Innsbruck; Monday, 09 January, 2017

Overnight the city’s workers had been out in force and all the pavements and roadways were clear of ice and snow. With patches of blue sky occasionally being visible in the blanket of cloud I decided I’d take the opportunity of it being included in the Innsbruck card to take the cable cars up to the city’s mountain range the Nordkette.

I caught the bus from outside the hotel round to the base station of the Hungerburgbahn funicular and took that up to the base station of the cable car. At the base station, it became obvious that a lot of people had taken the day off work to go skiing and snowboarding as I was about the only person not dressed in luridly coloured ski gear or carting planks of wood to strap to my feet.

Thankfully, because it was so busy the frequency of the cable cars had been increased to the point they were turning them round and sending them back out again pretty much straight away, so although I missed the gondolier as I arrive the next one was only about 7 minutes later.

The cable car takes you up to Seegrube at around 6,250ft and on the journey up we climbed up through the low clouds before bursting out into clear blue skies with the dazzling sun being reflected off the deep snow lining the ski runs.

I had intended on picking the second cable car up straight away and going all the way to the highest station at Hafelekar but the crush of winter sports enthusiasts wanting to chuck themselves down a 70% slope was so deep that I decided to have a bit of a wander around Seegrube first.

The area houses several ski runs, but most importantly a very nice restaurant offering stunning views over the mountains and slopes. Even on a cloudy day the views were impressive with just the tops of peaks popping out above the cloud level, it really felt like you were on a plane, enhanced by the effects of a very crisp larger at altitude.

Fortified I braved the crush and got myself into the queue to take the cable car up the last let to Hefelekar. In the end, I managed to get onto the cable car at the third attempt and got up to the highest point on the mountain to take in the stunning views, which by now also included some parts of the valley as the skies had begun to clear. From the station it is possible to walk up a well-made path to the summit of the mountain, but with all the snow lying around, and the sheer drops, I decided it probably wasn’t intended to be used in the winter so instead, after having a little look around, I became the only person on the cable car going back down the mountain to Seegrube.

At Seegrube I changed onto the main cable car and descended back down to Hungerburg and took in the views from there over the city and the opposite mountain ranges before picking up the Hungerburgbahn back down the city centre and the tram round to the station.

By now it was time to pick up my luggage from the hotel and start my journey back to the airport and the flight home.