Otto Gurschler was someone who pitched in. Someone who never hesitated when it came to creating something. His former employer, Hans Trojer, recognised this when he entrusted him with constructing a 700 metre-long pipeline for the water supply to Merano 2000. With a shovel and pick, Gurschler worked his way through the rough terrain and completed the work alone in the prescribed time of two years. Again, with a shovel and pick, he also opened up today’s hiking area too. He built the track that leads from the Missensteinjoch to the Kesselberg Hut, the path from the Kesselberg Hut to the “Bankl” and the track onwards to the Windspitze and Grosser Mittager. He was also responsible for the circular trail that circumnavigates the Grosser Mittager from the Kesselbergscharte – better known as the Panoramic trail. Likewise, the trail from the Kirchsteiger Alp to the Kesselberg Hut.
Otto Gurschler had a strong connection to Merano 2000. He carried out truly pioneering work for the skiing and hiking resort. Originally from the Schnalstal valley, he entered this world on 21st September 1934 in the village of Unser Frau. At a young age he was an enthusiastic mountain climber and skier and had conquered every one of his local summits, except for the Königsspitze. Anyone who knew him knew that when Otto had set his mind to something, he always achieved it. And when he had an idea, he put it into practice. Which is why he did not need to think for long when, in the mid-1960s there was mention of building a ski school at the foot of the Ivigna. Together with three other like-minded people, in 1966 he founded the “Hafling Ski School”, which later took the name of the newly opened ski resort, Merano 2000.
In the same year, Otto Gurschler leased the Kesselberg Hut from his employer, Hans Trojer, which in those days was still just a simple snack bar. He ran it – how else? – with enthusiasm and great dedication. Just two years later Hans Trojer gifted the hut and guest licence to his valued colleague, with whom he had long been friends. Gurschler set to work immediately and renovated the hut in short order. The plot of land that he had acquired from a Sarntal farmer allowed him to extend the restaurant. In 1970, full of pride, he opened the new Kesselberg Hut. Until 2005 he stood behind the counter himself, after which his son and later his granddaughter took over the running.
Gurschler spent the last decades in the places he loved best – on “his” hiking trails. He set about, on a voluntary basis, ensuring that everything was in order in the area. With a shovel and pick always in his backpack, until recently he took care of maintaining the tracks. In 2012 the Merano section of the AVS paid him the honour of naming the trail that Gurschler himself had created from the Missensteinjoch to the Kesselberg Hut, after him. One thing is certain – it is not only the Otto Gurschler trail that will long remind us of the work of its creator.
An interesting fact is that the little stone men along the Otto Gurschler trail were erected by Otto himself, to point hikers along the safe path away from dangerous snow cornices. This became a labour of love, with Otto rebuilding those that had fallen over and embellishing others with decorative sculptures.