Snowshoe yoga above the clouds in Austria's snow-capped mountains

SCHWAZ/PILLBERG, Austria - If you have anything on your chest, get your talking done right after you start out, says snow yoga teacher Daniela Hochmuth in the mountains of Austria. 

She is welcoming a dozen snowshoe hikers to the Hochpillberg parking lot above the Lower Inn Valley. 

Any questions? “After that, I invite you to focus on your perceptions, the silence, the sounds of the snow – we don’t get that very often.”

We are in Tyrol, known as the Karwendel Silver Region. The name of the region tucked between the Tux Alps and the Karwendel Mountains refers to the historic silver mining in the area. Today, it’s known as Tyrol’s snowshoe destination.

Snowshoe yoga is new and not yet a trend, but was dreamed up by locals, says Daniela. But people are flocking to enjoy this wintry alpine fresh air activity. 

In keeping with yoga, which also has a lot to do with mindfulness, Daniela leads the group on the Path of the Senses, a hiking trail lined with works of art, rest areas and views of the Karwendel Mountains on the opposite side of the Inn Valley.

Then, in a clearing, the group forms a circle and the yoga teacher quotes a poem by US environmental activist Derrick Jensen. 

“There is a language older by far and deeper than words. It is the language of the earth, and it is the language of our bodies. It is the language of dreams,” he wrote.

Suddenly a mobile phone rings. Daniela ignores it, instead letting hands knead, shoulders turn, hips circle. And introduces the “mountain pose”: stand with your feet hip-width apart, pelvis upright, navel pulled in. 

“I invite you to be as stable as a mountain and simply observe your breath,” she says and falls silent. Long enough to calm down, short enough not to cool down.

As we hike to the next station, she encourages us to focus on our walking rhythm. What does snowshoeing sound like? Most yogis agree that sport is only one part of yoga, with the rest being meditation and philosophy. 

This should also come across in the snowshoe version – which, due to the plates underfoot, comes with a few practical limitations.

Meditative rhythm in the snow

“We can’t do the Buddha pose here,” says Daniela. Nevertheless, being conscious in the moment in the mountain air of Tyrol is closer to the origins of yoga than many contorted poses, she says. 

What does work in the snow are lunges, chair poses, and spreading our arms like eagles.

We walk and stand, breathe in and out, stretch and bend forward, here out in the snow which is just as effective as in a yoga studio. 

And it is fun, at least as long as the sun is shining. When it’s cold and snowing, no one wants to practice for long, says participant Jürgen Husch, who combines snowshoeing and yoga as a yoga teacher and hiking guide in the Allgäu region. 

Earlier in the season, locals offered visitors avalanche awareness training, a growing danger this season and at present. The local mountain rescue service to provide information about potential dangers and tips so people bring along the right equipment - a matter of interest to us as snowshoe hikes often take place in alpine terrain.

Finding a meditative rhythm in the snow is why she and her friend Elke came to the area for a snowshoe hiking week, says Nicki from Nuremberg. 

But when the day came round to do snowshoe yoga, they went separate ways. Elke picked the Path of the Senses and says she felt like she was walking on clouds. “I really found it wonderfully relaxing,” she says.

She didn’t notice anyone taking photos or planes overhead. Instead she sensed the sun, the wind and enjoyed the view of the last wisps of fog over the Inn Valley.

But Nicki felt yoga, snow-shoeing and spending time in a hut was too much for one day. Later, though, she wished she had come along too. “If I had known it would be so beautiful, especially with the cloud cover...” Next time, she’ll be there, she is sure.