Fourteen Kilometres of Toboggan Run, After Dark

Half an hour up the valley from the chalet, above Neukirchen am Großvenediger, there is a toboggan run that comes down fourteen kilometres of mountain and drops something like thirteen hundred metres on the way. It is floodlit in the evenings. It is, as far as anyone locally is concerned, the longest lit toboggan run anywhere.

We mention it to nearly every group that stays with us, and there is a reliable pattern to what happens next: they nod politely, file it under “maybe”, ski for four days, finally go on the fifth, and then spend the drive home working out whether they can fit in another run before they leave.

How the evening works

You take the gondola up from Neukirchen — there is a second lift from Bramberg at the other end of the run — and you come down on a sledge. That is genuinely the whole of it. The run is a proper prepared track, not a path through the woods, and it is wide enough that you are not constantly braking for other people.

Allow somewhere around forty minutes for the descent if you are not in a hurry, longer with small children and longer again if you stop, which you should. There are huts along the way that stay open into the evening, and a run this long is much better broken in half with something hot in the middle than taken as a single sprint.

Sledges can be hired at the bottom, so there is no need to arrive with anything strapped to the car.

What to actually wear

This is where people get it wrong, so it is worth being specific. Dress exactly as you would for a day’s skiing, and then add a bit.

• Ski goggles. Not sunglasses, not nothing. You are moving quickly through cold air in the dark, and after a few minutes your eyes will stream without them.
• Proper gloves. You steer and brake with your hands and heels, and the track is snow. Thin gloves are wet gloves within a kilometre.
• Waterproof trousers. You will end up sitting in snow at some point. Everyone does.
• A helmet for children, and honestly for adults too. It is faster than it looks.
• A head torch, if you have one. The run is lit, but a torch is useful at the huts and in the car park afterwards.

Boots with some grip are better than ski boots, which are miserable to walk in and worse to steer with.

Is it suitable for children?

Mostly yes, and it is one of the rare mountain activities where a seven-year-old and a fifty-year-old have an equally good time. But it is a long run and it does get fast, so smaller children are better sharing a sledge with an adult, and it is entirely reasonable to do the top half, stop at a hut, and take a slower second half.

If you want something shorter to try first, the Maiskogel above Kaprun has a toboggan run too — a few kilometres rather than fourteen, and ten minutes from the chalet instead of thirty. It is a good way to find out whether your group loves this before committing to the big one.

A few honest warnings

The run is at its fastest and iciest late in the evening on a cold night, when the surface has firmed up and had a few hundred sledges polish it. That is exciting if you want it to be and unpleasant if you did not expect it. Go earlier in the evening with children.

Lighting nights, opening hours and hire arrangements vary through the season and with the weather, and the run closes when conditions call for it. Check with the lift company on the day rather than turning up on the strength of a blog post — including this one.

And leave the car keys with someone sensible. The huts on the way down are not there purely for the tea.