Skiroll in Austria by Antonio Marin                                                              Versione Italiana

If you dream of long tracks full of snow, while you’re training with your skirolls and maybe during the summertime, there’s a place where you can feel the thrill of "skiing" for almost 30 km on a real cross-country track, with great asphalt, and without the cares due to the presence of cars and motorbikes.

To make this dream come true, you have to go to Lienz in Austria.

The Tyrolean country town, though seat of the famous Dolomitenlauf every winter, is easy to be reached from Italy through the main road of Val Pusteria in the direction San Candido-Versciaco, after about 50 km from the border. The track winds along the river Drava and follows the already famous bicycle touring track which in summer connects San Candido to Lienz, allowing then an easy return by train. During the cold season, snow permitting, the asphalt seat becomes a marvellous cross-country track.

This track, about 30 km long, is almost all good asphalted (there’s a short block due to a landslide), it’s in slight slope with a few undulations, more prominent in the direction Lienz-San Candido. There are signs indicating altimetry, partial and total distances in kilometres.

Personally I didn’t run it completly, becouse, starting from Lienz, I decided to stop at Sillan, near the Italian border.

You can run in both directions, if you’re coming from Lienz mind the cyclists, who mostly come in the other direction. For this reason it is unwary to go skirolling there in the period from the middle of July to the end of August, you could have to face proper swarms of cycloturists of every age.

All the same it is a cycleway, and even if occasional skirollers and skaters are always greeted and admired, it’s safe not to abuse beyond measure of the others’ tollerance.

The track’s lenght permits to simulate at best a full day on the ski, maybe organizing a group trip with return by train, by car or even by skirolls (such as to simulate a Marcialonga).

It is not to forget, besides the attractive refreshments all over the track, the beautiful landscape of Lienz Dolomites!