- schneekar – wilder kaiser -
After our previous ski tour and the simple fact that it is now May. Wow, we are skiing in May! We knew that an early start was necessary to make the climb and enjoy it without the looming threat of avalanches. 5.45am was the decided time. Therefore, out of bed at 5.00am, final packing of rucksac and stuff a bit of nosh down to fuel the system.
We knew that there was going to be a portion of this ski tour that we’d have to hike. The lower sections get a beating from the sun throughout the whole day. It is only when we’re over 1600m that there is noticeable shade that protects the snow.
A powerful avalache had swept down this valley ten days before and the devastation was unbelievable. Huge trees had been unrooted and thrown down the valley, boulders had been dislodged and changed the contours of this alpine gully.
After approximately an hours hiking, we had our first chance to get the skis on. The going was hard but not steep (to start with). Soon we reached our first steeper section and due to the firmness of the packed snow it was proving hard to climb. The other two had special ‘ice crampons’ that they could attached to the skis that made thing easier. Unfortunately I didn’t. Therefore, with a bit of slipping and a lot of cursing I fought my way up. It could never be described as stylish. A mixture of touring, side stepping and determination managed to get us up to roughly 1600m.
As the valley shallowed out, we were able to get into a much better rhythm with more walking and less slipping. Good ground was covered it wasn’t long before we could see our destination ahead of us. Obviously, the further up we went the colder it became and the snow was much icier. This slowed our progress until we finally had to remove the skis once again and tackle the last stage by foot.
As my rucksac is essentially a mountain bike rucksac, not unfairly there are no straps to attach skis. Therefore, skis were placed over my shoulder whilst I dug shallow steps with my boots to get a good purchase to advance the last 300m. The view from the top was as beautiful as I’d hoped. The vast rugged mountains of the Wilder Kaiser range towering to the left, right and in front of us. As we relaxed, I stretched and massaged my shoulder which was cramping up nicely now.
The descent was short and sweet. After crossing the path of the avalanche, we enjoyed a kilometre of fantastic skiing. The surface was just starting to soften up and allowed for some exhilerating skiing. As mentioned this was short and sweet, soon we had to take the skis off again and fight our way down through the felled trees.
To finish off we stopped for a nice cold beer before we bought a load of cakes to enjoy with the family back at the farm. It was a hard ski tour, which would have been made slightly easier if I’d have had better equipment. Note to self – I’ll have to add to my Christmas list for next year.
