Christmas skiing

Just got back from a fun trip down to Garmisch to spend some time with the family and to get some skiing in so here is how it went.

Christmas day we headed to Lermoos in Austria but after searching for a parking spot for over 30 minutes we decided to head to Bierwang/Bichlach which is only another 15 minutes up the road towards Fern Pass. We took one run on the upper t-bar before taking over an hour to let dad take family pictures of us all sitting next to a hut. The snow conditions were variable because on some spots it would be soft and some spots it would be breakable crust so we stayed on the runs for the most part carving some turns. After a fun day we drove back to Garmisch and ate dinner at a restaurant I have never been to right off of the Hauptstrasse.

On the 26th Mom, Olivia, and I decided to do a short tour before I had to take the train back to Weiden to work so we chose the Stuiben hutte right off of the Bernidein T-Bar which is only a 30 min skin to the hutte but still makes you feel like you are in the backcountry. After making the short skin to the hutte we kept on going until we were standing on the top on the Stuibenkopf. The sun was beating down on me hard enough for me to wish that I had chosen shorts over long underwear but soon we were on top with great views all around us.
I spent 45 minutes on the top waiting for the girls to arrive and eating lunch before we set off down towards the hutte to grab their helmets that we had decided to leave there to grab on the way down. The snow was sloppy in the sun but once we got in the shade it was great boot top powder.
After grabbing the helmets we took off down the scary luge run to the ski run were we took the t-bar up and skied down to the Kreuzek bahn that we opted to take down instead of fighting are way down icy slopes with the millions of beginner skiers. Here are a few shots of the girls skiing that snow in the shade...overall very fun day!

Garmisch: Rain and ski touring

My weekend started with catching the train out of Weiden at 8:30pm which put me on track for a 1am arrival in Garmisch. I made all my connection with one scare that had me running to my track but luckily it was only one track over so I made it with time to spare. Once in Garmisch I was picked up by my parents who were already down there due to job stuff. I quickly fell asleep in my bed around 2.

The Hohe Munde

The next morning my mom had a ski instructing clinic and dad had work so after delivering her to the ski bus and dad to work I was giving the car to go do some ski touring at a resort around Garmisch. I chose to head to Seefeld because it didn't really matter where I went, chances are it would be rainy. Once at the resort I toured the runs once before heading back to the top to enjoy a nice meal at the restaurant. After enjoy some goulash soup i took one more run down to the parking lot and decided to go check out a mountain that I want to tour later in the year, the Hohe Munde. The book I have says the tours all start at a ski lift so I found the signs to the lift and followed them. When I arrived I could see where the the lift should have been because of the straight line of trees cutdown but there was no lift in site. It turns out the lift had been shut down years ago and all that was left was a restaurant at the top and a restaurant at the bottom. The resort had turned into a touring paradise with nice easy runs as well as a pretty steep top section of the mountain. I will be coming back in the future. Once done with checking out the area I got back just in time to pick up mom and head back to Garmisch.

First time on her new AT setup

The second day after mom had headed to her clinic I went to sport-conrads to get her skins fitted to her new touring skis and headed back out to Seefeld to do one tour to the restaurant followed by a nice walk back the the car through a forest. After she had finished up with her clinic we went to a small resort just outside of Leutach for her first ski touring experience on her new setup. The snow was pretty crusty so we just followed the cat tracks up for her to get use to the new boots, bindings, and skis. Good times! On the way down she skied her new skis great even though they are a lot softer than her alpine skis. One tour up and one run down and it was almost dark so we got back in the car and headed back to Garmisch to pack bags for are departure the following day. Once all packed up we picked up dad from work and made our way to the Cure bar for dinner. Always love the bacon-cheeseburgers there so I got one and devoured it promptly. Parents left but I stayed with some new friends to have one more beer before walking home on the iciest road ever! I almost fell a few times and tow a car skid right though a red light as people were crossing the street, sketchy! I made it home without injury and quickly fell asleep.
In the morning we packed the car so leaving in the afternoon would be easier and drive to Ehrwald alm for some rainy ski touring. Needless to say we decided against it after 30 minutes of going up in the pouring rain and drove back to Garmisch. While in Garmisch we got word that the Grafenwoehr post was closing due to bad weather. Sure enough when I arrived back home I checked the answering machine and the commissary had left a message saying that I would need to come in at 1 if I wanted to work today. I don't think they realize that I don't just sit around on my days of trying to think of stuff to do...I already have planned stuff to do and chances are they involve snow 400km from Graf. Coming in at 1 in not an option when I get back at 6.
After clearing out the car I fell sound asleep until 8 this morning. Good weekend but snow and colder temps are much needed!

