Austrian Tour August/Sept 2011 - Ski Resorts as you may not have seen them before!

Obergurgl from the lift, not what you want to see in January!



Obergurgl Village Scene



St Anton in the sun



Stuben



Zug and its one chair up the hill



The Austrian Countryside



Congestion on the roads in Kuhtai



Kuhtai – Sunday morning following the snow



Immaculate buildings in Oetz



Anybody know the history around these small church like buildings scattered around Austria. These are about the size of a garden shed and if you look to the top right hand side of the picture you will see the roof of the house that stands alongside.

Really enjoyed the photos, Alistair. Thanks for that. The Oeztal is of interest, we are headed there this season.
Re the mountain chapel, Austria being a staunchly Catholic country, the locals never seemed to lack for a reason to erect a mountain chapel, or a cross. My understanding is they mostly are erected by the farmers who own the land, but they are a community chapel. Our wee chapel on the Marbachjoch has three rows of benches, sitting three a side, hence, seating for 18. When I can get photobucket to fire up, I will stick one of my paintings up of our chapel.
A key feature of mountain chapels is a public record of local deaths. There is usually a memorial book,and locals insert pages containing photos, and small memos. I have put in pages a couple of UK guys who were instructors in Niederau during my seasons, one who was killed skiing on the Marbachjoch.
There is another similar small chapel on the route to the Feldalpenhorn, above Auffach.
It shouldn't surprise me, but it does. If this chapel/memorial book was in the UK, it would be vandalised.

I don't like them.

This is my water colour of the Marbachjoch Chapel:

Now thats what I call contrast!

Dave, Thanks for the information in relation to the mountain chapel, they are indeed tiny. It figures, we had also seen mountain memorials with flowers and pictures during our trip. We did not see any vandalism whatsoever during our trip bearing in mind we also visited Innsbruck and Salzburg. Lovely country Austria. :D

Tony, sorry you did'nt like them. I suspect the lack of snow did not help! However, it was nice to get a flavour of the Country out of the winter season and we look forward to returning in January 2012. 8)

Dave,

Like your water colour which looks similar in some aspects to my photograph. Perhaps you could use the photograph for inspiration. The chapel sits high above the Oeztal valley on the approach to Kuhtai. Should you wish to visit the area this coming season. :D

Nice pics mate, the mountains are just beautiful in summer, sorry I forgot it's Austria ...... The hills are beautiful in summer :wink:

Ian Wickham wrote:Nice pics mate, the mountains are just beautiful in summer, sorry I forgot it's Austria ...... The hills are beautiful in summer :wink:

You'll find proper mountains in lots of Austria Ian :wink:

Hills are only in the outer lower lying areas. A certain place springs to mind :wink: