Montag, 29. Dezember 2014
141228 Riedberger Horn
neill, 20:14h
Yesterday my partner told me that the station on top of the Grauen Stein had electrical problems and would soon run out of battery power. No sun is forecast for the solar panels so some one needed to get a generator up to the mast.
I picked up the generator from a hoillock near Isny (using the amazing 4 wheel drive capabilities of my Skoda Yeti). I then drove "round the back" through Austria and up the snow covered pass - overtaking all those stuck in the snow and ice :-)
Tom had not yet arrived with the tracked quad so I attached the generator to a carrying frame and got the mountain rescue to take it up to the top of the ski lift on their skidoo. I used the lift. From the top of the lift I used my touring skis and carried the generator up the snow covered ridge to the top of the Riedbergerhorn. From there I carried on back down to the pass between the two mountains. By now visibility was really bad due to the mist and blizzard and I was worried about getting back in daylight so I left the generator and climbed back up to the top of the Riedbergerhorn.
(this picture was taken a day later. On this day there was no view and I had no time to even think about photos.)
I took the skins off my skis and started to ski down. The snow was very deep so I pointed steep downhill off the ridge (bad idea) and skied down in to the valley.
I crossed a bush covered ravine and disappeared through the snow into the bushes below. I was hanging in small trees but under the snow. I managed to get out but lost a ski and a stick so I stood the other ski up as a marker and attached the carrying frame to it. I then started "swimming" and "crawling" through the deep snow until I fell in to another ravine. I once again escaped and worked my way up to a small hillock from where I could see some skiers far below me on the piste. After a lot of arm waving and shouting "help" they got the message and disappeared. I was now really cold so I kept on moving towards a nearby sheep hut where I huddled feeling cold and frightened.
Apparently the mountain rescue tried to reach me with skidoos but they could not get through the snow either - I later saw one completely bogged in. They called up a pisten bully and together eventually managed to reach me and took me back down the mountain.
So I was safe and very thankful to all those who rescued me but had no touring skis and still the problem of a mast running out of power.
But tomorrow is another day.
I picked up the generator from a hoillock near Isny (using the amazing 4 wheel drive capabilities of my Skoda Yeti). I then drove "round the back" through Austria and up the snow covered pass - overtaking all those stuck in the snow and ice :-)
Tom had not yet arrived with the tracked quad so I attached the generator to a carrying frame and got the mountain rescue to take it up to the top of the ski lift on their skidoo. I used the lift. From the top of the lift I used my touring skis and carried the generator up the snow covered ridge to the top of the Riedbergerhorn. From there I carried on back down to the pass between the two mountains. By now visibility was really bad due to the mist and blizzard and I was worried about getting back in daylight so I left the generator and climbed back up to the top of the Riedbergerhorn.
(this picture was taken a day later. On this day there was no view and I had no time to even think about photos.)
I took the skins off my skis and started to ski down. The snow was very deep so I pointed steep downhill off the ridge (bad idea) and skied down in to the valley.
I crossed a bush covered ravine and disappeared through the snow into the bushes below. I was hanging in small trees but under the snow. I managed to get out but lost a ski and a stick so I stood the other ski up as a marker and attached the carrying frame to it. I then started "swimming" and "crawling" through the deep snow until I fell in to another ravine. I once again escaped and worked my way up to a small hillock from where I could see some skiers far below me on the piste. After a lot of arm waving and shouting "help" they got the message and disappeared. I was now really cold so I kept on moving towards a nearby sheep hut where I huddled feeling cold and frightened.
Apparently the mountain rescue tried to reach me with skidoos but they could not get through the snow either - I later saw one completely bogged in. They called up a pisten bully and together eventually managed to reach me and took me back down the mountain.
So I was safe and very thankful to all those who rescued me but had no touring skis and still the problem of a mast running out of power.
But tomorrow is another day.
... comment
