MTR 1-Lauterbrunnen Day 2

After such a long day the day before we were on schedule to meet at the bar downstairs at the hostel at 8 which left us enough time to make close to the first tram up to the Schilthorn.  Ben Reed and I made a quick trip to the bakery before meeting with the group and slowly making our way to the tram to start what looked like it could turn into a very wet day.

After taking the tram to the second exit point in Murren we walked our skis over to a lift and skied a few runs before after dropping our packs are the top of the lift. After one run we had decided as a group that it would be more fun to practice roping up than ski in the flattest light conditions I have skied this year so after regrouping at the top we skied to the side of the run and Daniel showed us how to rope up for glacier travel and how to ski in a group while roped up. This turned out to be a good lesson because the weather was flat enough that on a glacier I would have wanted to be roped up in these conditions. 

We did one small run while roped up to a nice place next to some tree to practice self arresting and glacier rescue. This was the best instruction for me in all of the four days and I got it pretty cemented into my mind how z-pulleys work and how the system works in general. With a little more practice I think I could stop a fall and get an anchor built all by myself if the person was around my weight. Of course thinking I can and doing are totally different and making an anchor in fry snow packs would have been more difficult than the cement we had on hand. We practiced the z-pulley three or four times and I learned something new every time I did the exercise. When I go out on a more glacier focused trip I will be sure to pick up a mini-traction because that tool made rigging a z-pulley extremely fast and hassle free. 

It was a great day and I learned a lot about glacier travel and rigging z-pulleys, good times!
-Owen

MTR 1-Lauterbrunnen Day 1

I just got back from MTR 1 in Lauterbrunnen Switzerland and despite the weather (fog and rain) we had a great time learning and even got a few powder turns in! Here is a little overview of how the trip went.

We headed out of Garmisch on the April 12 at 11:30 after getting something for dads camera and grabbing a subway sandwich for the road with a little rain coming down in the valley around Garmsch but a nice day nonetheless. After driving for a little over four hours we finally pulled into the hostel parking lot. Walking into the bar we found out we were only the fifth to arrive at the hostel even though we got a pretty late start. After a few beers almost the whole group had arrived except for two who had driven into two staus along the way making their trip especially long. 

After devouring pizzas  we get some bad new: the hut was too buried for us to dig it out. the guide Daniel had heard from other that the snow level was above the third story window, the highest he had ever seen it if this was true. After giving us the bad new we got some good news: we would still fly out to the hutte in the morning if weather permitted so at least check out the hut and get a very long ski down into the valley. After getting the plans we all had a few more beers and called it an early night.

The next morning we woke up to partly cloudy skies up the valley in the direction of the hut but we decided to have an optimistic attitude and head up the road to the Air-Glacier headquarters. As we walked the clouds started to lighten a bit but it was still looking pretty thick. 

When we arrived the helicopters were wheeled outside and it started to look more and more like we were going to fly. Ten minutes later we were throwing our skis into the heli and taking off up the valley. My family and I were in the second helicopter and as the first was searching for a landing zone we had enough time for our pilot to take us around the valley checking out different ridges and valleys along the way. After 10 minutes of searching for a landing zone we were finally allowed to land right next to the hut.

When he came in for the landing all we did was jump out and get down as Daniel got all of our skis and backpacks out. It was a great flight and it was amazing to see how fast you can gain a lot of elevation in a small amount of time. The most amazing thing for me was how fast it got quite after the heli dropped us of and took of down the valley for the next group. It took seconds for it to go from loud as it can get without you wanting earphones to dead silent.

After getting a quick drink and watching the next helicopter land and drop off the last group we put our harnesses on and took some pictures of the hut which as reported was COVERED in snow. The snow was above the third story window and allowed us to walk directly onto the roof from the backside. After getting a group picture of all of us on top of the hut we clicked into the skis and took off down the valley. The first turns leaving the hut gave us a sample of the snow that we were going to be skiing for the next couple hundred feet. It was deep and light and was exactly what we had dreamed of. Daniel guides at a helicopter ski operation for much of winter in BC and he said that this was about as good as it gets in Switzerland. I guess we hit it on a good day!! 

