Postcard from Sportgastein in March 2010

Sportgastein is the highest ski area in the Valley, it goes up to about 2700m
Mix of weather at Sportgastein

Sportgastein - take it from the top
The fast Gondola whisks you up to the top where the views are stunning. If it’s a bright sunny day then its certainly a great place to be. Undulating Reds and a Blue take you back to the middle station and its Red and Black down to the base station. The black is a bit hairy and scary when its icy. Today’s weather was a bit mixed so lunch took a bit longer than usual. We went to the Valerie Haus which is next to the cross-country at 1600m. The food is fine but the service is slow which is a bit unusual in this part of the world. I think the Valerie Haus was originally a shelter for people climbing in the area and was named after Marie Valerie, the youngest daughter of the Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph and Empress Elizabeth (Sissi).




On the black in Sportgastein 

15th March 2010
Falling snow and high winds curtailed ski operations early today. Most of the high lifts were closed. Visibility was OK at start time but deteriorated as the morning wore on. It’s really weird when you lose track of what is up and what’s down and you find yourself hitting the ground head first. Oh well, at least it was soft powder. And, of course, there is always tomorrow.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Cycling in Southwest England - Bike from Dorchester to Beer (1 of 3)

Image
An afternoon ride across Dorset 70km Dorchester to Beer I passed this way a year ago and really enjoyed the Dorset countryside on NCN 2. It’s a nice quiet route albeit with a few hills particularly on the approach to Devon. Hardy Monument Typical Dorset Countryside Set off down the Weymouth Road in Dorchester for a short distance and then took a right turn to join NCN 2. The City and the traffic were soon left behind and I was into open country. Headwind today! A bit bumpy across a farm track before getting back on the road through Martinstown and heading up the big hill towards the Hardy Monument. Need to be hardy to get up there! This is not a memorial to Thomas Hardy, the local author, but to Sir Thomas Masterman Hardy (kiss me Hardy) a distant relation who captained HMS Victory at Trafalgar. It’s closed at the moment but, when open, it provides great views from its chimney top towards Portland. For every uphill there is fortunately a downhill and I cruised down an
Read more

London - Royal Albert Hall - Carmina Burana - a view from the Chorus

Image
A seat with the choir - 26th October 2013 In the cheap seats again Royal Albert Hall in October TW likes to make sure we have the occasional dose of Culture, bit like the winter flu jab. Where better to go than the iconic Royal Albert Hall. It is only an hour in the car, parking is easy and it is a keenly priced £18 for a comfy seat. Very reasonable when you have a top Orchestra, The Royal Philharmonic, and 500 singers to entertain you for the evening. I felt a bit under-dressed when we arrived as the seats next to us were occupied by elegant Ladies in posh frocks. When TW pointed out they were the choir and were the hired help for the evening I felt a lot more comfortable. Sitting alongside the choir is actually not too bad, have just to remember not to stand up when they do. Hearing them sing is also not a problem. Take your seats The programme contained familiar tunes. The warm up was the William Tell Overture. He was a Swiss chap he used to sit an Apple on his son'
Read more

The hills are alive – in Southampton

Image
A long-standing commitment meant a Saturday night visit to the Mayflower Theatre in Southampton. The show was about a novice nun who goes to work in the house of a retired Navy man with seven kids. You can guess what happens next, the kids are jumping in and out of bed with her, they do things with goats, the father goes off and the children go wild and are dressed up in curtain material. Should have been in the News of the World, or a case for Social Services, but you guessed it, the Sound of Music on stage! It was quite good actually, should have been Connie Fisher in the Maria role. She won the TV programme to find a Maria for the West End show. At the interval Jacqui asked the lady next to me ‘who is playing Maria’ as it obviously was a stand-in? (we were too tight to buy a programme). “It’s not Connie and I’m cross, in fact I’m very cross, I’m going to tell them I’m cross. I only came to see Connie!” - whoops. I thought it was hilarious, if it was White Hart Lane and Harry making
Read more

Salzburg in the Rain

Image
The Sound of Raindrops on Roses Salzburg still looks pretty good in bad weather and a few raindrops on the roses didn’t dampen our enthusiasm for a wander around the narrow streets and gardens of the old town. The streets were empty as the tourists were forced inside.   We joined them eventually and had a nice delayed birthday meal at St Peters Stiftskeller. This claims to be the oldest restaurant in Central Europe, it’s been serving since 803 AD.   The toilets are much more recent. The cheap end of the menu is pretty reasonable. That’s one of many good things about Austrian restaurants.   The first glance at the menu might cause a sharp intake of breath but they normally have a few simple, standard, dishes that locals can afford.
Read more

