 |
| A view from the Wank |
The Alpspitze bahn is the longest cable car in the Classic Garmisch area and has the most vertical rise which makes it the ideal start for a long, dark, inebriated ski run between 6 huts where, at each hut you drink more and more before ending up in the town at the base. We boarded the tram and made it to the top at around 3:30 before dropping the packs and getting a few runs on the upper t-bars before meeting up with some friends who were sitting a short hike from the tram and opening up the first beer or two of the night. Before long we had been joined by a few more new friends from Australia who were instructing in Garmisch. Not long after this the sun went down and we started to make our first move down the mountain which was booting skiing down to were I had left my skis with a backpack full of beer. A short ski and we had made it down to the Hachalm hutte to...drink more beer. About half and hour after we arrived fire works were being thrown under tables and a random girl directly next to us got pretty angry so we made our way to the next hut as she continued to get angrier and angrier.
The next hut is just below the kreuzeck and we could hear it before we even arrived due to a large sound system on the porch. As soon as we arrived the idea that taking off our shirts was contrived and soon thereafter four guys started dancing shirtless with whomever walked by on their way to the restaurant. I attempted to get gopro of this but upon arriving home I found out that the light was too low so it didn't turn out too good but the sound is almost worth posting the whole video anyways. After shirtless dancing and general harassing of other patrons of the bar we headed on down to D9 where we were in for a surprise...D9 had a private party. We found this out after we had already flash mobbed the door but swiftly got kicked out but Hans still scored a K2 coffee cup so we called it a win and skied on down the rest of the icy Kochelberg run.
For whatever reason this is where my skiing went to shit. I front of me one guy got clipped by a bamboo pole and I tried to stop but completely whipped out and had the second telemark release that I have ever experienced. A little further down the run in full on GNAR style I yelled "We rip shit" to a group of ski tourers going up the run and seconds later did a complete lincoln loop on the most solid ice I have ever seen outside of the skating rink. I was caught mid icy slope side stepping for head lamp, hat, and a ski pole before making my descent to the valley with my tail between my legs.
After changing into street clothes we walked into town and head to Saigon City, a Vietnamese restaurant for some cheap food. We must have looked completely out of it because a random German guy two tables down eating with his wife asked us if we were okay before continuing his meal. We scarfed down three plates of noodles before heading back out on the Haupstrasse. The total for three plates of food was only 21 Euros so we didn't feel too bad about eating out.
A few hours of walking aimlessly finally got us closer to final hour of the year where we found ourselves watching people throw all sorts of fireworks in all directions. The highlight of the night was watching some guy try to put out a fire that was burning down one of the trees downtown with his training jacket that soon also was in flames. Good times and a pretty good last new years on this side of the pond!
-Owen
The next hut is just below the kreuzeck and we could hear it before we even arrived due to a large sound system on the porch. As soon as we arrived the idea that taking off our shirts was contrived and soon thereafter four guys started dancing shirtless with whomever walked by on their way to the restaurant. I attempted to get gopro of this but upon arriving home I found out that the light was too low so it didn't turn out too good but the sound is almost worth posting the whole video anyways. After shirtless dancing and general harassing of other patrons of the bar we headed on down to D9 where we were in for a surprise...D9 had a private party. We found this out after we had already flash mobbed the door but swiftly got kicked out but Hans still scored a K2 coffee cup so we called it a win and skied on down the rest of the icy Kochelberg run.
For whatever reason this is where my skiing went to shit. I front of me one guy got clipped by a bamboo pole and I tried to stop but completely whipped out and had the second telemark release that I have ever experienced. A little further down the run in full on GNAR style I yelled "We rip shit" to a group of ski tourers going up the run and seconds later did a complete lincoln loop on the most solid ice I have ever seen outside of the skating rink. I was caught mid icy slope side stepping for head lamp, hat, and a ski pole before making my descent to the valley with my tail between my legs.
After changing into street clothes we walked into town and head to Saigon City, a Vietnamese restaurant for some cheap food. We must have looked completely out of it because a random German guy two tables down eating with his wife asked us if we were okay before continuing his meal. We scarfed down three plates of noodles before heading back out on the Haupstrasse. The total for three plates of food was only 21 Euros so we didn't feel too bad about eating out.
A few hours of walking aimlessly finally got us closer to final hour of the year where we found ourselves watching people throw all sorts of fireworks in all directions. The highlight of the night was watching some guy try to put out a fire that was burning down one of the trees downtown with his training jacket that soon also was in flames. Good times and a pretty good last new years on this side of the pond!
-Owen
