On Tuesday, August 16th, 2016, the Tyrolean Forestry Board (Landesforstdirektion Tirol) gave us the possibility to choose between two exciting and challenging excursions.
One group went hiking on Absamer Vorberg in Tyrol where a major forest fire had burned down 70 ha- thereof 50 ha of forests and destroyed their protection structures. During our hike we learned about the challenges and consequences of this: avalanches, snow gliding, game browsing and erosion. Our guides were extremely well prepared and even managed to show us posters with graphs and data on the mountain!
The second group gathered in a cabin after a short hike and got to enjoy a presentation about Bergwelt Tirol and their perspective on tourism, visitor flow and sports in the forest near Innsbruck. After a delicious lunch we went to a single trail which is a narrow trail for mountain bikers. While still talking about it we even saw a few mountain bikers racing down the trail.
Then we entered a tunnel that was part of the water supply storages of the city of Innsbruck. What an exciting experience!
Before we left we also learned about avalanche barriers which protect the city of Innsbruck and its inhabitants from avalanches.
Huge thanks to the Tyrolean Forestry Board for this amazing day!
IFSS 2016 