Mountainbike and Running Challenges in Austria

Ironbike Race August 14, Ishgl, Austria: TVB Paznaun-Ischgl

Ironbike Race August 14, Ishgl, Austria: TVB Paznaun-Ischgl

The Austrian resort of Ischgl wants to ensure that everyone can take place in two big summer racing events in August.

First up is the Ironrun event on August 7, the second event is the mountainbike challenge on August 14.

But that’s not all. The Paznaun Valley also offers a wealth of other activities and attractions to holidaymakers, including the first Ischgl Hot Air Balloon Festival in August.

Amongst other activities, there are guided walks on mountain paths that take in the pilgrims’ route of Jakobsweg. And food is never far behind, where the Austrians are concerned.

Up in Jakobsweg, the mountain huts offer traditional Tirolean dishes with a modern twist. These have been devised by top Michelin-starred chefs from around Europe, including Ischgl’s very own Michelin chef, Martin Sieberer.

For more information and accommodation packages in Ischgl and its Paznaun Valley neighbours of Galtür, Kappl and See, please click here.

Ironrun Event in Ischgl, August 7

Runners will take pride of place on the mountain when the first Ischgl Ironrun is held on August 7.

The run is open to anyone from beginner to competitive mountain runner, and the course has been tailored to suit different levels of ability.

The entry fee is 15 euros, and online registration needs to be made by August 5. An entry form can be found here:

Ironbike Event in Ischgl, August 14

Mountain bike challenge, Paznaun, Austria, 14 August: Ironbike Race August 14, Ishgl, Austria: TVB Paznaun-Ischgl

Mountain bike challenge, Paznaun, Austria, 14 August: Ironbike Race August 14, Ishgl, Austria: TVB Paznaun-Ischgl

On August 14, Ischgl will run the toughest ironbike event in Europe.

This unique mountain bike event – with the biggest prize money – puts novices and stars together at the start, but allows novices to complete a shorter course so that everyone has a fair chance to finish the race.

The leading entrants will push themselves to the limit in Ischgl’s mountain bike highlight of the season as they set off on a 79-kilometre course, with 3,820 metres of altitude to conquer. This includes a trip across the border to Samnaun in Switzerland.

Altogether, more than 1,000 riders of all standards are expected to take part, chasing a total in prize money of 20,000 euros, and the cachet of being the toughest rider of the year.

Once started, less advanced riders can choose to do either the full course, or one of two shorter routes. The ‘newcomers’ route’ is 27 kilometres long, with a 750-metre altitude difference. The medium route is 48 kilometres long, with 2,050 metres of altitude.

The entrance fee is 32 euros, and includes free food stations along the route, a photo, a bike wash service, and a pasta party afterwards.

More details here.

Antony Gormley on Austrian Fields

Antony Gormley, Horizon Field, Austria, August 2010 - April 201212

Antony Gormley, Horizon Field, Austria, August 2010 - April 201212

The Kunsthaus Bregenz of Austria and British artist Antony Gormley are working on a unique project in the mountains of Vorarlberg.

Gormley’s Horizon Field will be the first art project of its kind erected in the mountains, and the largest landscape intervention in Austria to date.

Horizon Field consists of 100 life-size, solid cast iron figures of the human body spread over an area of 58 square miles in the communities of Mellau, Schoppernau, Schröcken, Warth, Mittelberg, Lech, Klösterle, and Dalaas.

The work forms a horizontal line at 2,039 meters (6,690 feet) above sea level. This height has neither metaphorical nor thematic relevance in the placement of the statues. Simply, it is an altitude that is readily accessible but at the same time lies beyond the realm of everyday life.

According to Gormley, “Horizon Field asks: Where does the human project fit within the evolution of life on this planet?”

Antony Gormley, Horizon Field, Austria, August 2010 - April 2012

Antony Gormley, Horizon Field, Austria, August 2010 - April 2012

The individual sculptures will be mounted at intervals ranging from sixty meters (197 feet) to several miles, looking in all directions but never facing each other.

More information here:

For more than 25 years Antony Gormley (born 1950) has revitalized the human image in sculpture through a radical investigation of the body as a place of memory and transformation, using his own body as subject, tool, and material.

His work has been exhibited extensively throughout the UK, and he was awarded the Turner Prize in 1994, the South Bank Prize for Visual Art in 1999 and was made an Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1997.

In 2007 he was awarded the Bernhard Heiliger Award for Sculpture. He is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects, Trinity College, Cambridge and Jesus College, Cambridge, and has been a Royal Academician since 2003.

One year on from his acclaimed fourth plinth commission, One & Other Antony Gormley talks to Time Out’s Visual Arts Editor, Ossian Ward, about his new show at White Cube and other recent projects.

The talk can be heard at the Sackler Hall, Museum of London, on June 24 at 6.30pm.

Tickets £12.00 through TICKET WEB