Day 3 - the High King

Day 3 dawned sunny & blue perfect to visit Hochkonig & give the Konigstour a bash - 32km & 6700m tour that links a number of small resorts - think Porte des Soleil. The more observant reader will see that the trip is linear so it had to be an out n back... :-)

Muhlbach carpark was filling up quickly - the trusty Corsa gave a clue as to why - minus 5 Deg at approx 1000m ASL - Whistler, that's proper ski conditions.

 

A couple of leg warmers from the top of Schneeberg (1921m) on perfect corduroy then It was off to Natrum - lots of Reds and the occ Black was the order of the day - the only way to distinguish the latter from the former was by the colour of piste poles!! Along the way there were a number of sights...

There were a number of wooden thrones along the route - I did wonder about a selfie...!!

The view to the N was quite impressive - this range of peaks at around 2500M or so looked interesting...

I also happened across this fellow at the end of the tour -  once spotted, I saw him several on the rtn. How do you miss a 4m high inflatable blue thingy???

The end of the tour also corresponded with Elevenses - it's important to stay hydrated don't ya know...!

I also spotted this in the bar...

It's a large block of wood with nails in it - & a hammer for banging a few more in. I've have seen similar B4 but no idea what it's about. If any reader can provide an explanation, I'll stand them a double round of Jagermeisters ( http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jägermeister ) - of course you will have to come skiing in Austria too!!!

There is a possibility that my mother may be reading this so today I did lunch. OK it was on the move in a gondola but hey it was better than yesterday's effort and there was no young Smart to snaffle the Bugles - result!

I also found some more seats - on a warm sunny spring day it was tempting but with without Mr P to lead me astray, I cracked on.

Another mid aftie refreshment stop followed 

Then it was back for the scores on the doors from Skiline... Now the observant reader will recall that the Tour was badged as 32km & 6700m so an out n back equates to some 64km & 13400m. Add it some leg warmers and (quite) a few other additional runs and yesterday's total looked like it might be broken - but no.

I don't have an explanation unless Hochkonig have recently hired a marketeer from Whistler... Their website does say the Tour is the most beautiful in the Alps - OK it was scenic but the Valle Blanche need not worry so maybe it's all just hype - hard to believe I know but...

Day 2 - Schladming Dachstein

Day 2 arrived with sun & blue skies - from the look of the piste Mao, Schladming Dachst is the largest single ski area with the main action spread across 4 linked Mtns.

The plan was simple park at Gleiming (right hand of pic)  and ski to Haus/Ennstal (left hand end of map). I wasn't sure how long it would take but with a regular ski bus that ran between the two, who cares! The powder should have been bashed into pristine groomers so it was out the door by 07:30. The car park D Staff were out in force so it was likely to be a busy one - more reason to get a wiggle on... The groomers were spot on - no need to turn much, just put the pedal to the floor and fly!!!!!! There were no rules as such - but i did try and ski all the big runs on each Mtn. On the way I saw a couple of things of interest - a climbing wall with sponsorship on top?! 

This was the view to the south - impressive

This was the view from the gents toilet at one lift!!! I presume the glass was reflective!!!!

These chairs at top the final Mtn looked mighty tempting too...

When I finally stopped for a break the bar of choice only sold beer - tuff I know but when in Rome!! :-) it had a big sign up that sums the Austrian ski scene up...

The Hauser Kaibling was ticked by half 1 or so - bit early to stop on a cracking day so back I went! When I reached the wheels, the legs felt like it had been a big day - Skiline says it all...!

So, what did I find out about the skiing today?

The runs were longer and much more akin to French grades. The whole area was very reminiscent of Serre Chavlier

Despite it being a cracking day, the locals were in the bars by half 11!!!! I was tempted to join them if I hadn't had the wheels.

In good conditions (today) Schladming Dachstein is a cracking ski area.

