Our first destination today was the ‘Giant Ice Cave’ in Obertraun. We had heard so much about this that we felt that we had to visit. On the way we took a wrong turn and we ended up in a car park alongside a wonderful little lake. This is obviously a destination point for those wanting an outside experience. There were hikers, mountain bikers, divers, even little old ladies trekking with walking sticks, only these walking sticks had spikes. It is obvious though that this area is better known for it’s winter activities, as there were snow machines all around the main car park and there were a number of very large car parks to cope with the winter skiers.
The trip to the ice cave started with a near vertical (at least it felt that way) cable car ride up the face of the hill/mountain. This was just the first stage of the cable car ride which goes for a further two stages. These guys really know how to build these things, but they do have years of practice and necessity to help them along the way haven’t they.
After getting off the cable car we took a 20 minute walk up a steep path to the mouth of the cave. All along the way there were little educational signs about the flora and fauna, but the one that got me was the one at the entrance to the cave, that went something like this: ‘In 1919 Dr Friedrich Morton wrote “With pride the light allows the plants to parade in sequence and permits access only to those which by preference are able to survive with a minimum of this heavenly gift.” Or in less poetic terms, the deeper inside a cave, the less vegetation.’ Doesn’t academia have a wonderful way of complicating things?
The trip inside the ice cave was pretty cool … literally. With stalactites and stalagmites of ice, often joining to form some very impressive ice columns of various artistic shapes. Warm clothes were definitely the order of the day. The caves here were discovered in 1910 and it is estimated that they were formed 500-600 years ago. The main ice cone inside the cave was 3 meters high when it was discovered and it is now 9 meters. The ground ice is about 8 meters deep. Pretty hard to comprehend really, but this is 1421 meters above sea level.
Our impression was that although this is a very cool place it is over hyped. It seems that they have tacked cheesy tourist items around a great natural feature, trying to milk the tourist thing and it doesn’t quite come off. The tour guide didn’t help, he seemed totally uninterested.
After leaving the ice caves we went to Hallstatt (just around the lake from Obertraun). The mission here was to go to the oldest salt mine in the world. It is 7000 years old and still operating. When you put this in perspective, they were mining salt here before the Roman Empire was running rampant through Europe, they were operating as an economic entity before the city of Rome was formed, they were trading salt across Europe before Romulus and Remus were suckled by the she wolf, as the stories would have us believe. They were living dying and breathing salt 7000 years ago, in 5000 BC!
As it transpired the salt mine was a much better investment of time and money than the ice cave. From the town down at lake level you have a choice of taking the funicular train up the hill or walking up, but one look at the gradient on that little puppy and the train seems like a good idea. I don’t know how high up the hill this goes, but once again it seemed like a near vertical ascent.
Once at the top it is then another 15 minute walk to the entrance. On the way up, there were little educational stops to point you in the right direction. Like the fact that you are actually walking over an ancient burial ground. The first grave was found in 1848 and by 2007 there were 1500 discovered. It is conjectured that there are about 5000 graves here of both young and old, from the last 7000 years. The evidence of these finds shows that they were very hard working and it seems as if whole families were involved in the process of the mining, with the men doing the digging and blasting, with the women carrying the salt out and down the hill to trade in the town. The indications are also that the women were social equals to the men. How about that! Equality 7000 years ago. It does make you wonder if the equality existed at home as well though. Who did the washing and cleaning? Did they take turns cooking, did she bring him his beer, or tell him to get his own?
There were about 200 people living here (average age 35, max age 60) and working the mines. They also employed workers from as far away as Gosau, who walked to work once a week. They were allowed to go home on Sundays to see their families. They had to be given approval to have a family, although I am surprised that they had the time or the energy.
These days there are 42 miners, they produce 1 million tonnes of salt per year, and 60% of that goes on the roads to deal with the snow and ice.
Before you go into the tunnels they dress you up in overalls that come in two sizes, too small or too big. Mine was too small, Justine’s was too big. The tunnel that we went into was first opened relatively recently in 1719. It was a very cool journey that brought you face to face with compressed rock salt, and the processes and conditions that the miners worked in. This included sliding down a wooden slide down to the next level of the mine. This was very cool. They had a speed camera set up so you knew how fast you went down the slide. Most people were hitting around the 28 kph, but then the tour guide came down and he came off the end at 38.6 kph. He has obviously done it once or twice before.
The process of mining changed over the years. More recently they turn the rock salt into a salty brine, in an underground lake, and then pump it out where it is evaporated and reconstituted. This brine is piped 40 kms to Ebenseen, where the processing plant is located. The first pipeline was built over 400 years ago. The first of its kind, and the pipe was made out of pipes made from 13000 hollowed out logs and fitted together seamlessly. Now that is pretty incredible.
The rock salt itself was interesting. it looks just like rock, and it feels just like rock, only a little more waxy feeling. As you walk through the tunnels the rock walls around you are salt, showing layers and seams of different shades. The white is a high magnesium content, while the browner shades have more iron.
