Looking Down at the Miner’s Slide at Salzwelten Hallstatt
The Slazwelten Hallstatt is only the second salt mine that I have ever visited. The other one was in Poland, and I thought that was a surprisingly enjoyable visit and I was hoping that the Salzwelten Hallstatt would be able to match up with it. The Salzwelten Hallstatt is considered to be the oldest mine in the world. Over the centuries, there were kilometers of tunnels that were carved out of the inside of the mountain. Depending on who you ask, there are several tens of kilometers that exist but the tour that I was on only gives us access to two. I don’t think I would be looking forward to visiting the rest of the mine anyway. For sure, the two kilometers that we will visit are ones which were meant for tourists to visit.
Going Down the Miner’s Slide at Salzwelten Hallstatt
One would have to think that if there are several tens of kilometers of tunnels here in the mountain, how will it all fit? The answer is that the miners made different levels to access the salt. This is not unlike an ant colony which will have several levels dug out by the ants. Not only that, each level could potentially have branches as well eventually forming an extensive network of tunnel to extract salt. It is said that there are twenty levels that was dug here in Salzwelten Hallstatt. How exactly do miners get from one level to another? Miner’s slide of course.
The Miner’s side is a real thing here at Salzwelten Hallstatt. There are slides which were built to connect one level to another to help speed up moving from one place to another. I was surprised that one of these slides were open for visitors to ride on. Looking at the slide, it looks too new to be the actual thing. Still it gives an idea of how the miners used it. I understand now why visitors have to wear these worker’s uniform. It is to protect visitors from any potential injuries from going on the slide.
Everyone gets a chance to go on the slide, but for people who prefer not to, there is an old fashioned stairs beside the slide. Everyone was game and took the slide anyway. While not the most ergonomic slide, it was okay. You don’t need to brake to slow yourself down since the slide eventually bottoms out and friction will naturally stop you. It was a fun activity for visitors as well a giving an insight to how miners would go about their work. Naturally, there is no such thing as a slide to go back up, I think they would have to do it the old fashioned way.
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