Day 1

The flight to Muchen was slightly delayed but not for that 2 hrs that would have required a €250 refund and effectively a free flight! Mr P can provide more details of the 'why and how' of refunds for delayed flights. Unlike Geneve, Munchen airport provides both a beer selling supermarket, a McD's & a short hire car queue - things have started well! Cheapo hotel was 5 miles away and ticked all the reqd boxes.

Short ski trips required max time on the piste so the alarm went off at 05:30 - and the little Corsa was rolling by 06:00. It's been at least 15 yrs since I last drove on the autobhans - they are the motorway that every country should aspire to. A Corsa would not be my vehicle of choice for a 100mph blast but it was OK!!!!!! A quick pit stop at the Austrian border for a vignette (€8.70 for a 10 tag vignette puts the swiss to shame) and a coffee then press on to Wargain.

The carpark in Wagain was looking promising...

Yup, that's fresh snow!!! The uncharitable might suggest that Wagain had more snow in one night than Whistler has had this year! The top of the mountain was 1000m higher so D:Ream pretty much summed it up... http://youtu.be/Dl-ai9HuR60 The first run confirmed there was powder a plenty so it was time to tick a few runs. 3 hrs later, the legs were feeling it & the fuel tank was empty - not a total surprise as brekkie hadn't made past the good idea stage. I grabbed some Goulash souppe met wurst und Brot - this is the 'before'

And the 'after'

Tank full, it was off for more runs. I happened across this pair 

Not entirely sure what/who they are, but you could stand with them and and have a selfie taken by a automatic camera that linked the pic to your ski pass - no Nigel, I didn't try it out. Talking of lift passes, Ski Amade use the Skiline lift pass system (same as Zermatt) so stats for the day are easy to find - the detail is here http://www.skiline.cc/skiing_day/1dhutjimdq3 The headlines are 27 lifts ridden & 10,729m of ski descent - not a bad day! :-)

This is a recce trip so what have I gleaned:

The runs are not challenging - most are red on the piste map but for one brought up on French skiing they are more like Blues or Val d'Isere Greens! 

The lift system is impressive - i though apAustria was land of T Bars - the reality of today was gondolas and chairs - the latter were very impressive - numerous 6 & 8 packs with heated padded seats, a restraining bars that auto releases and a canopy is the biz - Whistler, are you listening?

The whole thing was well wired up - car parking, signs, piste plans, runs, lifts, bars, eating huts etc was very good.

The Planning Phase

The Bible suggest's Salzburg is the airport of choice for an Amade trip - that might be the case but trying to get there in early March for a long weekend for something less than the GDP of a small Third World Country defeated yours truly. So switch to lateral thinking mode... Munchen is approx 2 hrs further to drive but SleazyJet could get me there for sensibled mm  money - flight booked! Following the standard ski trip formula, a late flight requires a cheap chain hotel close to an airport and an appt close to skiing. The latter took a bit of searching as Ski Amade doesn't have a centre (oops zentrum) as such so it some searching but Booking.com delivered Haus Rieder http://youtu.be/0pL9mePs_OM 

Cars and skis are easy - Auto Europe and Intersport can be relied on to do the biz. Planning phase complete! :-)

The Prologue...

The Internet is a wonderful thing but sometimes it far too easy to turn an idea into trip...  Having ticked 14 days of skiing in 2015 (a year that's going to be remembered for all the wrong reasons from a skiing  viewpoint) I thought that was it - The power at St Gervais balanced the rain at Whistler. To say Whistler conditions were not good is an understatement so over a dustbin lid sized portion of nachos at the GLC, she who shall remain nameless, asked about Austria as a 2016 ski venue. Not having a huge amount of experience of the Austrian ski scene, it seemed sensible (to me at least) to do a recce b4 committing.

A quick flick throu the WtSS Bible suggested that Ski Amade http://www.skiamade.com/en/winter with 25 resorts, 760 km of piste & 270 lifts was a worthwhile option esp for a short trip with wheels - game on... :-)