Gargellen, Austria

Today was supposed to be light cloud and sunny spells, but looking out of the windows showed this was a little wishful thinking, with the cloud down again.
Hoping that the forecast was a little delayed, and also not wishing to be lazy for the second day on the trot, we headed over to Gargellen ski area for a day of piste chasing and mechanical assistance.

We arrived there shortly after 9:30 and caught an early lift up .. at the central station we were at the base of the cloud and taking the Eastern side chair to the top gave us flat light and low visibility. the first run was a little tenuous so we continued down into the valley in the hope that the trees would help the flat light and the visibility would improve ...  however there was a lot of corrugations on the trails, which impacted Bryon's knee issues.

Down at the bottom, things had become busier, with the later risers, and we had to share the cabin with a hyperactive child and mother more interested in her phone..  the child being very proud of themselves in pushing through the queue.

At the central station things had cleared up a little ... the cloud was still there but it had lifted and the flat light was a little better.
We took the second chair up (heated seats and wind protector) with a plan to circle around to the Western side of the ski area...  going down the wide blue run ...  an interesting course, but more so because of the "short cuts" across the wide circle of the run ...  taking the old 2 person chair and the  hot chair we repeated, this time I broke off on the short cut ...  steep powder, fairly cut up by previous passages but still plenty of fresh lines ...  very interesting ..
The powder got heavier as I dropped down, but still light enough to have fun. Legs sreaming by the time I hit the piste back...  Bryon took the easy way down and we met at the slow chair.

At the top of this chair I persuaded Bryon to try out the powder underneath it  .. A little steeper than he was expecting, and not so deep as the last run ,,, but still very enjoyed by both of us.
Bryon graduated into the powder hound category.. albeit exceedingly tired at the bottom.
To celebrate this successful transition and also to not over reach we headed off to the central station for a coffee (and chips!)

parked outside the cafe ...  dodging the snow falling from the roof threatening to soak everything, but very excellent (and large) plates of chips, supplemented the lunchtime sandwich!

The legs suitably rejuvenated .. time for a last blast.

 the views around the central station ...  north to the valley, and south to Madrissa peak.

I wanted to have another go at the "short cut" .. this time leaving even higher and taking the steep entry. however to get to it we set off up the Eastern chair , the wide route down and then (horror of horrors) the T-bar back up , and the hot chair.

Bryon opted for the photographer position and I dropped in..  he then sped around to the bottom, whilst I pushed hard to get there before him ... My thighs were screaming.

That was it for the day ... any more and I would pay for it tomorrow. So a gentle drop back down to the valley, and drive back to the apartment for tea.

Dinner we tried the restaurant up the hill only to find that it was closed for the day, so we went back down the valley to Italian at the cross roads (Pizzeria Casa Mia)
..  the walk back down the hill really impacted Bryon's knee and it would not bode well for tomorrow.