People

Fire, water, cattle and wood. Essentially, this is all Sarah Kofler, Janis Pönisch and their two children need each summer, when they leave their work and city life in the valley to spend two months on an ‘Alm’ high in the Austrian Alps. Tending 34 cattle in a world that you thought was long gone at the heart of Hohe Tauern National Park.

Wood is a key element of Tirol's landscape and lifestyle. While the valley is dominated by large industrial sawmills, the mountains are still home to a few smallscale businesses which have been around for decades, if not centuries. We travelled to the Alpbachtal Valley to meet one of Tirol's last remaining master sawyers.

Tirol is home to more than a dozen remote end-of-valley communities. These small villages hidden away deep in the mountains have retained their original character. What is life like there? We met seven people who live at the end of a valley road (and none of them wanted to swap for a life in the city).

For many visitors to Tirol, contact with the locals is limited to the ski lifts, hotels and supermarket checkouts. But what are Tiroleans really like? We headed away from the pistes and bars to find out more about the lives of locals.

We asked international couples about the role the mountains have played in their relationship.

Daniel Sperl, 38, and his Columbian wife Carolina Osorio Rogelis, 41, live in Innsbruck. They are both involved in the Climate Alliance Austria and import fair-trade coffee from Columbia, transported across the seas on sailing ships.

Timna, 31, and her Argentinian husband Juan, 34, first met on a beach in South America. Today the family lives in Innsbruck.

For Michael Reiter, 34, and his husband Markus, 45, it was love not a first but at second sight. Today the couple run the Hotel Eiserne Hand in Fieberbrunn.

Without the mountains Mario Käppeli, 32, and Elena Barbist, 20, would have probably never met. Three years after their first climbing date, the couple - a student and a former professional snowboarder - still spend most of their time exploring the mountains around Innsbruck.

Regional, seasonal, and of course fresh products – that’s what everyone wants on their plates nowadays. But what happens if the guests want to order a cucumber salad in winter? Or if there are no more beef filets left? The kitchen chefs Thomas Kluckner and Waal Sterneberg manage the balancing act of a modern inn.