Shooting Action Sport in Austria

Austrians and sport

People who enjoy extreme activities are typically youthful and rebellious, enjoy creativity and individual expression, according to psychologists, which is also quite true about Austrians. Sport for Austrians is not only enjoyed by a proportion, but by society as a whole making it an important part of their national culture. Their connectedness to nature heightens their respect towards it, which can be witnessed in the way the conserve and nurture their surroundings, which in turn ensures them good health and vitality.

There are studies, that show that more than half of the inhabitants of Austria can ski and that 40% of Austrians practise some form of sport at least once a week, making being active and enthusiastic about sport quite a national lifestyle.

Austrian Talents and Locations on Screen

Austria’s strong economy enables a flawless infrastructure, enabling not only sport enthusiasts, but also productions to have easy access to pretty much any location in the Alps. Also this country can offer well equipped and experienced local crew with special skills talents for safely and efficiently handling extreme environments and situations. It is essential to have a local on the crew, who is familiar with the region’s geography, fast changing weather conditions, as well as the equipment and clothing needed. Only an experienced person can understand the dangers of the quickly changing weather. When shooting a sports scene, their knowledge is also vital for the preparatory stage.

Climbing

Tyrol is unquestionably an ideal destination for avid rock climbers, since it has hundreds of 3000 meter high mountains, more than 5000 alpine rock climbing routes and 3000 sport climbing routes. Its dramatic rock faces and crags promise unforgettable experiences for climbers and brilliant locations for shoots.

These scenic resorts have such a range of rock walls, ledges and other formations that are ideal both for enthusiastic beginners and world-class professionals, with routes that are constantly developed.

Tannheimer Tal is a valley in Tyrol, that has such a long tradition of rock climbing, that its first routes were opened more than a hundred years ago. It welcomes sportsmen of all levels of skill, to try out more than a hundred climbing routes, and just as many multi-pitch routes, as well as 3 Via Ferrata trails.

Climbing Parks

In the heart of Ötztal, one of the country’s most stunning natural areas, one can find an exceptional flying fox rope course in Längenfeld, which is the first of its kind in Tyrol, hanging above an untouched valley with rouged rocks, large trees and a beautiful panorama of the Alps.

The Stubai Valley in Tyrol is home to a sensational adventure park offering eight trails, each with zip lines, swinging steps and suspension bridges, up to 18 meters high among trees.

Freeride & Mountainbike

Austria is also one of the best places for bikers, especially because one can find one of Europe’s most famous cycle routes here, called the “Danube path”. Another route that can not be forgotten is Bike Trail Tyrol, the longest Alpine bike trail, which is 1000 km long.

If you are interested in using other summer sports for your project like Caving, Motocross, Cross Buggy, Summer Tobogganing, Triathlon or Skateboarding, we can give you further helpful tips and information.

Skiing

Thanks to Austria’s mountainous geography, alpine skiing is the country’s leading and most loved sport, with snowboarding and ski jumping not far behind.

This is the land of stunning ski resorts, due to its immaculate infrastructure and fantastic views, making it not only a popular destination for tourists, but for film and photography productions as well. Alpine glaciers ensure snow all year round, making it a 100% reliable location for snow sports. Unlike most of Europe with their artificially built resorts, Austria offers old traditional villages with up to date services as accommodation. Locations like this are mostly situated in the Tyrol region and around Salzburg, as well as the Arlberg region (St. Anton-Zürs-Lech), which is one of Europe’s snowiest areas.

St Anton, which is among Europe’s top skiing resorts, has brilliant accessibility with three international airports within two hours’ drive away and a railway station in its heart.

Lech and Zürs are two of the most exquisite resorts where the privileged, with various royalties and cultural stars stay in the five-star and four-star hotels that they have nearly a hundred of in that area. This high altitude resort is the only place in Austria where you can try heliboarding, which means being taken by helicopter to otherwise inaccessible locations in order to snowboard on virgin snow.

Another exceptional location is the region of the Stubai-Hintertux glaciers, which with 10,400 feet is the highest resort in Innsbruck. One can ski here all year round and the large amount of visitors is the only bother. They also have wide open bowls and a brilliant halfpipe, as well as off-piste routes perfect for freeriders.

The ski resorts have a considerable amount of experience in action filming skiers on their slopes, so they are well prepared to give assistance and security.

