“Great! Do that again! This is sooo much fun !!!”
Tobogganing is like being a child again. It is undoubtedly fun to go chasing snowflakes as you run down a mountain on a sleigh! I remember being children, we took our sleigh everywhere – literally down the lowest (garden) hill and all the way down the vineyard lanes during moon lit nights with torches. Even if there were only some 100 metres of difference in altitude. Today, looking up the mountains of South Tyrol, some two or three thousand metres high, I bestow a little smile at my earliest tobogganing memories.
So let’s go! Who says you can’t have just as much fun twenty years later? “Tobogganing down the Taistner Alm is great”, Hildegard & Peter tell us with a wink.
“It will take you about one and a half hours to reach the top. The views are amazing”, our dear host Hildegard Sapelza tells us at the Tiefentalhof farm, who we have come to visit and stay with as part of our creative trip with the Roter Hahn association of mountain farms in South Tyrol. I have already been convinced to go. But what about Marc? “You know I have never been out for tobogganing, right!?” – “It doesn’t matter, you can literally figure it out on the go. It’ll be super fun! Let’s go!” There goes the ultimately experienced together with her freshman novice …
… off on an adventure …
… of a snowy kind.
But first and foremost, it is all about taking a little rest and saying hello …
… to some mountain ghosts …
… as well as fellow tobogganists along the way.
One big bonus of making our way up the Taistner Alm is that they rent out sleighs and toboggans!
So you don’t have to carry them up the mountain, but may focus instead …
… on enjoying your beautiful mountain meal or two.
Off we gooo!
And in order not to get stuck in the fresh snow …
… we recommend you to wait for sunset and the subsequent temperature drop …
… creating a thin, icy layer on top of the snow, making you go down the valley at even more fun speed!
Tobogganging down the Taistner Alm near Welsberg-Taisten in the Puster valley of South Tyrol …
… is as recommendable as staying here at the Tiefentalhof of the Sapelza family!
And yet, there is (much) more to discover. “You still have time, don’t you? Christian will take you out tobogganing once more!”
And again, within the space of 24 hours, we are offered the opportunity to take our inner child out for a walk, enjoying the mountains of South Tyrol in a unique kind of way. Christian, by the way, is Agatha Walder’s son, whose creative “mudlarella” workshop (making a kind of Mozzarella at her beautiful mountain farm!) I have already shared with you here. Despite (or because?) of all the hard work he does, he just loves to take us out for a ride with the sleigh. Just as the day before, our path rises slowly here in the Gsies valley, making the uphill part a pleasant one for all. After a hearty snack at the mountain hut, it’s time to race back down again !
After making mozzarella in the morning, Christian has come back out with the sleighs …
… making our way up to the Kradorferhütte mountain hut …
… including happy encounters on the way.
Winter wonderland …
… we love it !!!
And finally, the hut appears behind the snow flakes …
… enjoying our well-deserved rest …
… over lunch at the hut.!
This is how you do it: The team before taking downhill!
… and if you care to look at our funny tobogganing video, just click here!
Magic moments indeed …
… South Tyrol, we’ll be back !!!
Fancy even more tips and ideas for your next holidays in South Tyrol? Here they come, in the most vivid of colours. But beware: Do not look at the following foodie pictures hungry ..! 🙂
Disclaimer: We have been invited by the “Roter Hahn – Gallo Rosso” to discover and explore the (his)stories of local South Tyrol mountain farms. All opinions are my own.