Hello again!
We are back and everyone is safe and sound, including the car - conditions where quite slippery.
We arrived Saturday, 8am, these photos where taken around 7/7.30am. A beautiful morning.
More january skies
here!
Icy road!
This region is called "Styrian Siberia", because it is colder than other regions nearby.
Since this winter has been really mild, the streams are far from being frozen
Styria is known for its forests and timber
Shortly after we arrived we got ready for our first tour. Since we are repeating the course for beginners, I did not listen too closely but rather paid attention to the residents:
And up we went. Last year Mr Paula and I had already walked up several hills and mountains. This year we arrived from level 0 which means no tours so far. Lucky us, the route was not too steep and the distance not too far.
When we returned home, it started snowing and over night it had snowed and rained, about 2 feet of new snow and the conditions in the mountains became really dangerous. In Austria a fantastic avalange-warning-system warns people and today it said "red flag", so no more tours for us.
I did take more pictures during the tour, but since they show other people's faces, I don't want to publish them.
Gefahr means danger, Lawine means avalanche and level 4 means that it does not need the weight of a group or even a single person to cause an avalanche - they go down by themselves on slopes with moderate inclinations. The black star on the top, left means avalanches can occur in any exposition, north, south, east, west. The shape of the region is Styria, in the middle of Austria.
The inn dates back! :-)
A super-comfy room.
We went to bed at 9pm yesterday and enjoyed every moment in this lovley room.
This was the view from the balcony today
80km northeast, in Vienna, it's 8°C and the daffodils are springing
(sorry, I can't remove the italic-formatting:)
We were not exactly disappointed, that the second tour had been cancelled, since we had yesterday's tour and the sleep-deprivation from Friday to Saturday still in our systems. When we arrived in Vienna, I jumped into my red flannel pajama, with a book under my arm and a few pages later, I slept and I slept for 3 hours! Mr Paula stayed awake but went to bed early (9pm). The snow, the fresh air, the sport, the presence of so many people and the group you spend the day with - it's all exciting and exhausting at the same time. Also I could tell that I had spent some days in bed due to a viral infection one week ago, no wonder I was glad today was a rest-day.
Another reason, why I did not shed a tear over the missed tour of today was the heavy snow: after the rain the snow became really heavy and it had already been heavy yesterday. Skiing in all-terrain and deep snow is aready a challenge for me. I don't need the extra challenge of heavy, difficult to handle snow. I am glad I handled the snow yesterday - no falling, no losing control and relieved parents, when I called them today and let them know everything went fine.
The view from the room
I am still surprised, how much the snow overwhelmed me, just looking at those photos ...
Maybe it's my new love for running, that I am not that keen on snow in 2011/2012? I used to love snow and skimountaineering and now I just sit here and can't wait for the first mild evening to lace up my running shoes. This winter everything seem to be different.
10pm, time to leave the computer!
We arrived Saturday, 8am, these photos where taken around 7/7.30am. A beautiful morning.
This region is called "Styrian Siberia", because it is colder than other regions nearby.
Shortly after we arrived we got ready for our first tour. Since we are repeating the course for beginners, I did not listen too closely but rather paid attention to the residents:
And up we went. Last year Mr Paula and I had already walked up several hills and mountains. This year we arrived from level 0 which means no tours so far. Lucky us, the route was not too steep and the distance not too far.
When we returned home, it started snowing and over night it had snowed and rained, about 2 feet of new snow and the conditions in the mountains became really dangerous. In Austria a fantastic avalange-warning-system warns people and today it said "red flag", so no more tours for us.
Gefahr means danger, Lawine means avalanche and level 4 means that it does not need the weight of a group or even a single person to cause an avalanche - they go down by themselves on slopes with moderate inclinations. The black star on the top, left means avalanches can occur in any exposition, north, south, east, west. The shape of the region is Styria, in the middle of Austria.