Snowboarding

Many state that Europe’s snowboard capital is Austria, because of its perfect infrastructure, as well as its casual and daring attitude. Better equipment, accessibility and organization, with more reasonable prices make the Austrian Alps more appealing than the French side. They also have brilliant services in old, traditional villages and towns, that are tailored for today’s requirements. Tyrol is not accidentally called by many “the heart of the Alps”, since it is home to Europe’s most important snowboard events, for example Air and Style, Lord of the Boards and the Brit Games.

The Nordpark-Seegrube resort, that towers over Innsbruck, is called “The Snowboard Mecca”. This title was given partially because of its 400 foot superpipe and its very steep slopes.

However, the best resort for freeriders and piste enthusiasts is unquestionably the Arlberg region, with St. Anton in its heart.

Tobogganing

Tobogganing is an activity loved both by locals and visitors, making it one the most popular winter sports. It is more safe and relaxing than other sports, so it is ideal for ending a day of skiing with the family, especially because tobogganing runs are lit up by night, giving it a truly special atmosphere.

For example, the toboggan track at Maria Waldrast, in Matrei am Brenner is ideal for taking brilliant shots of sportsmen in action. It is 3.5 km long, with an elevation of 500m and full of gripping corners which is all illuminated until 11pm. The Elferlifts sledding track in Neustift is special because of its length of almost 6.5 km.

Ice Climbing

Ice climbing means getting up the frozen water of an icefall or the slippery walls of a glacier with ice crampons and picks. Tyrol is an ideal region for this because it has countless sites perfect for this sport. This is an unusually amazing activity, but it is also dangerous, because ice can be unpredictable, so it is necessary to hire experienced local professionals for guidance.

Snow Karting

Sliding down slopes and feeling full of adrenalin is all that snow karting is about. Similar to a cart, a snow cart is easy to drive, so that learning to use it is a lot easier than starting to get to know how to ski from scratch. Making them truly safe to use, they have two foot brakes and one ice brake to enable steering. Ask us for the best Austrian slopes for snow karting.

Ski Jumping

Based on a true story, the film „Eddie the Eagle” (2016) is about the ski jumper Michael „Eddie“ Edwards (Taron Egerton), who took part in the Olympic Winter Games of 1988 in Calgary under the colours of Great Britain. They used ski jump bases at Innsbruck and Seefeld in Tyrol for this production.

The Bergisel Ski Jump towering high above Innsbruck is truly extraordinary because of its new landmark, with sculpture-like design created by the British-Iraqi star architect Zaha Hadid for Innsbruck in 2002.

As part of the Ski Jumping World Cup, the Four Hills Tournament takes place every year in Austria and Germany. The competition happens on two Austrian ski jumps and on two German ones. Within Austria these are located in the heart of Tyrol: one in Innsbruck, as well as in Bischofshofen, which is in the region of Salzburg. The final stage is organized in Bischofshofen by Skiclub Bischofshofen. The competition starts after Christmas and lasts until Three King’s Day.

Snowkiting

The new sport called snowkiting is a brilliant, adrenalin fueled way to ride the wind and snow. A carefully designed tube is used as an airfoil enabling the wind to lift the user up. These skiers use the kite to get them over specially large jumps that have beautiful panorama views.

This sport is mainly connected to Thalgau, which is near the Mondsee region, because it is home to the Snowkiting School Austria, who organizes the Snowkite World Cup. Between the middle of December and the middle of March the Snowkite park, which is at 900 meters, gives opportunities for visitors to try out this sport. Apart from Thalgau, Obertauern, Zell am See-Kaprun, and Achensee, which has particularly excellent wind conditions. These are all ideal locations for those in love with Snowkiting.

Bungee Jumping ​​​​​

Situated 630 feets (192 m) up in the air, the Europa Bridge (Europabrücke), Innsbruck is part of the Brenner Autobahn that connects Austria and Italy over the Alps, soaring above the Wipp Valley. It is the highest bridge in Europe to have a bungee jump station. The backdrop of the Alps ensures that this jump has a spectacular setting.

The highest dam wall in Austria is Kolnbrein Dam (Kölnbreinsperre), in Carinthia at 200 m. Apart from it being an extraordinary film location - the 1978 The Boys from Brazil was shot here starring Gregory Peck - it is unquestionably an excellent venue for bungee jumping. At 169m, it is one of the highest bungee jumps in the world.

Paragliding & hang-gliding

Paragliding & hang-gliding is the perfect way to fly and take bird’s eye view images of the Alpine scenery. Tyrol for example has many perfect launch and landing sites for paragliding, among which the most popular is the Zillertal and the Wildschönau.