Making our way down wide open slopes the snow was unbelievable. The snow was dry above the boot top as we made turn after effortless turn. After ever slope we would traverse for 100 or 200 meters and be on top of another nice wide open 30 degree slope. The views in all directions were great as well with peaks showing their heads through the clouds as we made our way passed them. After traversing skiers left a large mountain we made our way along a creek bed eventually crossing it and heading around a large cliff band. At this point we had lost enough elevation that the snow had gotten heavy and people were getting tired so we took a small break before heading on down the valley. 

After taking the break we skied alongside another stream and over a bridge used for hiking in the summer. We passed through a thicker forest before making our way out onto a slope covered in snow due to a large avalanche that had swept through earlier in the season. From the avalanche path we were able to ski all the way to another creek crossing that we eventually had to take our skis off to hike up the opposing bank. Upon arriving on opposite banks high side we took off the skis and enjoyed a small break before walking the two kilometers into the town of Stechelberg, furthest town into the dead end Lauterbrunnen Valley. Once we had all made it into the town we went to a restaurant with great food called the Alpenhof....I think. 

Overall this was the best ski day of the year (by far) and cannot believe that it is the first day of the trip. Could it get any better?
-Owen

Neue Welt- Zugspitze

Wow, that was a good day of skiing!

The day started with me staring out my window at the Zugspitze with its summit engulfed in thick clouds. Alex and I had already made plans to head to the Zugspitze and decide whether or not we were going to ski the Neue Welt while we were in the restaurant so I packed my car with all my stuff and headed to the Ehrwalder Zugspitze bahn. In the parking lot I could see that there were still clouds in the upper parts of the mountain but it looked like it was lifting as I watched so I was optimistic.

Once I had arrived in the restaurant I met up with Alex and descended to the first t-bar to get us to the starting place of the skin up to the schneefernerkopf. The weather looked grim as we started the short climb to the ridge but got better the higher we got up and by the time we had reached the ridge the sun was starting to peak through.
At the top Alex and I put on harnesses and got a quick bit to eat  and drink before a large group joined us with a guide. Looking down the first bowl it looked like there were only two other tracks in front of us which was nice because there was a light dusting of snow on top of the firm layer. After getting a picture taken of us we set off down the slope to the first rise to check out the rest of the run. The snow was solid and we both felt very comfortable skiing down the slope.
We made our way cautiously to the skiers left side and then back to the right were you could easily see the rap station out of the rocks. At this point we should have put our skis on our packs but because this was our first time we carried them to the rap station and then had to get our skis in our packs and our ropes out of our packs while roped into the cable.
All worked out and we soon made our way to the base where we stowed the ropes and tried to enjoy the last little bit of the steep couloir. The snow on the bottom section was pretty awful so we took our time and made it out to the wide open basin in no time where we sat and enjoyed lunch before heading to the Ehrwalder Alm Bahn.
The ski to the Ehrwalder Alm bahn was a series of tree slalom and roads but soon enough we made it to the ski area and skied out to the bus stop where we found out our bus wouldn't arrive for another two hours so we asked around and eventually got a ride from guy all the way back to the Zugspitze bahn. Great day and my first ski rappel, GOOD TIMES!!
-Owen

The Rappel 

Turns on the open snow field 

Pulling the rope

Coming out of the bottom 

Looking back up at the run

Zugspitze summit ski and Schneefernerkopf

Just had an excellent day of skiing with new friends on the Zugspitze.

The day started with me driving to Ehrwald Alm before being re-routed to the Ehrwald Zugspitze. At the car I packed up all my stuff and got to the top on the first tram out at 8:30 or so.

