The return of the sheep from the summer pastures of the Ötztal Valley to the Schnalstal Valley has a long traditional story. The restaurants invite to the popular speciality weeks around the local sheep. From the local farmer, finest meat of sheep ends up on the plates of the guests. Rustic, traditional, refined, modern or re-created – there is the right enjoyment experience for every palate.
Sustainability, nature and locality are not a trend in the Schnalstal Valley, but a way of life. In June 2019, the sheep, along with the millennia-old tradition of transhumance (hiking pasture), was accepted as an inheritance of the Ark of Flavour of Slow Food. The Ark of Slow Food combines more than 5,000 unique features and peculiarities in agriculture worldwide. The transhumance repeats itself every year by connecting two states across the holes and is a unique cultural event in the world.
Intangible cultural heritage of UNESCO
On the 11th of December in Bogota/Colombia, the trans-national tradition of hiking pasture management “Transhumance” was added to the UNESCO Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage. The transhumance receives world heritage status. This is a great success for the Schnalstal Valley, where this tradition is maintained and lived to this day.