Altenberg invites you to a hiking week
The hiking weeks take place here at regular intervals through all seasons. Kerstin Wachmann from the tourist information says that this should create highlights in the hiking season. “We want to make the holiday region a little better known and show routes and destinations that are perhaps still a little unknown.”
On through the forest
One of those destinations: The Biathlon Arena, just outside of the mountain town. That’s where it’s supposed to go that day. I set off together with hiking guide Rolf Friebel and the Kopp family from Karlsruhe. It leads past the downhill slope and the summer toboggan run out of the city. The first highlight: the old shooting range.
It is now something between meadow, swamp and biotope and can really only be recognized from the pictures that hiking guide Friebel is passing around. And Friebel – who used to be a biathlete himself – goes into raptures. In GDR times, the Altenberg winter sports location and the Dynamo Zinnwald club were a figurehead for skiing, he says. “Biathlon greats like Frank-Peter Roetsch and Eberhard Rösch laid the foundations for World Cup and Olympic victories here.” Altenberg is now a starting point for bobsleigh and toboggan athletes in particular. But the legends and stories endure. The estate and residents are proud of the successes of the past.
Does winter sports still have a future?
After the excursion into the past – it shouldn’t have been the last – we continue towards the new arena. We walk past the shore of the Galgenteich further out of the city. We get talking: about the forest, the big blueberries that are growing this year (it’s humid enough) and about winter sports.
After a detailed look into the past, we ask ourselves whether the forest still has a future here. Friebel thinks for a moment after the question. “We realize that we have to rethink. The goal is to create a year-round offer for visitors,” he says. You can no longer rely on the snow alone. “It’s possible that we have 50 cm of snow here one day and the next day it’s above zero, rain and everything is gone.” And artificial snow alone is not enough.
New ways for the region
You can tell that the region is thinking – has to think – how it can also attract guests outside of winter. Hikes and events like on this day are part of it. New mountain bike trails, summer biathlon and other activities another.