Mountains

[la_marquise]

Standing on the lip, on the edge, on the peak of a slope is a little like the moment before flight. For one instant I am hanging in limbo and then... Sometimes skiing is the closest thing I know to weightlessness.
It was good: good snow, wide clear pistes, long mountain silences. Easy and regular and cheap buses and trains meant we could go on each day to somewhere new, somewhere different. We skiied Fieberbrunn and St Johan in Tyrol, Waidring-Winklmoos and St Ulrich, Kitzbuhel and Saalbach-Leogang. I have skiied those sections of the Hahnenkamn men's world cup downhill which are open to the casual skier (things you hear yourself saying and then wonder at 'I would rather do the world cup downhill than a rope drag lift')* and neither fallen nor struggled too much. I have survived another black at the same place (Kitzbuhel) that had a 1 in 2 slope and rather a lot of ice on it (and didn't fall on that, either, though language was uttered). I have eaten rather a lot of apfelstrudel (though I left the germknudel to the marquis). All the resorts were lovely, apart from Saalbach, which was a bit icey when we were there, and has slightly irritating connectively. Waidring and Kitz in particular are heavenly -- if you have a shot at one or two days skiing in the Austrian Tyrol, Waidring is the place to go (unless you're a beginner, it's too small for a week but for a day it's delightful -- a huge bowl with runs of all levels and fabulous views).
The castle was delightful and rather barking (it's Schlosshotel Rosenegg, for those who like castles).
*I stick to this view. I hate rope drags. A rope drag broke my rib once... Black runs are far less scary.**
** European black runs. Those single and double black diamond runs you have in Canada and the USA are another matter entirely.

Comments

[woolymonkey.livejournal.com]

Sounds fun! Well, I know Apfelstrudel is fun. I'll have to take your word on the skiing.

[joycemocha.livejournal.com]

European black runs are less scary than North American ones? Hmm. If I can ever persuade DH to try skiing in Europe, I'd like to give them a try. I've done blacks at Timberline, but word is that Timberline is easier than most around here.

[http://users.livejournal.com/la_marquise_de_/]

There are some extremely difficult blacks over here, too, but that extra grade of diamond or double diamond doesn't exist in Europe. I haven't skied in the US, but I have skied blacks in Canada and they were comparable to some of the blacks I've done in France and Austria (the hardest black I've done was in La Plagne in France, and had the worst entry point I've ever seen. I don't know how it would grade in Canada, though -- certainly black, maybe single diamond). On the other hand, there are double black diamonds in Canada that the marquis -- who has been skiing for over 30 years -- won't touch.
I do recommend Europe for skiing, though. The scenery and atmosphere are totally different and we have some great resorts.

[leita-love-bug.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you had fun! It sounds like an awesome experience! :)

[anef.livejournal.com]

Our instructor took us to the entry point of a double black diamond just to look. I was too scared to go closer than 3 feet to the edge in case I fell in. For one horrifying moment I thought he was actually suggesting that we should Go Down There.

[http://users.livejournal.com/la_marquise_de_/]

There are some truly unreasonably double black diamonds at Whistler. The marquis insisted on showing me the top of Blowhole, which was much as you describe (I swear it's concave).