Hike The Hahnenkamm!

Kitzbühel in the Austrian Tirol may be world famous for its skiing but in summer it’s a hiker’s paradise, with 1,000 km of paths passing through their flower-covered meadows, alpine pastures and gentle peaks.

Golf, biking, tennis, trail running and swimming complete Kitzbühel’s cornucopia of summer activities.

In fact you can still experience the excitement of the world’s biggest ski race, the Hahnenkamm, staged each January and attracting around 60,000 fans to the village and tens of millions to TV screens. In summer you can walk down the race course on a 3.8km hiking path, highlighting the race’s famous sections along the way.  The best skiers make it down the Streif in less than two minutes, but on foot it takes 2.5 hours to negotiate the 900 m drop in altitude.

The hike route begins at the race’s start house, close to the top of the Hahnenkamm Gondola, with views over the green pastures of the Kitzbühel Alps all the way to the jagged peaks of the Wilder Kaiser region. From there, the hike passes through spots like Mausefalle (mousetrap), an 85-degree jump that tests the nerves of the world’s best skiers and Steilhang, a steep section that has ended many a skier’s World Cup dreams. The Streif hike ends in the valley just after the Hausberg, a jump known for being one of the hardest in skiing.

Each of the sections are marked with racing gates detailing insightful facts about the event and infoscreens along the route show archive footage from races past. By the time you cross the finish line, you’ll have more respect than ever for the skiers who hurtle down the race course in 120 seconds flat.