The trip to the ice cave started with a near vertical (at least it felt that way) cable car ride up the face of the hill/mountain. This was just the first stage of the cable car ride which goes for a further two stages. These guys really know how to build these things, but they do have years of practice and necessity to help them along the way haven’t they.
After getting off the cable car we took a 20 minute walk up a steep path to the mouth of the cave. All along the way there were little educational signs about the flora and fauna, but the one that got me was the one at the entrance to the cave, that went something like this: ‘In 1919 Dr Friedrich Morton wrote “With pride the light allows the plants to parade in sequence and permits access only to those which by preference are able to survive with a minimum of this heavenly gift.” Or in less poetic terms, the deeper inside a cave, the less vegetation.’ Doesn’t academia have a wonderful way of complicating things?
The trip inside the ice cave was pretty cool … literally. With stalactites and stalagmites of ice, often joining to form some very impressive ice columns of various artistic shapes. Warm clothes were definitely the order of the day. The caves here were discovered in 1910 and it is estimated that they were formed 500-600 years ago. The main ice cone inside the cave was 3 meters high when it was discovered and it is now 9 meters. The ground ice is about 8 meters deep. Pretty hard to comprehend really, but this is 1421 meters above sea level.
Our impression was that although this is a very cool place it is over hyped. It seems that they have tacked cheesy tourist items around a great natural feature, trying to milk the tourist thing and it doesn’t quite come off. The tour guide didn’t help, he seemed totally uninterested.
After leaving the ice caves we went to Hallstatt (just around the lake from Obertraun). The mission here was to go to the oldest salt mine in the world. It is 7000 years old and still operating. When you put this in perspective, they were mining salt here before the Roman Empire was running rampant through Europe, they were operating as an economic entity before the city of Rome was formed, they were trading salt across Europe before Romulus and Remus were suckled by the she wolf, as the stories would have us believe. They were living dying and breathing salt 7000 years ago, in 5000 BC!
As it transpired the salt mine was a much better investment of time and money than the ice cave. From the town down at lake level you have a choice of taking the funicular train up the hill or walking up, but one look at the gradient on that little puppy and the train seems like a good idea. I don’t know how high up the hill this goes, but once again it seemed like a near vertical ascent.
Once at the top it is then another 15 minute walk to the entrance. On the way up, there were little educational stops to point you in the right direction. Like the fact that you are actually walking over an ancient burial ground. The first grave was found in 1848 and by 2007 there were 1500 discovered. It is conjectured that there are about 5000 graves here of both young and old, from the last 7000 years. The evidence of these finds shows that they were very hard working and it seems as if whole families were involved in the process of the mining, with the men doing the digging and blasting, with the women carrying the salt out and down the hill to trade in the town. The indications are also that the women were social equals to the men. How about that! Equality 7000 years ago. It does make you wonder if the equality existed at home as well though. Who did the washing and cleaning? Did they take turns cooking, did she bring him his beer, or tell him to get his own?
There were about 200 people living here (average age 35, max age 60) and working the mines. They also employed workers from as far away as Gosau, who walked to work once a week. They were allowed to go home on Sundays to see their families. They had to be given approval to have a family, although I am surprised that they had the time or the energy.
These days there are 42 miners, they produce 1 million tonnes of salt per year, and 60% of that goes on the roads to deal with the snow and ice.
Before you go into the tunnels they dress you up in overalls that come in two sizes, too small or too big. Mine was too small, Justine’s was too big. The tunnel that we went into was first opened relatively recently in 1719. It was a very cool journey that brought you face to face with compressed rock salt, and the processes and conditions that the miners worked in. This included sliding down a wooden slide down to the next level of the mine. This was very cool. They had a speed camera set up so you knew how fast you went down the slide. Most people were hitting around the 28 kph, but then the tour guide came down and he came off the end at 38.6 kph. He has obviously done it once or twice before.
The process of mining changed over the years. More recently they turn the rock salt into a salty brine, in an underground lake, and then pump it out where it is evaporated and reconstituted. This brine is piped 40 kms to Ebenseen, where the processing plant is located. The first pipeline was built over 400 years ago. The first of its kind, and the pipe was made out of pipes made from 13000 hollowed out logs and fitted together seamlessly. Now that is pretty incredible.
The rock salt itself was interesting. it looks just like rock, and it feels just like rock, only a little more waxy feeling. As you walk through the tunnels the rock walls around you are salt, showing layers and seams of different shades. The white is a high magnesium content, while the browner shades have more iron.
We finished the trip on a little train that carried us out into daylight, but whilst we were in there the day had changed. The beautiful blue sky had become black, and we could see the rain progressing down the valley. We tried to make a run for it to the funicular to get down the hill before the rain hit us, but it was too late. The funicular was closed down, as it was too dangerous. It just showed us how quickly the weather can change within just a couple of hours in the hills.
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