Skiing in Bad Gastein & Bad Hofgastein, Austria
An excellent day skiing. The snow was not perfect, but there were patches of soft stuff on every slope. I covered a lot of ground. I had these 170 cm, round-tipped skis with a huge sidecut. It was hard to even fit them in the gondola slot -- I carried them with me inside the first time, looking like a total rube, I'm sure. But they felt good, and proved perfect for cruising the ungroomed powder on the recently-opened upper slopes. I went on a good dozen runs between my impatient start at 11 am and finishing at 3:30. Some were incredibly long runs -- the 11 boasts 11 km (over 6 miles). Essentially, you ski around the mountain over to the next town. And then take a few lifts and come on back.
The late afternoon runs found me chasing sunlight -- and while I did it, I found some powder under the snowmaking machines. It ended a great afternoon.
The downer of a coda was on my final descent, reaching the Mittlestation and realizing the rest of the lower part of the mountain was closed for the Nokia Snowbaording World Cup. I followed some Czech guys, and in confusion, teamed up with two Swiss guys to get a lift back up to the gondola. They said their German wasn't good enough to really bitch the lift operator out (for having no warnings that the trails were closed).
The late afternoon runs found me chasing sunlight -- and while I did it, I found some powder under the snowmaking machines. It ended a great afternoon.
The downer of a coda was on my final descent, reaching the Mittlestation and realizing the rest of the lower part of the mountain was closed for the Nokia Snowbaording World Cup. I followed some Czech guys, and in confusion, teamed up with two Swiss guys to get a lift back up to the gondola. They said their German wasn't good enough to really bitch the lift operator out (for having no warnings that the trails were closed).