"The Roof of Austria" - Adventure Trip Großglockner

Nov 6, 2013 at 4:31

by Hannes Klausner

4 guys, 4 bikes, 4 days. The area around the biggest mountain in Austria is worth a trip for sure, so Hannes, Christoph, Steve and Michi geared up again for their annual adventure during Autumn 2013.

Checking the equipment, having a look at the map and getting in some energy for the upcoming bike adventure we are looking forward to.

Beautiful, loud and high. An amazing waterfall stopped us on our way up to Hohe Tauern. Fresh air and some nice rides to start the trip.

Day 1 camping place. We can´t wait to get high up into the mountains the next day.

Steve, Christoph and Hannes. Hiking and talking lines.

After a long drive and some hard hiking sessions that took us a full day and night to get here it´s finally time for a ride. Rough terrain, steep lines in between big rocks and a breathtaking panoramic view around us. The perfect place to ride our bikes.

Not a good place to crash. Michi went down hard. Part of the game.

Every day again. Checking the map for a new area to ride and a good place to camp.

Camp. Fire. Grill. Friends. Epic. What more can you expect as a rider? This was just an amazing time looking back on a great day's ride and forward to a lot more adventure still to come. Sometimes you just wish you could stop time for a moment like this.

Our friends for this night. Cows coming very close and a frightened bat.

What a morning to wake up to with the sun shining and nothing more to do than get a nice coffee in, find a natural toilet and have a full day of riding to come.

Epic sunset rides, never ending dusty single track and cow shit skulls to ride through. Something you usually don´t have on your daily ride.

Last night´s lodging for our bikes. Just the best for the beauties.

A last ride into the sunset with an amazing view over this valley that sits in between numerous peaks in the middle of the highest area in Austria.

"Our bikes bring us to places school never could!"

What a true saying based on our refections of this short trip we just did. We are so thankful to our sport and to each other for joining the moments in life like these.

Nothing more to say than "Go out and ride your bike! It´s worth it."

Riders: Hannes Klausner, Steve Oberbichler
Photographers: Christoph Breiner, Michael Ehrenbrandtner

Thanks to: Merida Bikes, Manitou/Hayes, ION, Five Ten, Bikebox Linz, Red Bull

Author Info:

HKFreeride

Member since Sep 10, 2010
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31 Comments

70 0

epsteinisalive (Nov 9, 2013 at 6:30)

It would be cool is pink bike did an article about packing for trips like this! Like how to pack compactly, what to pack, what the best tents/gear is to get. I've always wanted to go on like a 4 day trip with a couple buddies with just what's in our bags so PB please do this!!!

10 0

taletotell (Nov 9, 2013 at 8:31)

How to fit your bike in a hockey bag! "It's just sporting equipment"
Also cheapest ways to ship your bike! I personally prefer by train. Drop off at the station and pick it up at another.

Hermit185 (Nov 9, 2013 at 10:42)

someone on vital i think wrote an article on how to pack for a multi-day enduro race. a lot of the same stuff applies i would bet

nikoniko (Nov 9, 2013 at 14:53)

Cooking gear is where it can get heavy.
There are lots of light tents but pretty expensive, I use a hammock which less than 1kg and only about 45$
For cooking I have stuck with oatmeal and pasta, you just add enough for each serving and your flavor then boil it water.
Simple light and fills the gut. Oatmeal is awesome with some dry basil, garlic powder a dash of red pepper and a tea spoon of chicken stock. Then the same ingredients work good for 3 minute pasta as well. An alcohol stove is small compact and really easy to use!

However, I have found the most burden is water.
Packing enough or using the natural elements can be tough depending on how long of trip you are on.

I agree, I would love to see an article on camping while biking and trying to pack as light as possible.
Minimalist!

RideOn!

taletotell (Nov 9, 2013 at 16:30)

The trick is getting enough calories and other good stuff. I pack ricearoni abd just boil it. Comes with flavor and even beans fir protein! Dried brocoli to add for health. Jerky is good but costly. A water filter in wet places is a must. I drank 3 gallons in 3 days on a summer hike. Never could have packed that much and hiked in.

bicitechmtb (Nov 9, 2013 at 17:30)

Here in the desert the trick is to have a support car... Simply: food, tents and extra water goes into the car and the Camelbak carry some water, chewybars and tools...
I remember the "Lone Wolf" video (Matt Hunter), he had water anywhere, food in the river and only a small tent on his Camelbak...

nikoniko (Nov 10, 2013 at 15:12)

Water filter, yes thats something I need for sure!
What kind of filter did you use?

