Sound of Music Terrain
When I started guiding in the Alps in 2019, The Sound of Music kept popping up left and right in interactions with guests: a professional singer had me record her version of Climb Ev'ry Mountain in the pastures, a family of five left a glowing review about our "wonderful hike in Sound of Music worthy terrain" and kids and parents alike enjoyed twirls amongst the cows. While I had heard about the movie when I lived in Scotland and Australia, I had never watched it. It's simply not a thing in Germany. When I finally did, I was delighted to recognise the mountain backdrops and pastures th
at I love so much myself.
So let's take a quick look at what a mountain pasture (called Alm in German) actually is. In our part of the Alps, the natural treeline – the elevation above which trees can't survive because of low temperatures, strong winds and thin soil – lies at around 1,800 m (roughly 5,900 ft). This means that practically everything below that line was once covered in trees. About 1,000 years ago, our ancestors started clearing land on the mountains to graze their animals from about May to September. This freed up the valley meadows to be mown several times over the summer, producing hay for the winter. As a side effect, the farmers opened up the great views we enjoy so much today. And the so-called cultural landscapes that they created are richer in biodiversity than a forest would be, with up to 60 different plant species in one square metre. What a lesson in sustainability!
As the pastures are hard to miss on a hike, they are a part of most of our excursions. I still want to highlight two tours: Our Mountain Pastures Tour is the easiest tour in our portfolio and includes a lake as well as several large pastures. Another fairly easy option is our Mountain Food Tour which takes us to a couple of chalets in the pastures for some mouth-watering food and an impromptu mountain cheese tasting amongst the cows. So if you are after this Sound of Music feeling, you know where to find it.
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