Flying to Europe from the US can be as easy as getting to Alaska (?) — or as hard as visiting Nigeria (just assuming that’s hard). Depends on the connections.
Single forlorn un-tagged ski boot at the bulk unloading area in Munich. This wasn't me, but I felt sorry for whomever it was. Confirmation that one should ALWAYS carry on his ski boots while flying. And yeah, nothing is perfect -- I've heard at least one story about ski boots being left in overhead bins, and mine got left in Austria once at a friend's.
I’ve been using a nice United flight that hops from Aspen to Chicago, then connects about three hours later to the big bus for a speedy Munich hop. Last leg is under nine hours, and at night (US time). So not only are you on the jets a fairly short amount of time, but you sleep all the way over if you want (in my case, thanks to the X pills), then there you are in München at 9:30 in the morning. Stay up all day, nail another full nights sleep, and jet lag is hardly a concept.
Snow for the Euros, Austria. View from house near Inn Valley looks like something out of the picture books. Apparently they had a bad avalanche cycle a few days ago but things are stabilizing. Hopefully, when I return from Italy the skiing will be good and safe around Kitzbuhel and so forth.
In Munich, a few espresso to keep me awake. Then a bit of computer work to keep it real. Train south to Austria and visit the Barthel house (where tech bindings were invented) for that next night’s sleep. But not before the otherworldly taste treat of Huberta’s apple laced kaiserschmarrn provided needed (and unneeded) calories. Of course, homemade kaiserschmarrn is worth any sort of caloric surplus incurred while consuming. I think I even saw a French guy scarfing three helpings. To protect the guilty, names will not be mentioned. Suffice it to say, I’m guessing kaiserschmarrn is not included in “The art of French Cooking?” But I’ve heard it can be found in France anyway? Francophile wildsnowers, let me know!
The goods are served, fuel for backcountry skiers and tired travelers. Thanks Huberta.
Kaiserschmarrn secrets revealed? I'm not sure I could get the Barthel's secret recipe, but I did observe exactly how the pancake is chopped up to make the schmarrn.
Sunday, in a car south to Turin, Italy. A bit of a drive but oh so smooth in that left autobahn lane (undamaged by trucks), zilch for traffic.
A day such as this on an autobahn is like perfect powder in the mountains.
I’m in a nice hotel a few blocks from the historic city center of Turin, in what’s obviously still a very old part of town with some cool architecture. To get here, the drive headed through the parts of town I’d been warned about–huge blocky apartment buildings that looked, well, a bit grim. But that’s usually part of any city, anywhere. Perhaps starker when you’re a mountain boy and don’t live around that sort of thing.
In Turin (Torino), a bit of city to make me appreciate the mountains.
The main thing now is get more rest, then I’ve got interesting plans.
WildSnow.com publisher emeritus and founder Lou (Louis Dawson) has a 50+ years career in climbing, backcountry skiing and ski mountaineering. He was the first person in history to ski down all 54 Colorado 14,000-foot peaks, has authored numerous books about about backcountry skiing, and has skied from the summit of Denali in Alaska, North America’s highest mountain.
