Massive rockslide

Alpine cheese transport via old smugglers’ trails

Italians carried the cheese wheels from Italy up into the Carnic Alps in humpbacked scrambles.(Bild: Hannes Wallner)

A rockslide has separated Carinthia and Italy for almost a year. Now old mule tracks and smugglers' paths are being reactivated.  

"Mountains have never been an obstacle to friendships, and besides, the inhabitants of mountain regions are used to having to do more," says Carinthian young entrepreneur and mountaineer Sophie Engl: "So why should we miss out on the delicious alpine cheese specialties from the neighboring Italian region of Carnia at our cheese festival in Kötschach-Mauthen in Carinthia's Gailtal valley just because the Plöckenpass road has been closed for several months?"