After all yesterday’s snow the avalanche risk was really high (it was 4 above
2000m and 3 below), and we were very conservative in our route picking for today
- we also wanted to see what it was really like underfoot and how steep a slope
would hold. So we chose to aim for the Hochalter which lies just above the
Kuhtai ski area, we could use the piste as a safety net if all things went
“wobbly”.
The morning was cold, with a good frost overnight, however all the snow down at
Sellrain had vanished up to about 1100m. We drove up to the ski area (passing
our layby from the Kreuzjoch climb where there were already a number of cars
unloading).
We parked in the car park next to the Hochalter ski lift - the parking areas had
been cleared of snow, but there was a thin covering left on the gravel, just
enough to make the tires spin a little. There was no obvious "Parkschein" so no
ticket. We were early and just a few cars had arrived answering the siren call
of the powder day. Overhead we were at the bottom of a cloud layer, but this was
not heavy and we hoped it would burn off.
Once ready we walked over to the end of the red piste that followed a summer
track zigzagging up the slope.
Setting off up the freshly groomed track (with just two tourer tracks on it).
We followed this up as a gentle slope rather than the more direct pistes.
After the first turn the piste was unprepared fully and we had a firm surface
under some powder (5cm) to negotiate, luckily we were not the first tourers on
the hill today and we continued to follow a couple who broke trail for us.
The sun kept trying to break through, and it was time to de-layer
In addition here we neared the bottom of the cloud layer and could see brief
glimpses up to the lift top and Hochalter peak through breaks in the cloud.
Our track merged back into the red piste as it continued its diagonal climb on
the slope. We followed the tourer marks in the light sprinkling on the side of
the track
At one of the bends where the main red piste turned directly towards its start
at the lift top, we continued (also in the broken trail) into the off-piste area
alongside, making a sweeping turn out before coming back to the piste edge.
By now we were getting passed by numerous skiers hollering and whooping as they
charged down the powder without a care. We stayed off the piste and I made a
trail (as by now we had lost our pathfinders who chose to stay on the piste
edge).
I followed some of the large tracks in the powder making a slanting ascent of
the next bump. We were back in the cloud for a while.
Over this last bump before the run up to the top station of the lift, and still
in the powder off-piste, we were now clear of the cloud.
I continued to make a track until it merged with someone else's, this gave to
much easier progress.
The sky was clear overhead now after breaking through the lower cloud level and
we could see up the slope to the top edge of the domain, as well as down into
the valley below with its cloud inversion.
We could see the slope leading up to the Hochalter, and no one had made any
tracks on it above the ones traversing from the lift. A unanimous decision was
made to make for the col (where the skiers were traversing to) and use that as
the target for the day.
The ski domain was getting busier (there seemed to be a lot of youngsters, and I
could not reconcile that they were not in education!). The bowl we were climbing
was getting more and more trails every lift load.
We continued climbing a track I made up the powder through the debris of ski and
snowboard tracks working up the bowl towards the top station and the traverse
route. As I got higher and the slope steeper, it became harder to make a new
track in the soft snow, and I had to cross closer to the loft station.
Up to the traverse track to get to the col. This just emphasised that being the
first up to Hochalter was not a good call answer and we were correct in avoiding
it. Along the traverse track (to the annoyance of an eastern european who
resented being stuck behind us, but would not make his own track), and we
arrived at the col.
The cloud inversion below the powder slopes. Across at Grieskogel a party had
gone to the col, but no other touring tracks around.
The pristine slope above looked dangerous from here and along with the
difficulty making a track in the steep soft snow, validated our decision.
We paused for refreshment and photos at this point - After the skis were
transformed for the descent we set off down the gulley on the other side to the
one we had approached this col.
Down a preparation slope and off the end along a narrow ridge for a short way.
The cornice showing why everyone else had also gone this way. Welcome to the
powder!
Next we dropped off the side of this ridge and down a relatively steep slope
to a long flatter run, this was probably the best of the day as it had not
been totally trashed by previous descents. We would increasingly find debris
as we got lower and we kept to the left to stay as clear as we could. We needed to stay in touch as we were back in the clouds with limited visibility.
Another steeper section (including passing a lad who was searching for a lost
ski - he did find it as we passed him) here the snow was churned up and there
were occasions where we were down to the harder surfaces below. Out of the cloud (underneath) we checked that all the tracks converged towards the bottom lift station.
The final slope down was a little rough with vegetation showing through in
places and we were forced onto the more used sections of the off-piste, before
dropping onto the red piste - the one we had started off on, at the lowest bend.
Down the now flattened track to the bottom and the point where we had started, then over to the car.
A quick session to clear the equipment of the snow and we returned to the apartment and to dry everything off in the now pervasive sun. We would pick up the bottles for recycling and
stroll down to the shop later
