Paragliding over Kaprun valley and visiting the high mountain reservoir and dam: Eurotrip Day 04
After watching the paragliders take off from Schmittenhöhe summit the day before, I was determined to do it myself. I made an appointment for around noontime, but had an hour or so to walk along Lake Zell before being picked up at the hotel.
This first picture may be my favorite of the day: a half sunken rowboat.
I walked south along the shore pathway until I reached the small town of Schüttdorf, which doesn’t really have anything exciting besides some houses and a boat club.
This pile of firewood is perfectly stacked.
This next shot shows what an average house in the area looks like.
As I walked back to Zell am See I snapped a pic of a departing train. The tracks are so close to the water, it makes for a beautiful when traveling through by train.
The next three pictures are part of a series entitled benches you are not currently sitting on. The light glinted off the water’s surface like glass; what a beautiful morning.
This next one pretty much sums up the whole Zell am See experience. Yep.
I met with my tandem partner Louis, and we road the cable car to the top of the mountain. The next bunch of photos and video were taken with a combination of his GoPro camera fashioned to the end of an extendable pole, and a cheap Canon point and shot I carry around with me because it fits in my pocket.
The harness is very simple, and doesn’t really amount to more than a big backpack you put on that that straps to the front of Louis. His backpack is bigger because it carried our gear and a counterweight, and also features a large cushion on the bottom. You basically land by sliding to a stop on your ass.
It was cool because the day before I was a spectator watching the paragliders take off like everyone else, but now all those people were standing around and spectating me 😀
Louis unfurls the windsock.
The takeoff strip. All you have to really do is start running forward, and the parachute drags along the ground until it rises up like a kite. When you get to the edge you’re supposed to keep on running, and as the ground falls beneath you you simply float away 🙂
Here is the video recorded of the takeoff.
Sailing over Kaprun valley. It basically just feels like your sitting in a recliner. It’s very comfortable and not scary at all. Pretty much the closest thing you can get to flying, Louis essentially has a dream job.
This next video is my favorite and shows us flying.
I just felt so free up there floating around; there’s really no other experience like it . It was totally silent save for a quiet breeze rustling through the parachute.
It’s hard to imagine that people actually live in places like this. It’s calm and peaceful, and the natural beauty is of the caliber that draws tourists from around the world. But where do you go to buy a computer? Where’s the nearest car dealership? No ICA Maxi or Costco? How do these people survive.
This next video shows us coming in for a landing.
This was undoubtedly the best 100€ I have ever spent, bar none. If for some reason I had to go home the next day and forgo the next 30 days of travel, it wouldn’t have mattered. This made the trip worth everything, and I urge anyone who has the opportunity to paraglide to do so ASAP.
Back in town, I walked through the main square on the way to the bus stop. Some festival or something was happening and there were singing groups all over the place.
This video shows some performers I stopped to watch, and also a random waitress handing out glasses of free beer to passersby. I wish the US had culture like this.
I rode the city bus to Kaprun where I’d planned to ride the cable car up Kitzsteinhorn, the tallest mountain in the area. Unfortunately, I accidentally missed my stop and rode to the end of the line. When the day was over however, I was glad that I did.
Some elevated contraption heading into the mountains.
We used the full width of the road for turns like this.
The last stop is the visitor’s center for Kaprun Hochgebirgsstauseen, a series of high mountain reservoirs which constitute Kaprun’s hydroelectric power station.
The next few photos were taken from the bus windows as we drove to the top.
I stole a diagram of the area from Wikipedia.
This is the lower reservoir, Wasserfallboden.
Quite a small tunnel for our coach if you ask me. Taken from the rear window.
The road to the top is very windy and goes through a few tunnels.
We finally reach the upper dam.
According to the Wikipedia article, the project was started by the Nazis at the beginning of 1939. There were generally bad working conditions and forced labor. The inscription on the memorial reads something like “From a work work and sacrifice”.
I thought this plaque was really cool. The Nazi’s barely got the project off the ground during the war, and afterwords the United States provided a billion dollars to finish the job.
USA! USA! USA!
You can see that the reservoir maintains a low level during summertime, despite year round snow on the mountain peaks.
The Mooserboden reservoir dam is really two dams, connected by a mountain in the middle. I walked along the top until I reached the building at the far side.
According to the diagram, this waterfall inlet gathers melt from the mountain tops.
Looking back.
I was about to head up the trail a bit when I heard a noise, and turned around to see some mountain goats! Here is a video of my encounter.
Hey thar.
I climbed up the trail and met the goats.
It was a fantastic view up here, and I only wish I had more time to climb higher up the mountain.
Here is a nice wide panorama.
This was as high as I got before realizing the last bus departed in only a half hour, and I certainly didn’t want to be trapped miles from town. I scurried back down the path and headed for the hill separating the two damns.
My biggest panorama of the day, this one shows both the upper and lower reservoirs. If I come back some day I will definitely visit during the winter and spend more time hiking around.
Me overlooking the lower reservoir, Wasserfallboden.
Yay the sun came out! Take two 🙂
Here is a good shot showing the windy road to the top.
This panorama has an interesting perspective, started by looking straight down the wall.
The last two photos were taken on the city bus ride back from Kaprun to Zell am See, just as it started to rain.
Zell am See was amazing, and I consider it a must-see destination for anyone visiting Austria.
The end!
