Life is not a Practice

Yesterday was racing biking and today was skiing. What a life!
Max and Alison both had today off from skiing so the three of us went to Jungholz in Austria skiing.



Arrived before 09:00 so we had perfectly prepared, hard snow and, the first few runs, empty pistes. Two hours of pure fun.

More pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/neill.hogarth/2011Winter#

Big decisions:
skiing, ski touring, snow boarding, sledging, mountain bike or race bike.

Alison and max are skiing ( http://www.skischule-nesselwang.de/ ) and Daniel is spectating at the 5 Barbecue ( http://www.wirschanzen.de/tourstopps/the_5ive_barbiecue.html ) but I decided to take the race bike out for the first ride of 2011.



Did my normal route around the Grüntensee in beautiful sunshine. Left and right of the road is thick snow but at +8°C the road was clear of snow and ice.
And afterwards I showered with hot water from the solar system. What a great life

Route saved at http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=yyyavditsfeyaqtg

Pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/neill.hogarth/2011Winter#

The weather forecast said rain but Irene, Gabi and I still walked up to the Alpe Stubental (http://www.stubental-alpe.de/) pulling our sledges behind us.



After a few drinks it had really begun to rain but the road was still snow and ice covered so, using our sledges, we were quickly back at the car.
A fun evening!

The picture is borrowed from the homepage of the Alpe. It was dark when we were up there.

Spent the morning with Daniel skiing in Oberjoch. Thick cloud and new snow kept my speed down but Daniel didn't seem to notice.
Maybe I am just too old to switch my brain off and hope there is nothing in the clouds.

Out for a New Years Day walk in Bodelsberg today. They are a bit lower than us so they have been under the cloud and therefore well below 0°C for a fair few days.



Everything is coated in "powder sugar"

More pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/neill.hogarth/2011Winter#

It snowed last night so this morning I "had" to go and get in an hour of skiing before the tourists arrived.



Started out with max until he had to go off to ski teach but then met Gertrud for a few runs in the powder. After that a quick coffee and then home for 10:30 to be useful.

Max had to go to the slopes to teach so Daniel, Michael Stromer and I went with him. At teh slope we met Stefan Greis. An hour of perfect snow and perfect weather.



At 10:00 there were too many people for my liking so I enjoyed a coffee at a mountain hut and then went home. What a great life.



Pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/neill.hogarth/2010Snow#

Alison had to work but Rhiannon, Daniel, Max and I drove across the Austrian border to Höfen for a morning of skiing. It was snowing and there was thick cloud so we were skiing by feeling and instinct but it was good fun.


The picture is the view we did not see (borrowed from the homepage of the lift - http://www.reuttener-seilbahnen.at/)

On my last run I managed to catch a tip and ended up on the floor with a big bruise on my leg.

Max and I made use of our season cards, the great snow and the sun to spend the morning skiing at Oberjoch.



Very few people and freshly prepared snow made for very fast runs. Great fun.

More photos at http://picasaweb.google.com/neill.hogarth/2010Snow#

Daniel was out on his trick skis and Alison and Max at Ski teacher training so I took my touring skis and walked up the Alpspitz.



Near the top the binding broke so I could put my skis on my shoulder and walk half way down the mountain until I reached the middle station where the lift was running.

Still a nice hour out in the fresh air though.

The full size photo is at http://picasaweb.google.com/neill.hogarth/2010Snow?authkey=Gv1sRgCJjh1sDPjvSl0gE#5549793767538254530
You can see the broken binding on the ski.

Alison and Max were out at ski teacher training again and I had to take Rhiannon to Pfronten and pick her up an hour later. So I spent the hour on the Pfronten-Steinach ski lift. It was a bit of a challenge because they will only let snowboarders ride the lift with their back foot out of the binding which I am not good at. Luckily a young lady on a snowboard took pity on me and rode the lift with me and kept telling me "you're doing great, just relax."



Today it is only -3°C so I was much too warm in my three layers of clothing :-)

When we got back to Nesselwang I went for a few runs there as well but there were far too many people and only the one lift open.

Yes! The beginning of December and the ski lift opened for the winter in Nesselwang. Lots of powder snow and all the snow cannons are hard at work on the main piste.



Max, Daniel and I were out carving, trick skiing and snowboarding respectively. We were amongst the first 10 on the lift this season. Only had an hour as Daniel had to go to Augsburg but what an hour.

Winter has arrived! This picture was taken at -8°C

It was in November that I finished cycling this year. And it is in November that I have begun skiing. The lifts are not yet open but there was snow enough on the ground. Daniel was out practicing with his trick skis yesterday and Alison and Max were at ski teacher training today so I took my touring skis and walked up the Alpspitz.



The mountain difinitely gets higher and steeper each year.

This morning it was grey and overcast in Nesselwang but when Rhiannon and I walked up to the Hündelskopfhütte to do a geocache we came out above the clouds.
Enjoyed the view and finding the cache.


This picture shows the twin ruins of Frei & Eisenberg showing as an island above the clouds.

Cache details at http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=0c3d661f-f7f1-4fa8-9ba0-ef369215f71a



The rest of the photos at http://picasaweb.google.com/neill.hogarth/2010Stuff#