All kinds of plans for this week came and went, at one stage I was going to the Oberland to climb the Finsteraarhorn but the weather up in the Oberland was awful and it’s a pretty awful place to get caught in bad weather. In the end as I was going to start a ski tour into the Silvretta from Ischgl I decided to go there a couple of days early and have a look at the Ischgl area in Austria.

It’s been quite some time since I skied in Austria, I was reckoning something like five years probably.

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Actually it is over, at least sort of. Today was the last day the lifts are running in the Val d’Anniviers, it’s tied to Easter and this year Easter is earliest it’s been since 1913 and it’s not going to be this early until 2228 again. We already know closing in the Val d’Anniviers is going to be April 19th next year and we can only hope the snow will be as good as it is right now.

Of course it’s not over at all, there’s still snow on the ground, and falling from the sky for that matter, so there’s still going to be some skiing. I’m not sure right now if I’ll be doing anymore lift served skiing though, the only firm plans I have are for some ski touring right now.


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Skiing yesterday I was amazed how good the snow was particulary off the side of the Lona area into the trees, deep light powder and as good as anything we’ve had this season really. Today was about the same, the cloud kept rolling in and out and there was the odd period where it was a bit awkward but the skiing was just excellent.


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This was a warm up day before starting a multiday tour so our target was a small peak in the Leysin area, the Tour de Famelon where I’ve hiked in the summer (blog entry). This is a straightforward ascent although the last few metres we roped up and used ice axes and crampons to make the actual summit, mostly just for practise though.


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