The UCI mountain bike world cup was in Leogang this summer. I’ve never taken much interest in this before, but since living in Austria for over a year, I have fallen culprit to be a keen winter season’s ski pass holder. I came to realize that the skiers summer twin sister is inevitably the downhill biker, and it would be somewhat hypocritical to not delve into this summer biking world.
We had friends over for the weekend so decided that Leogang was worth the 1.5hour drive from Salzburg, albeit slightly drizzly.
The atmosphere was buzzing. Dozens of tents with bike mechanics, latest bike wear tech, and the pro-biker’s crews littered the Bergstation car park. Everywhere you looked a rider, covered head-to-toe with mud was pushing his bike back to the station. We made our way to the bottom of the track, purchased a ticket that allowed you access to the viewing areas all the way down the course. The path skirted the edge of the course all the way to the top, lined with spectators who had obviously set up camp there all day. It was so atmospheric being up close to the athletes – not only did you get flicked by mud each time they skidded past, but you saw and felt how insanely steep the whole course really was.
Climbing up the adjacent path was not easy in the rain and mud, and as the races were winding down for the day, we veered away from the course and headed for the Forsthofalm. The wooden paneling and vast deck area gave visions of bustling après ski holiday makers – to the extent that we even thought it may be closed, biding time until the winter – but as we got closer we realized there were indeed summer visitors, the mountain bikers.
We went inside the large dining areas, at a large wooden table. This hotel prides itself for offering luxurious wellness facilities, and it’s décor reflects a modern take on the traditional alpine style.
Amidst a variety of vegetarian soups and superfood salads we of course ordered Kaiserschmarrn. The helping was very decent, served in a pan with a decent helping of plum compote on the side. The pancake mixture was on the more eggy side, but the texture was well balanced, not too airy yet not too heavy or stodgy either. The icing sugar had slightly melted into the steaming hot pancake pieces to create a moist sugar coating, adding some sweet taste to the plain pancake chunks. The plum chunks in the sauce, which had a more liquid consistency than most, was not overly sweet. This meant that you could fully dunk the pieces in without risk of ruining a very palatable mouthful!
As usual, we were stuffed after this portion, but my English friends thoroughly enjoyed it. Although Forsthofalm’s Kaiserschmarrn didn’t include much variation or any special twist to this traditional dish, their plain Kaiserschmarrn was nevertheless satisfying! Somehow their wellness approach had seeped into the dish to perhaps leave you feeling a bit less unhealthy after eating it!
Replay some best moments from the UCI downhill event here. And check out the Forsthofalm website here.
The Schmarrn Kaiserin 