Being crafty ski mountaineers, the locals I ski with here don’t go for much super-alpine terrain in midwinter, as the weather and avalanche danger up high makes it tough to put together a quality excursion. But get a string of bluebird like we’ve been having, combined with stable yet still skiable snow, and look what happens.
Fritz, headed down from Grundschartner.
The Alps march higher south of where I’m staying in Austria, crested by a vast area of alpine terrain that eventually pushes into the Dolomites. Reminded me much of the Colorado Plateau when you get up on the Continental Divide and everywhere you look is a vast array of alpine peaks. Only here you’ve even got glaciers hanging all over the place. Too many ski lifts in some areas, but this zone is special as it is more undeveloped.
That's me, headed up. Summit marked with arrow. This side is pretty mellow, other side drops off as a 3,000 vertical foot mountain wall you can look over from the summit, gulp.The climb is 1,800 meters vertical. You begin by slogging a farm road for about 300 vertical meters, then up the steep brushy wall of a hanging valley, on up to an alpine massif. Reminded me of the way many 14er ascents progress, only I'd have used our snowmobile for the road portion.
Looking southeast from the summit, far peaks are the Dolomites.
First part of the descent, just below summit. Quite a few nice turns, but crust lurked as well. I've kept my Dynafit binding DIN set really low up till now because the snow has been hero and I like being super safe (ending up hurt in a foreign country has got to be the worst), but on this descent I hit some crust and popped out vertically. Result, a good digger -- naturally done in front of a complete audience (Lou's law of ski falls while traveling: you will always do your yardsale in front of everyone in your group). Time to dial that vertical DIN up a notch or two perhaps, otherwise a helmet might be desirable.
Another descent shot. Sun is low in the sky this time of year, meaning much of your skiing gets done in mountain shadow and you end up with lots of silhouette photos.
Cool thing about Zillertal is they of course have their own brewery, only they limit the amount of beer they produce, thus creating something that's a regional specialty. I thought their hefe to be quite good for electrolyte replacement, a bit more full bodied than other varieties, but seemed to have slightly less alcohol content. The object in the glass is a beer warmer, basically a metal tube full of hot water that brings the hefe up to proper temperature for the traditional taste.
Pretty obvious what this pastry is, sort of the national Cliff Bar. Comes in two versions, thick and thin. Piled with powdered sugar and graced with whipped cream, the perfect pain killer after to 6,000 vertical feet of fun tempered by stinging blisters. In all, one of my best days ever of EU ski touring, as most of my other trips have been seemingly endless storms and fog.
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.
