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St Anton 2-3 to 2-7

kingslug

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Joined
Dec 30, 2005
Messages
6,915
Points
113
Location
Stamford Ct and Stowe
Sunday, Monday it rained at the bottom and stormed at the top but soon turned to all rain..so what..we skied. We had guides the whole week. First tour was what I will call a Braille tour of the different areas..couldn't see much but it looked nice. Second day skied in rain and snow and got to do some actual skiing. Cream cheese in the upper areas, nice...end of the day we were soaking wet but had fun.
I woke up at 2 am Tuesday to the sound of pouring rain..I mean the kind that forms sheets across the street..oh well...woke up at 5 am to a raging snow storm..now we're talking. Spent the day..in a raging snow storm..but all that rain froze so it was like Vermont skiing..powder on ice..avalanche level hit 4 so we could only go off trail a little..still a great day.
Wednesday..holy canoli. Our guide led us into waist deep snow. Skied that all day, carefully as avi danger was a 4 on top and 3 where we where. Scary to look up at those peaks and know they could come down..but these guides are alive after 40 years of guiding for a reason.
Thursday a different guide..no nonsense..I talk you listen ..I point you go..I stop you stop above me..We had Ortovox airbags for this one..avi level 4 on top 3 for us..
Skiing through avi control fences for first tracks..very intimidating..conditions were unreal..but a lot of ice lurking under the 3 feet and windblown areas of sheet ice..fun on powder skis but no problem.
Thursday back to our regular guide for the week and more powder skiing through huge areas with giant peaks looming above us. Now we get serious he says..the giant avalanche debris paths we skied through made that clear..like skiing over bricks..a football field wide..but it got us to some nice untracked.
And this is the way it went. The sun came out and things went to spring skiing towards the end of the day. Huge mogul fields developed with icy troughs..which the tourists didn't navigate too well..another day at the office for us as we whipped down them.
The most amazing trip I have ever taken in 25 years...and the Schnitzel was good.
 

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kingslug

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 30, 2005
Messages
6,915
Points
113
Location
Stamford Ct and Stowe
Some more pics
 

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kingslug

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 30, 2005
Messages
6,915
Points
113
Location
Stamford Ct and Stowe
And some more
 

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kingslug

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 30, 2005
Messages
6,915
Points
113
Location
Stamford Ct and Stowe
About 500 per day so you split it up 5 ways..buy the guy lunch and off you go. They are very much required if you want to live in the off piste areas. A lot of sucker runs out there..they look great then you ski off a cliff. One is called the beautiful grave...
The little guy in red was our main one..he would ski with us till 4 then go out for drinks. Some of the other ones were strictly 5 hours and they were out.
The biggest problem though is that while you are required to have a beacon , most people have no idea what to do with one. The one day we rented airbag packs with shovels and probes..and I was the only one who knew how to use any of it.
Anyone looking to do this kind of thing should at least get an AVI level 1 certificate.
 

Tonyr

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Joined
Jan 6, 2019
Messages
782
Points
63
Looks like you had an awesome time thanks for sharing. The Alps are definitely on my list for one day, the skiing looks great. How long did it take to get over the jet lag?

Tony
 
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