Nuts and beans are a must, jerky is awesome but here in Japan its very expensive for just a little amount, ahhaha
Ricearoni, need to look into sounds good!

Having a car with supplies would be good if the situation was available.
However, for camping on a bike the idea is to stay in the mountains so having a car would be impossible for us here in Japan.
However, its a great idea for a long trip!

taletotell (Nov 10, 2013 at 18:26)

my cousin brought his charcoal pump. I'd like to get one too. beans are a total must. I have a dehidrator for making jerky so it is a touch cheaper, but still only at cheap as steak.

nikoniko (Nov 10, 2013 at 20:33)

Very Cool a charcoal pump so, it filters water through charcoal like a Brita, awesome. I too want to get one. On our last trip we used cloth to filter out river water, to rid it of sand and other junk then boiled it up. However the water I didn't boil for coffee in the morning, after looking at the bottom of the bowl, it had mico sand all over the bottom. So, our coffee must have had a bit in there too, ahhahahah I would like to get a dehydrator too, that sounds awesome!

anyexcusetoride (Feb 4, 2014 at 15:53)

www.pinkbike.com/news/Self-supported-Bikepacking-a-sample-packing-list-2013.html

guilhas (Nov 9, 2013 at 3:49)

I would like to have full tents and gear as packable as these guys have.. Whenever I do something like this I always carry a 10 kg backpack full of stuff. These guys seem to have empty evoc camelbacks...makes it look so easy... Nice riding and photos, though.

HardtailZero (Nov 9, 2013 at 10:14)

They probably carry more in bigger backs, set up tents then get the cameras out riding around their camp with just their day packs? That's how I would do it.

its-all-about-bikes FL (Nov 9, 2013 at 2:17)

As always PERFECT Pictures from Christoph Breiner
More pics on his Facebook page ... www.facebook.com/ChristophBreinerPhotography?hc_location=stream

callumfraser (Nov 9, 2013 at 8:40)

'Camp. Fire. Grill. Friends. Epic. What more can you expect as a rider? '
Girls?

nikoniko (Nov 9, 2013 at 14:54)

hahhahaahahhahhahahhah I agree bro! ahhahh

Dally666 (Nov 9, 2013 at 2:09)

Gota say it, "The roof, the roof, the roof is on fire! You don't need no brakes let those spining wheels turn.

Looks like fun guys.

Owaind (Nov 9, 2013 at 4:15)

Austria's a beautiful place. Would love to spend some time there in the summer riding. Awesome photos!

matkom (Nov 9, 2013 at 1:54)

i was here in the summer.. without the bike

i guess i'll just go again next year!

okonp (Nov 9, 2013 at 21:56)

Is this legal to camp and make fire anywhere in mountains in Austria? I remember that few years ago it could make huge problems with police and mountain rangers... Did you have special permissions?

trailynx (Nov 23, 2013 at 7:05)

it's complicated. it's generally not allowed to camp in the forest. above the treeline it depends on the province you're in (and it's not always black and white there either).
afaik it's not allowed in Kärnten, Tirol and Niederösterreich, and it's more or less allowed in Oberösterreich, Steiermark, Salzburg, Vorarlberg and Burgenland.

an emergency bivouac is always allowed (as long as it is not planned^^)

more information: www.alpenverein.at/portal_wAssets/docs/natur-umwelt/Zelten-und-Biwakieren-in-Oesterreichs-Bergen_HP_2010.pdf (it's in german, I couldn't find anything in english)

DSORBY2 (Nov 9, 2013 at 0:19)

Looks like a really fun trip!

James00013 (Nov 9, 2013 at 8:00)

I made the cow crap my wallpaper.

taletotell (Nov 9, 2013 at 8:33)

I think former tenant did the same thing months ago.

taletotell (Nov 9, 2013 at 8:34)

*my former tenant

Lew-xvtt (Nov 9, 2013 at 0:18)

great trip ! very nice pictures ! thanks for the share !

brybry (Nov 11, 2013 at 21:14)

awesome photos! no need for captions even, they really captured the moments

prenderville (Nov 9, 2013 at 9:58)

i not sure if many people know how to pronounce the character "ß"

Fufi7 (Nov 9, 2013 at 23:52)

It stands for a "double s". We germans say sharp s and is not really pronounced differently than a normal s. They appear after long pronounced vocals.

prenderville (Nov 10, 2013 at 1:54)

ah right , thank you for that , learn something new everyday

randalgreenwell (Nov 9, 2013 at 13:13)

kkk

Kimura (Nov 9, 2013 at 16:16)

All I see is lines.