Gran Sasso d'Italia
While living in Rotthalmünster, young Julius must have inherited a strong love for the mountains, for hiking and nature from his father. At the age of only 17 years, Julius Mayr reached the summit of the Großvenediger (3,666 m). After that, Rosenheim and the Inn Valley became the starting point for "mountaineering trips" throughout the entire Eastern Alps, the Pre-Alps, and also the Mountains of Abruzzo (Gran Sasso d'Italia). For him the mountains were not so much a challenge for physical or sporting excellence, but he considered them to be the places "par excellence" to experience creation in all its diversity, size and beauty, both living and (seemingly) inanimate in nature.