skiing in Austria

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Tom_J
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skiing in Austria

Post by Tom_J »

Garry and me went skiiing in Austria this week. It was awesome; I don't think we saw a single cloud the entire time. I can heartily recommend it as an alternative to the frustrations of winter climbing for those in need of a snow fix!

We took some photos:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/57584563@ ... 344605433/
CathS
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Re: skiing in Austria

Post by CathS »

Looks fantastic Tom. Not a giant slush-fest then?

I'm in Bourg St Maurice at the moment; skied in Les Arcs today. It was 23 degrees when I arrived yesterday and everyone was walking around in shorts and t-shirts :shock: Fortunately it was a bit cooler on the mountain today and the snow seems to be holding up. It was very icy first thing, but once things softened up a bit it was a blast.

PS. I agree the UK sucks if you want a guaranteed snow fix. The Alps is the place to be. We should really try to get a group of us together for a ski trip next season.
Tom_J
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Re: skiing in Austria

Post by Tom_J »

CathS wrote: Not a giant slush-fest then?
It was fine. I picked a high location with a glacier, so the higher pistes were always in condition. The lower slopes were slushing up by the afternoon, but clear skies = frost down to valley level at night, firming things up. The snow was being stripped off the southerly aspects of the mountain over the course of the week though.

Main issue was the crowds. By the end of the week, I had my fill of burly Germans (invariably clad in matching sets of the most expensive branded ski gear!) shoving me out the way in their haste to push to the front of the queue for the lift/bus. Is there more courtesy in French resorts?
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SteveM
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Re: skiing in Austria

Post by SteveM »

Tom_J wrote:Is there more courtesy in French resorts?
Hahahhahahahahahahahaahhahahahahhahahahahhaa!
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JR
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Re: skiing in Austria

Post by JR »

The thing I dislike most about ski-ing is the disproportionate number of late middle age, middle class, white male participants and their overbearing sense of entitlement.
It's the patriarchy on a couple of expensive planks... :roll:

Luckily, expend effort and skill to get off-piste and away from the lift system and you find yourself in a world their swollen livers, bruised egos and clogged arteries will never let them reach...

And no, I don't think you'd find courtesy anywhere large and commercial in the Alps...

JR.
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mark
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Re: skiing in Austria

Post by mark »

Is there more courtesy in French resorts?
From my experience its the survival of the fittest, forget the British post office mentality, head down and elbows out!
Tom_J
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Re: skiing in Austria

Post by Tom_J »

I guess I should have know the answer to that. The little Swiss places were I used to ski were never too bad though, Flumserberg, Scuol, Braunwald, Hoch y Brigg... get yourself on those slopes Mark!
JR wrote:The thing I dislike most about ski-ing is the disproportionate number of late middle age, middle class, white male participants and their overbearing sense of entitlement.
It's the patriarchy on a couple of expensive planks... :roll:
Sounds like you've got some history there James (although you and I both tick a number of those boxes!).
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JR
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Re: skiing in Austria

Post by JR »

Skiing really does expose the mores of the 'petite bourgeoisie' all too well... I've been skiing long enough to see all this bad behaviour from the 'braying jefferies' many, many times.

You're right about the smaller 'resorts' (if you can call them that), though, interestingly, on my one trip to the US, I found those in Utah surprisingly friendly too.

By accident of birth, I find myself "ticking of few of those boxes", however, I don't feel compelled to end up being a tw@t about it! :wink:

And, anyway, off-piste is waaaaaay more interesting now (unless you're somewhere super-scenic like the Dolomites where relaxed cruising gawping at the amazing landscape is an end in itself!)

JR.
Tom_J
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Re: skiing in Austria

Post by Tom_J »

JR wrote:And, anyway, off-piste is waaaaaay more interesting now
As long as it doesn't involve helicopters!
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Plucas
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Re: skiing in Austria

Post by Plucas »

Where were you skiing Tom?

BTW I was in Switzerland. Week one in the small and charming resort of Grimentz. Week 2 met Mark and Torquil, a friend from Scotland, for a ski tour of the Western Oberland.

https://picasaweb.google.com/1084431592 ... yTours2014#

https://picasaweb.google.com/1084431592 ... eMarch2014#
Tom_J
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Re: skiing in Austria

Post by Tom_J »

Hi Paul,

Photos look good. My only experience of ski touring involved skiing out to a friends mountain hut one New Year, using badly fitting borrowed gear, and rucsack full of champagne. Toughest day in a long while.

We were in Zillertal. Most days at Hintertux, but we did venture down the valley to Rastkogel one day (although neither of us had the balls to ski Austria's steepest piste...).
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Re: skiing in Austria

Post by CathS »

Some fantastic photos of your Western Oberland tour there Paul. Looks like you had an amazing time!
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Plucas
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Re: skiing in Austria

Post by Plucas »

Yes it was a fantastic trip. I'll have to write a trip report for the newsletter.
CathS
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Re: skiing in Austria

Post by CathS »

Did you ski down from the top of the Les Diablerets glacier through the cliffs then the trees to the car park next to the cable car? (pic no.13 in your album).

We saw some people doing that when I was there in February, and PJ was eyeing it up, but the bit through the cliffs looked terrifying and too hard for me, though the run through the trees looked good.

Good effort if you did do that, though looks like a warm-up in comparison with some of the other pics!
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Sherpa Kenzing
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Re: skiing in Austria

Post by Sherpa Kenzing »

Fantastic photos Paul, 20 years ago since I went ski- ing, #### where does the time go !!!!!!
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