We have previously posted about great sledding in the Alps - in Tirol, we hiked up to a hut and sledded back down. Too bad you can't do that in the summer, huh?
Well, it turns out that you can! Rodeln means sledding, and there are a number of sommerrodelbahns (summer sledding tracks) in Germany and Austria. (Some places in the U.S. have them too.)
We recently had friends visit us from Dallas, and took them hiking near Salzburg. After the morning hike and lunch, we left Fuschl am See and drove back west to Bad Dürrnberg, right on the border with Germany.
We were interested the "Keltenblitz" (which translates to "Celtic Lightening"). At 2.2km (1.3 miles) it's the longest summer sledding track in Salzburgerland and one of the longest in all Austria. The total descent is over 500m (1640 ft) and you can reach speeds of up to 40km/h (25 mph)!
We drove to the talstation (literally, the "valley station" - at the foot of the mountain) and took the ski lift to the top. You can hike up, but we had already done our hiking for the day.
The view from the lift was nice...
...and looking back, our friends seemed to be enjoying it too:
There are two general types of sommerrodelbahn. The first -- more traditional and more common -- is a lot like a summer luge. You are seated on a wheeled cart and navigate what looks like a metal bobsled run, such as this:
The walls of the half-pipe get higher and sloped at the corners, to keep you on the track:
This is a video on YouTube of what this type of rodelbahn looks like (can't wait to visit somewhere and make one for myself...):
The "Keltenblitz" is a different, newer type of summer sled that is structured more like a roller coaster. Some have two rails, but this was a monorail version. From the ski lift you see the rail winding down the mountain:
If you look closely at some chairs on the lift, you'll see how they get the sleds back up to the top:
At the top of the lift there is a small restaurant plus a tiny "ski museum" that compresses the definition of museum to it's smallest possible concept. We paused for a brief drink but then wanted to get rolling. At first you see the sleds queued up (and a great view of the valley and distant peaks)...
...which leads to the starting gate (photo below). After you climb up into a "sled" a young guy there makes sure that you have buckled your seat belt. Yes, seat belt. (You need it to make sure the curves don't throw you out.)
The stick/lever on the sled controls the break. Pushing forward removes the break, while pulling back applies it. Once you're buckled up and comfortable, you're ready to take off.
The guy at the gate (hunched over in the above photo) said that he goes down without braking at all. Of course, there are signs all over the course that say BRAKE but he says you don't have to. Admittedly, on my first run, I did brake. You really pick up speed and some of the curves were sharp.
However, it was so cool that we got on the lift and sledded down again. This time, I barely braked at all and took a video!!! Here it is.
I was the first, so at the bottom I hopped out and took a photo of the others coming down.
And by the way, I asked the people at the bottom what the "weltrekord" (world record) is for the run. They replied "well under 4 minutes". My video is about 3:53, so not too bad! There's a video on YouTube of a guy on this who "didn't brake" and he took 3:55, so I'm definitely in the neighborhood.
It ended up being almost a perfect day. Hiking in the morning, sommerrodelbahn in the afternoon, and a leisurely drive home to Munich. Frau A and I are itching to try more of these summer sledding contraptions!