-Owen

Stubai ski and a Garmisch shopping trip...

Just got back from Stubai for skiing and Garmisch for dropping mass amounts of hard earned money... damn ski gear!

Mom and I had a great day in Stubai with over 6 inches of snow in some places and sunny skies the whole day! I brought my camera but as it was the first powder day of the season I quickly forgot I had it and just skied the day away doing laps on the various gondolas. I noticed that my mom has improved a lot in her powder skiing since I last skied with here (2 winters ago!).

Later that day after making the hour long drive back to Garmisch we dropped by a sports store to check out touring boots for my mom which made us in turn start looking at package deals which lead to the inevitable, the purchase of a ski touring package! So stoked to start touring with her. She has always been a great hiking companion and I think she will hit her stride ski touring because her knees don't have to get worked as much on the downhill as they do for hiking thanks to the (hopefully) deep white stuff! Notice how the colors match on her new ski setup...not planned but her jacket also matches. It will be hard to see her on blue bird days!

The new members of our family

After dropping money for the ski touring gear she decided it would be a good day to drop the needed cash on ski passes for the whole family so (FLUSH) there goes €570 or $764 out of my account! It's actually a very good price for the pass because it will work throughout summer for climbing and hiking on all the lifts around Garmisch.

After an exciting shopping spree I took the train home because I had to work in Graf later that night. Accompanying me on the train was what seemed like every school kid in the whole valley but thankfully most of them got off on the first and second stop and after 4 hours I arrived home for a quick nap and then work.

Waking up this afternoon my parents had already arrived and I guess the shopping spree wasn't entirely over, in fact my dad had gone to the same store my mom had bought here skis the day before and found a nice pair of touring boots himself! My boots are definitely the oldest (and cheapest) out of our touring boots but I will use them until they break or no longer function. Today flip-flops cost more than $75 so I can call them a steal for sure!!

It's sure hard to tell which ones are mine...

-Owen

December update

This December a few big things are happening around here:

Last seen walking with dad in the
opposite direction to the same plane

1. My sister arrives back from college for winter break which should be an excellent time skiing but blah because it means I have to go to and from Garmisch by train a lot which I guess is going to be my weekend commute from here on out for skiing so I better get use to it anyways.
2. My parents have found a house and we should find out if they are going to be able to rent it out pretty soon here. They said that the owners are okay with us moving in so it looks like it is going to happen but you never know what could happen. I have only seen pictures but the house is huge and has a massive back yard with a cabin. When I check it out I will post some pictures of it on here.
3. Ski season should hopefully kick off this or next weekend because it is supposedly snowing up on the Zugspitze right now (and here in Weiden as well) so the Zugspitze should open pretty soon. I'm excited for the zugspitze to open but really just want the Alpspitze to open so I can start touring in that area and also enjoy a beer or two at the Stueben hutte.
4. My mom and I have a planned ski trip to Pitztal glacier next Thursday so that should be a fun day trip before ski season really kicks off. I will prob just hang out in the park messing around because honestly I find glacier skiing rather boring unless its route finding and there will be none of that so early in the year.
5. Christmas markets have gone up pretty fast all around Europe so I'm planning my crepe-athon starting at the Garmisch Weinacht Market and continuing to any other markets that I should visit. Crepes are the best things you could possibly eat and Christmas is just the excuse I need to eat five or six a day!

As for my life everything is going good as far as making money goes but as far as life goes it's as boring as it has ever been.....ever. Here's my daily schedule

6pm Wake up
7pm Eat something
8pm Drive to work
9pm Arrive and start work
1am to 4pm Get off work and drive home
5am Go on computer and plan ski trips, check facebook, check email, and roam randomly in cyber space
8am Eat something
9am Back to sleep
REPEAT

I guess it's okay because the skiing sucks so far this year and I really shouldn't be spending my money on anything because saving is my goal but it would be nice to have something to do and....that's the update!

-Owen