There are many paragliding locations throughout the country, most of which are in the region of Tyrol, but there are also ones in Salzburg, Vorarlberg and Steiermark as well. In 2010, this sport’s most prestigious competition, the European Paragliding Championship was organized in Abtenau, in Salzburg, where 33 nations competed for victory.

Parachute Jumping and Skydiving

The Austrian Felix Baumgartner is the world record holder for skydiving for jumping out of a plane 39 kilometers  (24 miles) above the earth. He reached the estimated speed of 1,342 kilometers per hour (834 mph).

Skydiving is an extraordinary experience. Imagine being on a small airplane 4 miles up in the sky among the snowy Austrian Alps. Then the door opens and you are flying and feeling as alive as you have never felt before.

The Alps is an ideal location for this, because in the region of Tyrol there is a small airport near the village of Radfeld, the only place in the picturesque Tyrol for skydiving.

Near the Austrian capital, precisely only 40 kilometers away from Vienna, is  Flugplatz Wiener Neustadt West, also called LOXN airport, where from the end of March to the beginning of November one can skydive. LOXN, Europe’s oldest and largest tarmac airport, where the hangar has all the equipment needed for jumping. Even a small camera crew can fit on the airplanes and cameras that can be fitted on to helmets to make truly amazing footage of the landscape.

Rafting

Austria is rich in locations ideal for rafting, for example Tyrol offers over 120 kilometers of rivers perfect for this sport. There is a large variety of whitewater rafting trips; mild ones, like the River Inn and wild ones on the Ötztaler und Zillertaler Rivers. Easttyrol’s Iselschlucht Canyon has amazing rapids, ideal for an experience full of adrenaline. Over 30 licenced whitewater rafting outfitters can be found in Tyrol, who can offer guides that ensure safety and positive experiences for their guests, as well as happily assisting film shoots as supervisors. One of these great locations is one of Europe‘s most frequented rafting places, the Imster Schlucht gorge. Also the river Salzach is extremely exciting, with its water levels ensured by being fed by the Grossglockner glaciers.

Canyoning

Canyoning is the sport of exploring canyons, gorges and river beds with a variety of techniques, like climbing steeply-angled clefts, swimming, getting through rapids and even jumping from 16 meters. This is a highlight of Ötzal’s summer water sports. There are various types, one being following experienced guides who take you through the most suitable route. Waterproof (even 360 degrees) cameras can be fitted onto helmets enabling marvellous footage to get recorded.

Among untouched nature, the Auer Klamm gorge is one of Europe’s most outstanding canyons and welcomes visitors of all ages and abilities to have fun with its water chutes and rushing waterfalls.

Kayaking

For those looking for unique white water adventures, the Ötztal valley (between May and October) is the place they should go! The best points where one can access the valley are via the rivers Rofen Ache, Venter Ache and Ötztaler Ache. Nearby the rivers there are countless kayak clubs and schools (Kajakschule). The members are professionals in this sport and have perfect knowledge of rivers’ currents and water levels, because they kayak down them daily. The rivers of the Ötz Valley are famous for their beauty and for how wild they are, which is why many competitions are organized in the area. The Sickline Extreme Kayak World Championship is held every year in the Wellerbrücke part of the Ötz river. The participants have to be highly skilled grownup kayakers. The region has immaculate infrastructure and many restaurants and hotels in the area, which makes it a lot easier for film crews to work here.

Windsurf & Kitesurf

Austria, a country rich in mountains, gorgeous lakes and holiday resorts, is also an ideal location for watersport enthusiasts. The Lake Neusiedl and Lake Achensee, to mention a few, with their have great wind conditions are perfect for windsurfing and kitesurfing. These are two sports that make exceptionally beautiful sights on these picturesque Alpine lakes. Nearby these lakes there are countless sailing schools, offering workshops and equipment renting for tourists and film production crews as well.

Wakeboarding

Wakeboarding was invented in the 1980s, by combining water skiing and surfing. Today it has become a highly mainstream, popular ‘adventure’ sport, sailing among the white Alpine mountains. While in Upper-Austria and in Styria there are many rope towing courses, in the country’s other regions the boat wakeboards are more widespread.

The world’s best wakeboarders meet every year in Linz, in Upper-Austria so that they can compare their abilities at the Red Bull Wake of Steel wakeboard competition. Today this two day event is one of the most popular international wakeboard competitions. The course offers challenges even to the most experienced wakeboarders. Its highest jump is 4,5 meters above the water level.