Skiing in Germany
Randalf asked in a previous post how skiing differed in the German Alps. Well the main difference I found was with the view. (That first picture is from the top of Jenner in Berchtesgaden.) The alps are absolutely beautiful and quite more jagged than the Cascades that I’m used to. It hadn’t snowed in a few of days, so I didn’t sense any obvious snow difference (powdery, wet, dry, etc… honestly I’m not sure I’d be able to tell anyway). Where we were the ski areas tended to be smaller than the ones around here. There are several towns in the valley–including ours–and several ski areas of differing difficulty. Almost all of Jenner’s runs are marked as intermediate, though some felt harder to me, the true intermediate skier. Oh yeah, the last major difference: You can get awesome beer at any and every ski hut.
Here’s another picture to whet your appetite. This one was taken on the slopes looking towards the alps.
February 25th, 2006 at 3:54 pm
The photos are indeed beauteous, and I know from experience that, no matter how talented the photographer, the photos never do the scenery justice. If you put a premium on this kind of scenery, then you should definitely come and ski with old RtG sometime.
My “local” areas are Wolf Creek and Monarch, both of which sit atop the Continental Divide where the views are quite breath-taking in more ways than one. I also ski at the intermediate level, but I’m just a cruiser. There is very little cartilage left in my old knees, so I don’t do bumps and jumps. I had to give up tennis and softball due to advanced geezerhood, but I’ll give up skiing when they pry my cold dead fingers off the poles.
February 25th, 2006 at 4:42 pm
Did you take the pics, Jek, if so, they’re great as RtG says…. I checked out the Jenner link…. Interesting stuff, but, I think it would take the whole MR community to drag me to the top of a mountain and push me off with two sticks on my feet, two toothpicks in my hands, and lots (I mean LOTS) of determined trees between me and the bottom…. I’d be the spectator, “cheer-you-on” section and still (notice the use of the word “still”) photographer on a skiing expedition…. Getting out in country like that would be exhilarating though……
February 25th, 2006 at 9:46 pm
Of course I took those pics. Here’s one of me:
And finally here’s a shot looking down into the valley. We stayed in the area to the right of the photo’s center.
RtG that does sound nice. Tarn and I might just visit you for a skiing trip sometime. Out of curiosity, how long is the ski season down there?
March 10th, 2006 at 12:29 am
Me and the missus would be glad to have you as guests here at The Last Resort. Wolf Creek closes April 2 and Monarch closes on April 9. I call them my “local” ski areas, but they’re about 2 hours from here—a manageable commute for a day on the slopes in my opinion. Perhaps the most spectacular one in Colorado, and the highest in North America, is Arapahoe Basin, but it’s about a three-and-a-half hour drive, which pretty much necessitates taking a condo at Keystone or a motel room in Dillon.
A-Basin is usually open until mid to late June, and they’ve been known to stay open until the 4th of July. Of all the big
tourist destination resorts I’ve been to, Keystone is my favorite.