The mountain has stood for a million years, and it will stand for a million more. It allows creatures of land to reach for the sky, and it connects them to those that swim and fly.
In the heart of Austria, there is a mountain that sits outside the town of Maria Alm. It is called Aberg-Langeck by those who encounter it. It is positioned in the eastern portion of the Alp mountain range. Maria Alm lies 40 kilometers south of Salzburg in Austria. The mountain is white and icy in the winter and green and grassy in the summer. It is the home to many conifer trees and various wildlife. The flora and fauna of the mountain are uniquely situated to need methods to withstand long and cold winters as well as to thrive in moderate summers. The mountain has a network of organisms that gives it a unique “life” of its own. The waterways of the mountain, the vegetation and the fauna all contribute to the organism as a whole that is the mountain.
In the years after Aberg-Langeck was formed and before the photos below were taken, the mountain has gone through many stages of its life. In its original form, the mountain was covered with conifer trees, and covered with snow for much of the year. Throughout the long winters at Aberg-Langeck, the lowest temperatures can be nearly -14°C, which allows for average snow accumulations near 150 cm each winter. Any animal that lives in these mountains must be able to thrive in the short summers and survive in the long winters. Despite these harsh conditions, there are animals that roam the mountain, their habitat, for food and shelter. The alps are home to many critters such as deer, rabbits, and eagles, and many plants such as pine trees and grasses that contribute to alpine vegetation. The face of Aberg-Langeck is also carved by waterways, in which there seems to be an unlimited amount of water that flows from the heavens. Mountains can be a great source of freshwater delivery, because of their capability to store packed snow, which melts slowly, delivering a steady flow of water throughout the year until the snow reserves are eliminated. Mountains are often referred to as nature’s water towers because of this effect.
In the next stage of the mountain’s life, it was inhabited by people. The Austrian people of the mountains built cabins by logging from the mountain. They also cleared space to allow their dairy cattle to graze. The rich cheeses and hearty meals of these mountain people can still be enjoyed worldwide. Monseer Käse is the one of the most prominent cheeses that has roots in the Alpen Alms. One form of quick travel that was prominent for these cattle farmers was skiing, which has had an ever-growing presence on Aberg-Langeck.
Aberg-Langeck has also become a hub for skiing in the past fifty years. In the long winter months, the pastures and fields that have been cut into the sides of Aberg-Langeck are transformed into ski slopes. The mountain is currently a member of a ski region that offers 35 kilometers of connected slopes, one of the biggest ski networks in the Alps. This means that Aberg-Langeck’s winter months attract millions of people and there is a presence of dozens of restaurants, hotels, and ski lifts on the side of the mountain. Outside of the commercial properties, Aberg-Langeck’s eastern face has a street of dozens of private houses and apartments curving up its side, this town is referred to as Hintermoos. Each of these cabins stands in the former habitat of dozens of conifer trees, which were removed in the process of construction.
Despite the obvious anthropogenic changes to Aberg-Langeck’s ecosystem, there continues to be an Austrian sense of cherishment for the mountain and the rich history that it has shared with its people. Much of Aberg-Langeck’s face remains untampered still, there are many large patches of forest that remain, and there is still a small wildlife population. In addition to the invasion of humans onto the mountainside, the residence of a ski resort on the mountain means that they are also practicing manufacturing artificial weather. There is a presence of over 120 snow cannons on the mountainside during the winter, which prolongs the cold season’s effect due to the snow that is continually packed down onto the mountain. Each of these snow cannons is able to disperse five to ten thousand gallons of water into the air every minute. The energy used to pump this water and to disperse the water is an extraordinary amount.
When I last took a trip to my grandparent’s apartment in Hintermoos, which is located on the eastern face of Aberg-Langeck, it was the day after Christmas. I was anticipating snow because we were planning on skiing for a few days. There had been no snow in Stuttgart, Germany, where we started the day, but usually our progression towards the mountains was marked by more and more snow. To my disappointment, by the time that we arrived at our apartment there had been no snow on the ground. This meant that the outlook for skiing for the week was not great. I went to bed with hopes that in the morning, things would be different. There would be snow on the ground and the lifts would be running, taking thousands of people up steep faces of the mountain, so that they could use gravity to carve their way down the slopes.
The next morning, I was bewildered when I woke and there was snow on the ground. I looked out of the apartment window and I was in a winter wonderland. It had snowed around 45 cm in one night! In the course of a few hours, Aberg-Langeck had accumulated more snow than I am lucky enough to see in an entire winter in Ohio. In order to get to the slopes from our apartment, we have to walk, carrying our skis, a quarter-mile uphill on the road until we reach the forest. Once we have reached the forest, we can walk horizontally on a path that can take us over to where the slope is. After just this five-minute walk up and over to the slopes, everyone that makes the walk needs to take a quick break before putting on their skis to take off down the slopes. Because of the extreme effort required to climb up the mountain for a skiable distance, especially when wearing ski equipment, ski lifts are a necessity for recreational skiing, despite the way that they cut their paths directly up the mountain.
