Up above, mountains, forests and alpine pastures. Just a few metres further down, the world looks completely different. In the Ybbstal Alps, two caves lead into the limestone: the Ötscher stalactite cave near Gaming and the Hochkar cave. By the way, you should pack warm clothes even in summer. Underground, summer temperatures aren’t particularly high.
Even the walk to the Ötscher stalactite cave is part of the day out. From the Schindlhütte refreshment stop, a signposted footpath leads to the cave entrance in around 45 to 60 minutes. Then it’s down into the cave.
The cave is 575 metres long and was first opened for guided tours back in 1926. Along concrete paths and steps, you pass stalagmites, stalactites and dripstone formations with names such as ‘Hoher Dom’, ‘Märchenhalle’ and ‘Zaubergang’. Even Snow White has found a home down here. At the deepest point, an underground lake measuring around 100 square metres awaits.
At the Hochkar, the route also takes you underground. The Hochkar shaft is more than 650 metres long and descends some 130 metres in altitude. Particularly impressive are the layered structures of the Dachstein limestone, the smooth rock faces and the vast chambers inside.
One of these is the Pfingsthalle. Measuring around 35 metres long, 15 metres wide and 20 metres high, it vividly illustrates the vast dimensions hidden beneath the Hochkar. The Hochkar shaft is estimated to have formed around 100,000 years ago.
In one, you walk past stalactites to a lake deep underground. In the other, vast chambers and passages open up in the limestone. And by the time you emerge, at the very latest, you realise that a mountain is not just what you see from the outside.
