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5 types of hikers you meet in Tyrol

As rich as the flora and fauna in the Tyrolean mountains is, the types of people who cavort there are just as colourful. Some people are looking for the absence of people, others for the perfect panorama to showcase themselves and others for an exposed ridge to test their limits. Connoisseurs, who particularly appreciate cheese dumplings and Kaiserschmarren on the mountain, as well as ambitious high-tech freaks can also be found in the heights of Tyrol. What types of hikers are there exactly?

1. the pleasure hiker

The pleasure hiker is already munching on a cheese dumpling before the cable car takes him back down to the valley. To the left and right, he chats away to unknown neighbours at the table, quenches his thirst with a well-deserved sip of beer and is served a strudel with whipped cream by the Alpine innkeeper - the mountain air makes you hungry! While the sun warms his pale face, he savours the light burn of a Swiss stone pine schnapps in his gullet - cheers to the miller's delight. He glides downhill in the sunset.

2. the hipster hiker

True to the motto "Yolo!", hipster hikers are climbing high. Wearing a cool beanie, smart glasses and a stylish rucksack, they share the mountain panorama on Facebook, Instagram & Co without even realising it. Equipped with a selfie stick, they go on the hunt: Oh, a blue flower, awesome, a sharp rock, how white this cloud is - all the coolest motifs in the mountains! They are tweeting around the clock about this amazing tour. They share and like, filter, track and hike. The evening in the valley ends with a chilled vegan, lactose-free, gluten-free barbecue. It's nice to please so many people.

3. the high-tech hiker

Higher. Faster. Further. The high-tech hiker chooses the steep climbs. He sprints uphill on ultra-light soles. Looking ahead, the goal in sight. Past cow and pancake. Puffing, panting, sweating. But his headband holds. The summit is approaching. The sun is glowing. The rucksack spray spurs him on. At the summit. Nine hundred and forty-three metres in altitude, four kilometres in forty-four minutes, forty-three seconds and two hundredths. Smartwatch knows the score. It picks up the energy ball. Worth 600 kilocalories. From dates, salt, cocoa and so on. Invigorated, he changes into a breathable shirt and heads downhill. The performance is right.

4. the alpine individualist

The alpine individualist consults his tour book in the morning, leafs through the pages and avoids exactly those routes that are recommended to him. He sets his sights on a summit away from the fashionable mountains of Tyrol. He hikes alone for hours through the landscape, meditating and philosophising. And when he lets his gaze wander over the Alps at the summit, he sees hills in the distance, bustling like anthills. He shakes his head, leans against the summit cross, bites into his apple and savours the peace and quiet.

5. the retro hiker

Genuine leather mountain boots adorn the retro hiker's outfit, as do the red and white checked shirt and leather trousers. The brown hunting dog is his accessory. Mountains mean home to him. He loves experiencing nature, knows gentian, arnica and all the other 137 protected alpine flowers in Tyrol. His favourite reading material includes maps and playing cards. No summit is foreign to him. No path is too far for him to sweat over Landjäger and mountain cheese. He spies chamois with his binoculars and marvels at how many people need televisions and watches for mountaineering.