New Zealand Holiday - Week 4 - Paraparaumu, Wellington, Blenheim and Motueka - 17th February to 24th February

Image
  Heading for Wellington and the South Island. Seatoun Coastal Tour Highway One took us Southward from Wanganui. The morning's highlight was a coffee break in the lively town of Foxton at the delightful  Robert Harris Cafe  The young lady who took our order, seemingly around ten years old, was remarkably efficient. The patrons were all locals with many wearing sporting gear, giving us the impression that Foxton is a town enthusiastic about sports? Kapiti Coast Next stop, the challenging-to-pronounce Paraparaumu. It was our first time using Airbnb, and our initial experience in Raumati South was extremely positive, thanks to Ngahuia . Our very comfortable property was in the front garden of a house in a quiet residential road. We even extended our stay as it was so nice. We had planned to take a boat to Kapiti Island, but the forecast of rain and gales made us reconsider. This was the first bout of bad weather on our trip. With Wellington just a short drive away, we decided to pay a
Read more

Italy - A postcard from Tuscany

Image
 An Italian Escape With Covid in abeyance and another health issue resolved it was time to head South for a week in Italy. Bologna 17th May 2022 We chose the noble City of Bologna as our starting point and BA from LHR our carrier of choice. We had a shedload of BA credits from all our cancelled flights over the Winter so we even took checked luggage! Really great to be landing in Italy and even better that they did not make us line-up in the 'Other Passport' queue, we were straight through the e-gates onto the Marconi shuttle into the City. Bologna Station is a bit of a maze and we struggled to find our way out. Eventually we found a long overpass that took us to the front of the building and a Taxi to our digs for the first two nights. Coincidentally this was in Via Marconi. I thought the comms pioneer was an adopted Englishman but clearly he is very well remembered over here. Our La Dolla Apartment was really nice and modern, a bit of a contrast to the lobby and stairs but th
Read more

Ski Amade Tour - a day trip to Flachau via Alpendorf and Wagrain

Image
Bad Hofgastein to Flachau - March 2010 Heading for home - above Alpendorf - downhill to the bus stop The Ski Amade lift pass that we buy for the Gastein Valley also covers a large slice of this region of Austria. Today’s tour took us over to Flachau, home village of the Herminator, Hermann Maier. Leaving the Gastein Valley at Dorfgastein we took the lift and skied down to Grossarl. From there the local bus took us on a 15 minute trip down the Grossarl valley to Alpendorf, an alpine village above St. Johann in Pongau. A succession of lifts and ski runs took us over the Gernkogel, Sonntagskogel and Grafenberg summits and down into Wagrain. At Wagrain it was a short shuttle bus ride, soon to be a lift, across town to the Flying Mozart lift and onwards up to the Griessenkareck summit above Flachau. Time out for lunch in the Waldgasthof then down the Hermann Maier World Cup run to Flachau valley station. Have to say I liked the look of Flachau. From what I saw it has wide open sl
Read more

New Zealand Holiday - Week 9 - Te Anau, Milford Sound, Queenstown, Wanaka and Cromwell - 25th to 29th March

Image
The Sounds and Otago This might just be the Mirror Lake! After spending a week in Queenstown, we bid farewell to our apartment in Remarkables Park and embarked on our journey to Te Anau, the gateway to Milford Sound. The route was quite straightforward. Along the way, we stopped at Bracken Hall in Mossburn, an old-fashioned shop that seemed to sell everything. After purchasing a plush Kiwi, we continued to Te Anau. We had pre-booked at Parklands Motel, where we checked in early before going out for lunch. The owner was incredibly helpful, offering valuable advice for our excursion the following morning, including parking tips at Milford Sound. She also recommended a great spot for lunch, the Sandfly , located in the town center. It was a bustling Kiwi cafe, and although busy, we were content to wait for our vegetarian breakfasts. Following lunch, we made our way to Lake Manapouri, which is roughly a 20-minute journey. This lake serves as the departure point for the Doubtful Sound Tour.
Read more