Life is not a Practice

Middle of winter but at least 10°C. Alison was out teaching skiing and Georg across the road had just got back from ski touring as I and Heidi set off for and "on road" tour through the winter scenery.



20 kms and 200 meters of climbing.
Route is at http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=thoppunitvobjyes

Daniel was off skiing with his friends so I gave him a lift and then stayed at the slopes to ski myself. Nesselwang was bathed in sunshine but the rest of Germany was under the clouds.



Sunshine, top snow and relatively few skiers on the top slope. :-)

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

A friend is on his way to India overland and has just reached Dubai.
Reminded me of snowboarding there in 2006.



This "ski hall" is in the middle of the desert. Outside is 40°C and inside you can snow board. Crazy place.



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

A family walk. What else can you do when the snow is melting so fast that you can watch it happen.

Just across the field we found a place where all the rain had pushed the snow off the slope and left the remains looking like the end of a glacier



Down in to the Wertach valley and then we explored a new path home. One and a half hours of sunshine and lovely scenery.



Track is on Max's GPSies page at http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=vcpqqswxfozzcmrj

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

Max's report and photos are at http://maxhogarth.blogspot.com/2011/01/sunday-walk-down-wertachtal.html

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.