My favorite place to ski on Aberg-Langeck is from the very peak. Once at the top of the mountain, it is amazing to see miles of other mountain peaks, and the vast distance that is between me and the valley floor. On the journey down the mountain, skiers do not usually encounter many animals, but it is amazing to ski the slopes that border and cut through the massive conifer forests. If I am skiing on a path that is not often taken, I can sometimes even see the small footprints of some mammals that have been skipping between trees.
My favorite part about winter in Hintermoos and on Aberg-Langeck is the New Year. Every year at midnight, the residents of the mountain release a large number of fireworks. It is spectacular to witness so many fireworks from below and above. Because there are residents higher and lower than us on the mountain, we are actually higher than some of the fireworks when they explode. This is a wonderful experience and I would highly recommend it to anyone who doesn’t mind being a little cold for the New Year celebration.
On the last night that I spent in Hintermoos and Maria Alm, my family and I visited a ski show, where dozens of ski organizations and clubs perform choreographed ski maneuvers. There were lights and pyrotechnics that opened up the show and from then on there was nearly an hour of watching complex skiing while drinking Glühwein and listening to music. Near the end of the performance, there was a segment in which the history of skiing was displayed, by showing the older traditional ski equipment in action on the mountain. It was really inspiring to see how vastly and quickly the world of skiing has changed.
With every person who lives on the mountain, there is a sense of regality when they regard the mountain. Most of the people understand that the mountain is what allows them to relax for their holidays and ski the days away. The mountain is the place where they can visit paradise.
The future of Aberg-Langeck is not one of uncertainty. As long as humans have the capability to do so, Aberg-Langeck will be the place that they return to time and time again. The people will come to the homes that they have carved into the side of this mountain, they will continue to ski, to hike, and to allow their cattle to graze the mountainside. People are also ambitious, that is why they will continue to exploit and deteriorate the forests of the mountain, making a small amount of room for each of the numerous houses that they will likely construct in years to come, until the mountainside reaches a capacity and there is no more opportunity for more to be built.
In the case that the mountain is further developed as a resort or residential area, there is little chance that the fauna that call it home will be able to persist. If too many of the trees are removed, or too many segments of their habitat are separated, they will not have the space and the freedom, nor the resources they need to survive. The development of residency on the mountain is a slow process and in the near future, the forests will continue to survive, but in fifty or a hundred years, the landscape that I revere to be purely beautiful may be a wasteland of what it once was.
The mountain is beautiful, it has stood in its place, against wind and rain, for millions of years. Even now, as humans turn it into a playground, pursuing their own personal gains, its heart beats strong. The mountain will persist. It will outlive. It will recover, but will those organisms that depend on it be so lucky? Although there is plentiful habitat for these organisms now, they must fill their nests for the longest winter they will have yet to endure, because once their habitats are invaded, it will be all that they can do to survive.
If the people of the mountain and Austria remain aware of the preciousness of the land that they inhabit, and the fragility of the ecosystem that it creates, there is a chance that it will continue to be a prosperous land where humans can coexist with fauna and flora. There is hope that, because they understand the rich history that the mountain has had, the people will continue to cherish what nature has given them and understand the repercussions of taking it for granted.
Throughout its lifetime, Aberg-Langeck has been covered in forests, grazed by dairy cattle, and skied by millions of people. The history of Aberg-Langeck is one of adaptation and perseverance. A mountain is a naturally fragile but resilient ecosystem. They have to conform to harsh winds, temperatures, and precipitations. With the current influence from humans affecting its ecosystem, Aberg-Langeck is showing its resilience more than ever. Aberg-Langeck is currently a picturesque destination that provides a number of attractions in both winter and summer, but if the types of changes that have occurred on its faces in the past hundred years continue to occur in the next hundred, what was once the epitome of nature’s beauty may become a scar that reminds the rest of the world of the dangers of extending our reaches too far.
In the heart of Austria, there is a mountain that sits outside the town of Maria Alm. It is called Aberg-Langeck by those who encounter it. It is positioned in the eastern portion of the Alp mountain range. Maria Alm lies 40 kilometers south of Salzburg in Austria. The mountain is white and icy in the winter and green and grassy in the summer. It is the home to many conifer trees and various wildlife. The flora and fauna of the mountain are uniquely situated to need methods to withstand long and cold winters as well as to thrive in moderate summers. The mountain has a network of organisms that gives it a unique “life” of its own. The waterways of the mountain, the vegetation and the fauna all contribute to the organism as a whole that is the mountain.
