Blogging
From Abroad

Here in Vienna, I am currently in an advanced indoor climbing course. Last week during class, I met a nice fellow from the Steiermark (Styria) state in Austria. He remarked about how he was going home for the weekend to do some ski touring. Well, I think you know what occured next, I found myself standing on skis in the snow (in mid April! On a sunny day!), trekking up a mountain! Ben Friedl was most gracious in letting me borrow the gear I did not have for this trip. We made 2 tours in the 2 days I was in the Steiermark. Wow, let me tell you, my ski legs were more tired by the end of the 2nd day than they have been in my entire life! I consider myself to be in fairly good shape, but I have loads of respect for the folks that do this regularly

For those who don’t know it, “ski mountaineering” combines two activities into one; “ski touring”- the act of skiing up a mountain and “mountaineering” which is climbing a mountain to it’s snowy peak. Ski touring involves attaching skins, made from “mohair” to the bottom of your skis to allow you slide up the slope, but preventing you from sliding backwards, a simple- yet elegant process! Since many peaks in the Austrian Alps are quite steep towards the summit, the snow can end, thus giving way to rock. This makes the climb even more challenging (but oh so sweet!) because one has to exchange skis for crampons to climb higher (-;

The Lugauer peak in the center of the photo. I came very close to the summit of this peak, but a sudden weather front moved in so we had to get down fast. If caught in one these “whiteout” storms you cannot see the snow at your feet, making the descent extremely dangerous.

Here I am on the 2nd day of touring, feeling pretty tired already early in the day.

Ben and myself on the summit of Schwarzenstein on our first day, feeling strong!

Spring conditions means a serious absence of skiable snow at lower elevations, but sometimes you can find these nice narrow corridors to scoot down! On both days we had to hike up in the “Gatsch” (mud), so, naturally, we skied down as far as we could (-; All photos are courtesy of Ben Friedly, mine got moisture in the lens.

So now I think it is safe to say I am hooked on another cool new hobby, ski mountaineering! Let the gear acquisition begin! (-;

Before I end this blog, I would like to sincerely thank Ben and his family for all they did for me. Ben’s parent’s own a restaurant, and they were soo nice to me throughout my stay (besonders fur meine Deutsch lernen!). Once again, I have to declare that Austrian “Gastfreundschaft” (hospitality) is top-notch.

Also, it is worth mentioning that Ben once studied culinary arts, and actually won several top awards, including best young chef in ALL of Austria! Quite a prestigious award! Needless to say, I was treated to some very delicious meals! If you are ever in Knittelfeld, Steiermark, Osterreich, make sure you stop by the Gasthaus Fam. Freidl for some the best food and hospitality Austria has to offer!