Innsbruck Tourismus
Press Release
Higher, faster, stronger – the Kühtai high-altitude sports centre
Optimal training conditions for professional athletes and ambitious amateurs
For several years already, Kühtai has been ranked by international top athletes as a
first-rate location for high altitude trainings. Several Olympic medallists trained here for
physical strength and endurance, including speed skater Anni Friesinger and
triathlete Kate Allen, alongside the German women’s 400m sprint team, Austrian
judokas Ludwig Paischer (Olympic silver medallist 2006) and Sabrina Filzmoser
(winner of the 2011 European Championships), as well as national rowing teams
from Germany, Austria, Sweden and Russia.
It was during the run-up to the Olympic Summer Games in Mexico City that the
concept of high altitude training in order to increase athletic performance came into
being. Located at 2,020m above sea level - and a mere 30 minutes drive away from
the town of Innsbruck - Kühtai offers ideal natural preconditions for a top class high
altitude training centre. Besides its stunning natural beauty and easy accessibility,
the Kühtai now features cutting-edge training facilities and infrastructure both in
terms of state-of-the-art international standards as well as sustainable design
and structural work, taking into account the fragile natural environment of the Alpine
region.
Training options include football practice at 2,000m above sea level as well as
preparation for beach volleyball tournaments or beach soccer championships. The
ball games facilities include an artificial turf football pitch of international dimensions
(100x66m), and two sports fields that can be used for beach volleyball as well as for
beach soccer (football played on sand). While parallel volleyball practice sessions can
comfortably take place at the same time, for beach soccer the two fields are joined
together and mobile football goals are added.
The surface of the ‘Finnenbahn’ athletic track consists of bark mulch and wood
shavings, making it soft and easy on runners’ joints. For training runs and
competitions the Kühtai’s cutting-edge track-and-field complex offers a 4x400m race
course as well as six 100m short-distance tracks, a high jump runway, two long
jump pit and two shot put arenas. Thanks to the convenient layout of these facilites,
Innsbruck Tourismus
Silvana M. Giuliani
International Marketing & Press
Tel. +43 512 / 59 850 - 123
s.giuliani@innsbruck.info
Innsbruck Tourismus
Press Release
enables athletes of different disciplines to train simultaneously. A special 200m long
and 4m wide asphalt skating track has been put into place so that inline skaters and
speed ice skaters can prepare professionally for upcoming competitions.
Last but not least, the Kühtai is also a popular training venue for rowers and
canoeists, for in addition to the standard training facilities they get to practice their
skills at the 1.5km long Finstertal water reservoir. Conveniently sheltered from the
wind, the lake offers ideal training conditions from June until September.
On an international scale, here are only two other locations that can compare
favourably
with
the
Kühtai
high
altitude
training
centre,.
But
neither
at
Flagstaff/Arizona in the USA, nor in the Spanish Sierra Nevada, athletes benefit from
the unique advantages that give Kühtai the cutting edge: Its easy accessibility and
perfect infrastructure.
In addition to top training options the area offers fabulously scenic running and Nordic
walking trails leading up the mountains, past idyllic mountain lakes and alpine
pastures. Amateurs and professionals who train at the Kühtai high altitude
performance centre can choose from numerous accommodation options including 3star and 4-star hotels, traditional inns and self-catering apartments. And for the wellearned breaks between trainings, Austria’s highest winter sports resort - besides the
glacier ski areas – offers a unique tourism infrastructure.
Information: Höhenleistungszentrum Kühtai, tel. +43 5239 5222,
info@hoehentraining-kuehtai.com, www.hoehentraining-kuehtai.com
Innsbruck Tourismus
Silvana M. Giuliani
International Marketing & Press
Tel. +43 512 / 59 850 - 123
s.giuliani@innsbruck.info