In the years after Aberg-Langeck was formed and before the photos below were taken, the mountain has gone through many stages of its life. In its original form, the mountain was covered with conifer trees, and covered with snow for much of the year. Throughout the long winters at Aberg-Langeck, the lowest temperatures can be nearly -14°C, which allows for average snow accumulations near 150 cm each winter. Any animal that lives in these mountains must be able to thrive in the short summers and survive in the long winters. Despite these harsh conditions, there are animals that roam the mountain, their habitat, for food and shelter. The alps are home to many critters such as deer, rabbits, and eagles, and many plants such as pine trees and grasses that contribute to alpine vegetation. The face of Aberg-Langeck is also carved by waterways, in which there seems to be an unlimited amount of water that flows from the heavens. Mountains can be a great source of freshwater delivery, because of their capability to store packed snow, which melts slowly, delivering a steady flow of water throughout the year until the snow reserves are eliminated. Mountains are often referred to as nature’s water towers because of this effect.
In the next stage of the mountain’s life, it was inhabited by people. The Austrian people of the mountains built cabins by logging from the mountain. They also cleared space to allow their dairy cattle to graze. The rich cheeses and hearty meals of these mountain people can still be enjoyed worldwide. Monseer Käse is the one of the most prominent cheeses that has roots in the Alpen Alms. One form of quick travel that was prominent for these cattle farmers was skiing, which has had an ever-growing presence on Aberg-Langeck.
Aberg-Langeck has also become a hub for skiing in the past fifty years. In the long winter months, the pastures and fields that have been cut into the sides of Aberg-Langeck are transformed into ski slopes. The mountain is currently a member of a ski region that offers 35 kilometers of connected slopes, one of the biggest ski networks in the Alps. This means that Aberg-Langeck’s winter months attract millions of people and there is a presence of dozens of restaurants, hotels, and ski lifts on the side of the mountain. Outside of the commercial properties, Aberg-Langeck’s eastern face has a street of dozens of private houses and apartments curving up its side, this town is referred to as Hintermoos. Each of these cabins stands in the former habitat of dozens of conifer trees, which were removed in the process of construction.
Despite the obvious anthropogenic changes to Aberg-Langeck’s ecosystem, there continues to be an Austrian sense of cherishment for the mountain and the rich history that it has shared with its people. Much of Aberg-Langeck’s face remains untampered still, there are many large patches of forest that remain, and there is still a small wildlife population. In addition to the invasion of humans onto the mountainside, the residence of a ski resort on the mountain means that they are also practicing manufacturing artificial weather. There is a presence of over 120 snow cannons on the mountainside during the winter, which prolongs the cold season’s effect due to the snow that is continually packed down onto the mountain. Each of these snow cannons is able to disperse five to ten thousand gallons of water into the air every minute. The energy used to pump this water and to disperse the water is an extraordinary amount.
When I last took a trip to my grandparent’s apartment in Hintermoos, which is located on the eastern face of Aberg-Langeck, it was the day after Christmas. I was anticipating snow because we were planning on skiing for a few days. There had been no snow in Stuttgart, Germany, where we started the day, but usually our progression towards the mountains was marked by more and more snow. To my disappointment, by the time that we arrived at our apartment there had been no snow on the ground. This meant that the outlook for skiing for the week was not great. I went to bed with hopes that in the morning, things would be different. There would be snow on the ground and the lifts would be running, taking thousands of people up steep faces of the mountain, so that they could use gravity to carve their way down the slopes.
The next morning, I was bewildered when I woke and there was snow on the ground. I looked out of the apartment window and I was in a winter wonderland. It had snowed around 45 cm in one night! In the course of a few hours, Aberg-Langeck had accumulated more snow than I am lucky enough to see in an entire winter in Ohio. In order to get to the slopes from our apartment, we have to walk, carrying our skis, a quarter-mile uphill on the road until we reach the forest. Once we have reached the forest, we can walk horizontally on a path that can take us over to where the slope is. After just this five-minute walk up and over to the slopes, everyone that makes the walk needs to take a quick break before putting on their skis to take off down the slopes. Because of the extreme effort required to climb up the mountain for a skiable distance, especially when wearing ski equipment, ski lifts are a necessity for recreational skiing, despite the way that they cut their paths directly up the mountain.
My favorite place to ski on Aberg-Langeck is from the very peak. Once at the top of the mountain, it is amazing to see miles of other mountain peaks, and the vast distance that is between me and the valley floor. On the journey down the mountain, skiers do not usually encounter many animals, but it is amazing to ski the slopes that border and cut through the massive conifer forests. If I am skiing on a path that is not often taken, I can sometimes even see the small footprints of some mammals that have been skipping between trees.
