book!

Jan 5, 2011 at 9:12 am #1680703

Stuart R
BPL Member

@scunnered
Locale: Scotland

If this inspires you, I can highly recommend the book "Clear Waters Rising" by Nicholas Crane, which chronicles his continuous solo walk from Cape Finisterre to Istanbul over 17 months. It is extremely well written, full of stories about local ledgends and the people he meets. His exploits are typically understated, not surprising given that he is an eccentric Englishman, but I think his is an outstanding achievement, which so far as I know, has never been repeated.

Jan 5, 2011 at 10:09 am #1680716

Sam Haraldson
BPL Member

@sharalds
Locale: Gallatin Range

For the record, from June to mid-September we ascended and descended almost 700,000 feet total…

Wow, that's over 5,500 vertical per day!

Jan 5, 2011 at 2:38 pm #1680782

Samuel David Sinclair
Spectator

@samsamsam

If you like, you can virtually stay, at the foot of the Grossglockner (3.798 m). That is next to the "Via Alpina" Trail, in Austria (east tyrol). I was there 4 weeks, last year.

My backpack had 30 kg. 10 kg for the backpack with equipment, 10 kg of food and 10 kg of photography equipment. So I could stay 10 days in the beautiful mountains.

The panorama consists of 700-900 individual photos. Which are composed to have a 360° view and a resolution who approximately corresponds with my perception. Because the human eye has a very high resolution. The panoramas have a resolution of 3000-5000 megapixels.

Visit the mountains in east Tyrol virtual at,
http://www.suuperguut.com/www/Osttirol.html

Jan 6, 2011 at 1:55 pm #1681107

Roger Caffin
BPL Member

@rcaffin
Locale: Wollemi & Kosciusko NPs, Europe

Excellent stuff. Thank you.
Interesting comments about the Slovenian section…
Yeah, dreaming … :-)

Cheers

Jan 8, 2011 at 9:18 am #1681786

David Wood
BPL Member

@redyeti
Locale: South Eastern UK

Thanks for reminding me about "Clear Waters Rising" Stuart – a friend mentioned it some weeks back and I realised I'd not added it to my Amazon Wish List.

Jan 8, 2011 at 9:19 am #1681787

David Wood
BPL Member

@redyeti
Locale: South Eastern UK

They are excellent! I know something of how you feel since I tend to carry around 3.5 to 4 kilos of photographic kit myself.

I didn't know you could view panoramas in Google Earth – that's a great way to do it.

(I was about to Personal Message you but found that I can't since you've not provided a email address. Didn't want to take this thread too far off topic but wondered if the panoramas were done with Autopano?)

Jan 8, 2011 at 1:57 pm #1681859

Roger Caffin
BPL Member

@rcaffin
Locale: Wollemi & Kosciusko NPs, Europe

> Wow, that's over 5,500 vertical per day!
Yup, typical of parts of Europe.
A 1,000 m pass a day keeps the doctor at bay…

Cheers

Jan 8, 2011 at 11:45 pm #1681996

Samuel David Sinclair
Spectator

@samsamsam

Autopano, right. Email: http://www.suuperguut.com/www/CONTACT.html

Jan 10, 2011 at 9:18 am #1682319

Tom Clark
BPL Member

@tomclark
Locale: East Coast

Great article. It's always nice to read trip reports from other parts of the world since we in the US aren't always able to explore other regions.

I have not been on that trail, but did get a chance to spend a day (not nearly enough time) in the Dolomites in November a little south of the Via Alpina. It really is spectacluar country, and I have been in the Sierras and Cascades several times.

It was between seasons, so it was nearly empty. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to bring snowshoes so my hiking was limited to postholing at the Passo Fazarego then a short hike at lower elevations through the pines. Here are a few photos from that day.

Tom

Jan 13, 2011 at 10:53 pm #1683788

Esmeralda Acosta
Member

@trailhwk

What a grand trip and inspiring. Beautiful report of your adventure.

Jan 16, 2011 at 5:42 am #1684659

Brandon Wilson
Member

@yakbutterblues
Locale: Dolomites

Hey, thanks for everyone's comments. Hiking the Via Alpina is one heckuva challenge to be sure. But there's something for everyone and you will NEVER be bored. Hope this article whetted your appetites. See you on the trail.

Brandon
http://www.pilgrimstales.com/overthetopandbackagain.html

Feb 18, 2011 at 12:41 am #1698194

Richard D.
BPL Member

@legkohod
Locale: Eastern Europe / Caucasus

A question for the vet Alp backpackers here.

We have a group of 3 UL backpackers equipped with ice-axes and crampons who are looking for a mountain route in Europe for the first 3 weeks of June. Is the Swiss part of the Via Alpina doable at this time of year?

Feb 28, 2011 at 8:41 pm #1702908

Aaron Bridgers
Member

@apbridg

Are there any resources available for cost estimates on the trip, per diem? I'm headed out to Italy and Switzerland this summer with a Study Abroad program with the University of New Mexico, and I thought it'd be a great opportunity for me to spend some time backpacking through the Alps. I'm planning on a 30-day trip (after the study abroad), and I was curious if there were any estimates on how much it would cost per day. I'm a student, and I'm definitely willing to travel cheap!! Thanks!

Sep 19, 2011 at 3:46 am #1780761

Roger Caffin
BPL Member

@rcaffin
Locale: Wollemi & Kosciusko NPs, Europe

Hi all

Just back from the Red Route from Trieste to Oberstdorf, seven weeks. Slovenia was OK. There's a lot of limestone country, lots of scree, not a lot of water in some places, and a lot of cows … We had a heat wave, several snow storms, a lot of fog, and some sunny weather. We took a couple of 1-day lay-overs for general restocking and cleanup, and had to retreat once when the snow on the pass was a shade too much – OK, it was storming as we attempted. Otherwise we just kept going.
We went Refugee rather than tenting for most of the trip – after being hit by 150+ kph winds one slightly extreme night at the start.
Food pretty good, but we never want to see another knodel.

Cheers

Sep 19, 2011 at 6:55 am #1780785

Kristin Fiebelkorn
BPL Member

@kushbaby
Locale: South Texas

I was in Bled, Slovenia for a week or so in 2000 with my brother, and we tried to do some hiking on our own (had maps, etc.), but couldn't find the "clearly marked" trails to save our lives! We gave up after a few hours of wandering around part of the way (didn't want to get lost!) and hired a guide for a couple days (while we were at it, we went ahead and hired him to guide us up Triglav). Timing was good, as it was the middle of July and the trails/hut on Triglav had just opened for the year (though still lots of snow, of course). One of the things I distinctly remember about this trip was the food our guide brought – I forget the name, but it was basically solid pork fat/lard with pieces of pork embedded, which was spread on dense bread (or eaten with a spoon). SERIOUSLY calorie dense. I loved it.

I was very glad we had a guide in this case, because the trails on the approach were NOT clear or obvious at all (we kept looking to see if we could pick out any markings). Also, he was helpful in timing the ascent to the top so we didn't get blown off by weather. His name was Yuri, and he was great (he did mountain rescue when he wasn't guiding).

Triglav is one of my very fondest hiking memories. Beautiful, BEAUTIFUL place to hike, but hard to find the trails. One hopes that, if the Via Alpina becomes more used, perhaps they will re-mark it more clearly…
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