Could we have asked for a better weekend before lockdown?
Doubtful.
On the last weekend of February/first of March, four good friends and I packed our skis and splitboards to skin across the border of Austria into the Swiss Alps. We got some of the best snow I’ve had in Europe and some of the most adverse conditions I’ve ever had to tour in.
Our base for the weekend? The beautiful Heidelburger Hütte.
Friday was a perfect descent to the hut from nearby Ischgl (the Ibiza of the Alps). We were joined by a fair share of the Ischgl skiers, who had wised up to the fact that the accommodation at the hut is technically ski-in and ski-out. The terrain wasn’t somewhere I’d want to be without avalanche kit, but the tourists didn’t seem to care. And hey, despite the hut being full, most of the occupants weren’t in the backcountry taking our lines!
Lina with nothing but smiles summiting on day 2. In Austria we say these mountains are pyramid shaped, in Switzerland we call them Toblerones.
The only picture of the hut from the weekend. Guillaume and I approach, Marc behind the lens.
Saturday was a challenge, we turned back from our summit on attempt one, then took it from a different route in near white-out conditions. At around 11am after 4 hours of work we checked- wind was high but snowpack was stable. No one was hungry or cold. We knew exactly where we were. Party on.
We made a successful summit push and were back in the hut with a beer in hand by 3, feeling accomplished and ready for a nap.
Jonas, Marc, Guillaume. Our second approach on day 2. To say conditions were adverse doesn’t quite do the wind and cloud justice.
On Sunday, we departed the hut in the morning with heavy boots. We were exhausted from the previous day’s tour and conditions didn’t look favourable for us. As we started our ascent into Bowl X (my new secret spot) we started to catch glimpses of the untouched fresh snow before us. By the time we reached our summit, the clouds had broken and we had a sunny, fresh, and fluffy 800m descent below us. The avalanche danger was low and we got a party run all the way to the bottom.
We had nothing but smiles after a perfect day when we stopped off at the hut for our gear. After a cheeky beer we had more descent to go, on ski track unfortunately, all the way back to Ischgl and the car park.
With my season at an all-time high, it seemed almost unfair that I’d take only one more day on the snow before COVID shut everything down. But maybe it’s best to end on a high note. Bis bald winter!
Posted 1/7/2020
Marc and Guillaume- the outset on day 3. Much like the conditions on Day 2 no?
A “Toblerone” from the summit of Bowl X.
Guillaume licking into some tasty turns.
Good friends reciprocate the photo taking. Me getting my share, Guillaume behind the lens.
Jonas and Lina, happy out.
Out of the dozens of photos I took, these are the best three I have from a 2-day hike to Hundstalsee. In summer 2019 my friend Marta and I made the trek to the lake. We’d seen pictures of it, and knew it was somewhere in Tyrol…
The Aran Islands are a collection of three barren, rocky islands off the coast of Galway. There are roughly 1200 Irish speaking inhabitants across all 3 islands. Fortunately for travellers, English is very commonly spoken on the Islands as…
Wintertime in Ireland can be especially dreary. The mornings are usually overcast and foggy, and thanks to the coastal climate the days are bone-chillingly cold.
In the winter of 18/19, I lived in Clontarf…
I finished school in late 2012 which, I realize now, was a long time ago.
A degree in marketing was something I chased out of a vague interest in the field. By the time…