Putting the skis on

 I called and found out that Alex and his friend would not arrive for another 20 minutes so I sat at the top enjoying the sun and view with the whole platform to my self. Alex arrived and we talked about ski routes and after a few minutes his other friend arrived so we got started with our ski descent of the Zugspitze which is a pretty big first ski together if you ask me. Alex proved to be a confident skier and was very good on the steeper sections. His friend took his time on the steeper sections and negotiated them perfectly.

little side slip

Shooting out of the apron was a nice feeling as we were able to make large arching turns all the way to the t-bar.
For the second half of the tour we skinned up to the top of the Schneefernerkopf to check out Neue Welt which is my goal for tomorrow (see tomorrow to see if it worked out!). We could only actually see the top of the Neue Welt because of a large roll over but there were tons of tracks so I feel very good about tomorrows plan and also with the ski partners I have just met.
-Owen

Ridge walk

Group shot

Alpspitze ski tour

Here is a brief summary because I'm really tired...

Euro point

I arrived in Garmisch at 3:30am after driving down after work in Grafenwoer, quickly dropping into bed only to wake up at 7:30 to noise being made in the kitchen downstairs. That was all the sleep I needed it turns out as I took a shower and got my gear packed for a day of touring.
After scoring some breakfast dad and I pulled into the Alpspitze parking lot and jumped on the cable car. We arrived at the start of the tour just by 9:50. After touring for 2 hours we had made the shoulder and dropped the pack to put the skis on the pack. At this point dad decided his feet were hurting him enough that he didn't want to go any further so I started booting my way up after two sips of water. After 40 minutes I was on top drinking water, eating trail mix, and talking with a German couple that I had seen from the bottom as I started. Only 20 minutes on top for me as my dad was waiting back at the shoulder so I took of skiing slush and ice in the shade as I made my way down. I stopped once at the bottleneck as the two above me stated making turns and filled the funnel with lots of large roller balls. After that had stopped I kick turned my way down and we both made our way back to the t-bar tired and feeling accomplished.
-Owen

Coming in from the notch

Ridge with summit

Ridge bootpack

 

Summit

Says 45° in the book 

Nice wall

New Camera?

Right now I'm considering purchasing a new camera but I want this one to be able to shoot more artistically than my point and shoot but at the same time also be able to shoot HD Video because making small movies of skiing and climbing is also a fun thing for me to do in my free time. 

After reading lots of reviews and watching too many videos on youtube showing the different functions of almost every camera on the market I have come to the conclusion that the Canon Rebel T2i is the right camera for me. From what I have seen and from the reviews I have read I have gathered enough information to know that it is perfect for the beginner DSLR user and that it shoots HD quality video that looks remarkably good. 

So now comes the hard part, getting enough money to buy the camera. I have made the goal to only spend around $350 of the money that I get from work. The camera cost around $499 for just the body but I want 2 lenses to come with it so I can start shooting immediately so the camera+2 lenses are going to cost in the range of $749 which leaves me needing to make $399 on ebay and through other websites for selling stuff. I think in the next couple weeks my ebay will be getting used a little bit more than its use it. Hopefully in close to a month I will be shooting away with this thing!
The exception to the above statement is if I get transferred to Garmisch between now and when I make enough money to afford the camera in which case I will be buying myself a present to start taking photos immediately in the new beautiful place!- Owen

Rauth Hutte

Hohe Munde above the hutte

Last weekend Jeremy and I got out to check out the Rauth Hutte, a hut that is at the top of an old ski lift just outside of Leatasch in Austria. This is pretty much the easiest tour you can do and overall just a good excuse to go to Austria to drink beer. Transceivers are not needed and I'm someone that puts one on every time I go out into the backcountry but in reality this is NOT the backcountry and if your wearing one one that is visible you will get weird looks as you enter the hutte (like me). You are literally skinning up a ski run the whole time and it only takes 30 minutes to get to the hut so enjoy!!

The hutte