nstein with a little ‘ un
Chris Scaife takes his son Oscar on his �irst walk through the Alps
ropes were mere handlines beside a straightforward path . We stopped for lunch at the Tilisunahütte , watching marmots as we dined , and soon crossed the border into Switzerland . The parallels between our journey and that of the von Trapps did not pass us by , but fortunately the harmony of several alpenhorns rising up from the valley below prevented us from bursting into song . We didn ’ t want to spoil the moment .
That night we stayed in Carschinahütte and this time we did not have a private room . Our roommates put on brave faces when we entered , but I assume they were dreading a night interrupted by screaming . They needn ’ t have been , as Oscar slept well that night . The hut was in a spectacular position and was surprisingly busy , bearing in mind how few people we had seen during the day . In a remarkable gesture of child-friendliness for a remote mountain hut , there was a sandpit to play in .
Our �inal day was spent traversing around the Swiss side of the Drusen�luh ridge , before we crossed back into Austria and descended back to Lünersee . Carolina carried Oscar in the child carrier throughout our three-day hike , except of course when he was walking , so I carried three people ’ s provisions for three days – I make that the equivalent of nine day packs . Although we had a child carrier with a sunshade , at times there was a bit too much vitamin D for our
troglophilic liking , so we hung a sheet over the top to provide 360 ° protection .
A few days later , we travelled by bus to Malbun in Liechtenstein . En route , we stopped in the world ’ s greatest capital city , Vaduz . At the bus stop , there was an information board pointing out the highlights – vineyards , the castle , the medieval Red House – and every single one was visible from the bus stop . Malbun was an out-of-season ski resort with numerous options for short walks and one genuinely wonderful ridge walk – Fürstin-Gina-Weg .
Walking along this rocky horseshoe , which towers over Malbun , was a delight . On one side , we could see almost all of the tiny , double-landlocked country , stretching out ; and on the other , rugged mountains as far as the eye
Looking down to Malbun from Liechtenstein ' s Fürstin-Gina-Weg could see . I doubt I would even have heard of any of those peaks before I went there – they were mostly small and insigni�icant by Alpine standards – but boy , were they impressive .
Oscar had a great time . He enjoyed the views and on the long �lat section towards the end of the Fürstin-Gina-Weg , he walked farther than ever before . As tends to happen when he ’ s abroad , he was a hit with the locals . When we stopped at a hut on the Austria-Liechtenstein border , the owner wrote out a postcard for him saying he had enjoyed his visit . This postcard is now stuck to our fridge as a permanent reminder of Oscar ’ s �irst trip to the Alps .
outdoor focus / spring 2023 9