|
After a good, precipitous start
into the season, the Bavarian winter of 04/05 took a break in
early January with very mild temps and a dry spell of almost 3
weeks. The snowpack on sun-exposed slopes was becoming thin but
avalanche conditions were good. On Friday night we came up with
two options on where to go skiing the next day but couldnt really
make up our minds. The first idea was to skitour the Wannig
(2493m) close to Biberwier in Austria. The second one was to spend
the day on the lifts in the Zugspitze ski area and then ride down
via the Gatterl to Ehrwald. Driving towards Garmisch Saturday
morning we saw the very tip of the Alpspitze being illuminated by
the first sun rays. The mountain looked so pretty we decided to
diss our original plans and tour up to the Stuiben, a mellow ski
touring hill allowing for spectacular views of the Alpspitze.
Leisurely 9am start at the
Kreuzeck parking lot
We didnt feel like
skinning up the ski slopes so we bought a single ticket for the
tram up to the Osterfelder - 14 Euros bloody rip-off!
Peter gettin' ready to get his ass
lifted up to the Osterfelder
Being 9am on a blue
bird Saturday morning, there were surprisingly few skiers taking
the tram up to the Osterfelder. Once we got to the top, the
Alpspitze North Face looked enticing to say the least! Some people
have skied it actually through a series of gullys and snowfields
but I couldnt really make out in the face where that route would
possibly go. I guess only a deeper snowpack would make this
undertaking feasible.
The snow in the area
between the Osterfelder tram station and the North Face of the
Alpspitze still looked powdery and we decided to go over there and
check it out. We ended up taking a number of really short but deep
powder runs hucking cliffs here and there and taking pictures with
Peters camera.
At 11am we had
enough fooling around in the powder below the Alpspitze since the
slopes started to dissappear in the shade already. We telemarked
down to the Bernadein lift station where the easy climb to the
Stuiben hut begins.
Skinning up the Stuiben Highway,
Alpspitze Oberkar visible
After 20 minutes we
reached the hut and decided to eat our lunch. This hut must rank
among the most beautiful, cozy huts in the Bavarian Alps.
We chilled out for a
while, sitting in th sun and chatting with an army dude who
claimed to be up there testing the German army's newest secret
gimmick. The device he was playing with looked like an ordinary
mobile phone and hey it turned out to be one!
Can you spot the Stuiben hut in the
background?
After half an hour
relaxing in the surprisingly warm January sun, we took off over
the gentle slopes up to the Stuiben summit.
Skinning up towards the Stuiben
summit
The upper slopes
were unfortunately already dissappearing in the shade and the
sudden temperature drop was big. Brrr! Just before the summit we
got a good glimpse of the Alpspitze east face again. Jealously we
looked into the Oberkar, prime ski tour terrain!
Ballistic missiles spotted between
Hochblassen and Alpspitze
The Alpspitze Oberkar - a dream ski
tour
The final meters to the Stuiben
summit, Dreitorspitze (2700m) in the background
Finally at the top, Stuiben summit
(1923m)
A Bergdohle hanging out at the
Stuiben summit
A friend of Peters
had told him about a cool variation on the classical Stuiben ski
descent. Instead of skiing back to the Stuiben hut, we decided to
drop into the gully below the Mauerscharte. Even though it hadnt
snowed for more than 2 weeks, there were only two old tracks
visible.
And powder we had
The snow turned out
to be of fantastic quality! We surfed the light fluffy powder on
our tele boards into the basin below the Stuiben wall and then
traversed back through the forest to the Bernadein ski lift. What
a ride!
Gettin your ass lifted No.2
Our lift ticket from
earlier this morning included a single ride up the Bernadein T-bar
and we were happy we wouldnt have to skin back up on the slopes to
the main ski area. We skied over to the Kreuzeck ski circus and
then drifted - not skied - down the Kandahar piste. I had never
experienced this piste as icy as today - a result of the
thawing-freezing cycle of the last few days. Just before the end
of the slope we ran into a traffic jam. A rescue heli was picking
up an injured skier. I wasnt surprised. The whole slope was one
big ice sheet!
Jealous of free heli time
Here is a picture
(taken earlier in the season by Peter) of the run we took from the
Stuiben down via the Mauerscharte.
|
