We’ll, the light wasn’t all bad. And even though I’d mistakenly brought someone else’s boots I could still ski (more on that below). The day started bluebird but became “inside the egg” toward the afternoon. Fritz had a plan to do three laps/peaks and rack up some fairly big vertical. We ended up doing two and a quarter but still got in about 6,000 vert of truly enjoyable boot top powder.
January 4 Austrian backcountry skiing. Fritz Barthel on Bärentalerköpfl, Kitzbuheler Alpen.
Last run, headed down to the Brennhutte for a brew.
After our first summit we took a climbing traverse in to a high valley. We had bluebird conditions for a while, then a sheet of clouds moved in and brought the white room.
Paolo Orlandi enjoys boot top powder of the Zillertal region, Austria. His turns enjoy an awesome accompaniment of verbal ski expressions.
Another day with zero avy danger, good snow and fine friends. Lou on top of Pallspitze.
Day's end found us again at the Brennhutte for snacks and a brew. I hadn't realized it, but the proprietress does part of her cooking on a wood burning stove (white appliance to left in kitchen.) Truly classic.
I pulled a rather humorous flub to begin the day. We pulled our boots out of the car, and I realized that back home I’d stuffed my boot liner’s in someone else’s Green Machines — shell a size too big. Luckily I still had my repair kit (yep, I still carry that along with my cell phone and shovel), so I pulled out my screw driver and adjusted my bindings for the longer boots. Problem was, my feat swam in the shoes like a minnow in an oil barrel. In these situations I always fall back on an adage I learned from Murray Cunningham of Aspen Powder Tours: “run what you brung.” In other words, no whining. The bigger boots made it, though I’m glad we weren’t skiing hardpack.
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.