My favorite part about winter in Hintermoos and on Aberg-Langeck is the New Year. Every year at midnight, the residents of the mountain release a large number of fireworks. It is spectacular to witness so many fireworks from below and above. Because there are residents higher and lower than us on the mountain, we are actually higher than some of the fireworks when they explode. This is a wonderful experience and I would highly recommend it to anyone who doesn’t mind being a little cold for the New Year celebration.
On the last night that I spent in Hintermoos and Maria Alm, my family and I visited a ski show, where dozens of ski organizations and clubs perform choreographed ski maneuvers. There were lights and pyrotechnics that opened up the show and from then on there was nearly an hour of watching complex skiing while drinking Glühwein and listening to music. Near the end of the performance, there was a segment in which the history of skiing was displayed, by showing the older traditional ski equipment in action on the mountain. It was really inspiring to see how vastly and quickly the world of skiing has changed.
With every person who lives on the mountain, there is a sense of regality when they regard the mountain. Most of the people understand that the mountain is what allows them to relax for their holidays and ski the days away. The mountain is the place where they can visit paradise.
The future of Aberg-Langeck is not one of uncertainty. As long as humans have the capability to do so, Aberg-Langeck will be the place that they return to time and time again. The people will come to the homes that they have carved into the side of this mountain, they will continue to ski, to hike, and to allow their cattle to graze the mountainside. People are also ambitious, that is why they will continue to exploit and deteriorate the forests of the mountain, making a small amount of room for each of the numerous houses that they will likely construct in years to come, until the mountainside reaches a capacity and there is no more opportunity for more to be built.
In the case that the mountain is further developed as a resort or residential area, there is little chance that the fauna that call it home will be able to persist. If too many of the trees are removed, or too many segments of their habitat are separated, they will not have the space and the freedom, nor the resources they need to survive. The development of residency on the mountain is a slow process and in the near future, the forests will continue to survive, but in fifty or a hundred years, the landscape that I revere to be purely beautiful may be a wasteland of what it once was.
The mountain is beautiful, it has stood in its place, against wind and rain, for millions of years. Even now, as humans turn it into a playground, pursuing their own personal gains, its heart beats strong. The mountain will persist. It will outlive. It will recover, but will those organisms that depend on it be so lucky? Although there is plentiful habitat for these organisms now, they must fill their nests for the longest winter they will have yet to endure, because once their habitats are invaded, it will be all that they can do to survive.
If the people of the mountain and Austria remain aware of the preciousness of the land that they inhabit, and the fragility of the ecosystem that it creates, there is a chance that it will continue to be a prosperous land where humans can coexist with fauna and flora. There is hope that, because they understand the rich history that the mountain has had, the people will continue to cherish what nature has given them and understand the repercussions of taking it for granted.
Throughout its lifetime, Aberg-Langeck has been covered in forests, grazed by dairy cattle, and skied by millions of people. The history of Aberg-Langeck is one of adaptation and perseverance. A mountain is a naturally fragile but resilient ecosystem. They have to conform to harsh winds, temperatures, and precipitations. With the current influence from humans affecting its ecosystem, Aberg-Langeck is showing its resilience more than ever. Aberg-Langeck is currently a picturesque destination that provides a number of attractions in both winter and summer, but if the types of changes that have occurred on its faces in the past hundred years continue to occur in the next hundred, what was once the epitome of nature’s beauty may become a scar that reminds the rest of the world of the dangers of extending our reaches too far.
Picture Credit: Noah Berner (January 2019)
Picture Credit: Noah Berner (January 2019)
Picture Credit: Hochkönnig Tourismus GmbH
Picture Credit: Noah Berner (December 2018)
Works Cited:
https://www.austria.info/en/service-and-facts/about-austria/nature-climate
https://www.salzburgerland.com/en/the-history-of-salzburgs-alpine-culture/
https://www.hochkoenig.at/de/blog.html
https://www.onthesnow.co.nz/salzburg/hochkoenig/historical-snowfall.html
https://www.watercalculator.org/footprint/importance-mountain-snowpack-water/
https://www.britannica.com/science/mountain-ecosystem
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/destinations/europe/austria/enjoy-an-alpine-cowherd-tradition-and-festival/
https://www.austria.info/en/service-and-facts/about-austria/nature-climate
https://www.salzburgerland.com/en/the-history-of-salzburgs-alpine-culture/
https://www.hochkoenig.at/de/blog.html
https://www.onthesnow.co.nz/salzburg/hochkoenig/historical-snowfall.html
https://www.watercalculator.org/footprint/importance-mountain-snowpack-water/
https://www.britannica.com/science/mountain-ecosystem
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/destinations/europe/austria/enjoy-an-alpine-cowherd-tradition-and-festival/