The skies were clear and a hard frost had happened overnight ... what better portent for the first day of this trip. We had planned to take in some routes we had investigated last year as well as some "unfinished" business. Today we would go back to the Vennspitze - a route with an access road that defeated us last year - there was ice on the track which gave me a few anxious moments when we went for a recce, such that I was unwilling to go back after a nights freeze.
This year the snow level was a little higher and also I had a set of winter tyres to improve the grip a little, especially on the descent. In the event there was very little snow on the road, and then only on the flat section. We parked up on the side of the road away from the parking spot so we could get the van parked out of harms way.
The initial preparation took time as we needed to sort all the gear out, and pack day sacs, etc. Very cold for stripping off but next time I must remember to put skiing cloths in the overnight bag, not day sac.
The well worn track lead us up into the forest, initially on a track which doubles as a sledge run, before heading up a large mogul field - this just shows how many people have been on this route since the last snow fall. In the distance there were several parties both ahead and below, which would be the theme for the day, as we found our feet for the first route.
At the top of this extended ski run like swath through the forest there was a very cold steeper section that took us out of a bowl and into the upper pastures. The summit was finally visible over the top of this bowl, as we climbed out tot he left and into the next section.
Once in the upper meadows we could see the summit in all its splendour and also the track winding its way through the debris of all the previous descents.
The track made its way around to the shoulder on the ridge in front of us. Then followed the boundary fence to a point where the snow was sparse on the face and too steep on the ridge and we made a ski depot - others had continued, but discretion was best here, on the first trip of the year.
the last section to the top was on foot up some very large boot holes, and we joined the others by the summit cross to take in the magnificent views. With the very hard freeze from last night, it was pertinent to hang around and enjoy the situation, whilst we waited for the sun to soften things up a little bit before heading down again.
 |
| Looking North from the summit |
Setting off from the top was a case of walking down to the skis and stripping off the skins, which had been drying in the sun, and returning down the way we had come.The top bowl was still very icy and hard, and we picked a way through the debris trying to keep to the more "worn" sections. Keeping to the edges of the previous tracks we found some good spring snow in the next section, before fighting our way down to the bowl above the tree line.
This part was tough on our tired legs .. it was soft enough to need to jump clear on the turns, but not very forgiving, and we fought our way down until Bryon found some better snow to the right hand side. Then it was down through the moguls to the village.
After that a simple walk back to the van and a welcome drink in a relaxing chair - Bryon examined his boots where the walk/ ski lever was causing problems and I cursed mine where the lean angle was still a bit too vicious and I had been struggling with them most of the way down. A continuation of the problems from Half term, and I just needed to either solve it or improve my fitness to compensate for the impact on the muscles.
