Cross-Country Ski At Ramsau travel tips and stories. Vacations ideas, cruises, spa and resorts

Imagine taking giant steps and gliding with effortless ease through a snowy mountain landscape of spiky peaks and silent forests and looks like something out of Lewis’s Narnia books. This is one way of experience cross-country skiing in the Tyrolean Alps, Austria. The rhythmic movements with your skis and a friendly Gruss Gott getting from a passing skier make this an amazing way of travel and exploring. Photo by: Abebe Bikila

Cross-country skiing can be as energetic or as leisurely as you like. At its extreme, it can be a complete workout for arms, legs, and just about everything else. Photo by: Abebe Bikila

Leutasch, not far from Innsbruck, is the king of all Austrian cross-country ski areas, with admirable snow record and well over 125 miles of prepared tracks beneath the pyramidal 2,6661 m peak of Hohe Munde. Between the low-key villages dotted in the main valley, the track rises very, very gently, and here a procession of skiers of all ages and fitness levels makes its long way. Photo by: Abebe Bikila

Further up, the terrain becomes distinctly hillier as you head into the trees. The crowds thin out dramatically, only to reappear at the next refreshment hut. With typical Austrian precision, each route is color coded for difficulty and equipped with diagrams showing the rises, falls, and overall distance. Getting lost is never a concern. Photo by: kruhme