Cross-country skiing in Bad Hofgastein

Fear and Falling

It doesn't look steep

After downhill skiing for about ten days I decided to take a break and try my hand at Langlauf (cross-country skiing).
A nice leisurely ski Sunday up the Angertal valley and back was what I envisaged.

It had been warm on Saturday but cold overnight so perhaps I should have expected the track to be icy. I had only skied in soft conditions previously but it can’t be too difficult surely? So I headed off, initially in bright sunshine but soon the track was shaded by pine trees. Unsurprisingly the track is predominantly uphill as it meanders up the valley until the halfway point. The uphill was not a problem, it’s much easier than cycling uphill. However a new downhill section by a dam was a bit of an eye-opener. I set off downhill with my ski’s in the prepared tracks and, although I am quite happy down-hilling on the pistes at 60 kph, I quickly realised that this was a whole different game. With no parachute available I decided I had better have a controlled crash. TW had shown me the breaking technique for the descents on a previous trip but I hadn’t needed to use it. Jeez, did I need it today! Locked Into the icy track it felt like I was going like a bullet out of a gun.

The braking principle is that you keep one ski in a track and the other you take out and angle like a snow plough. This, when done properly, will slow you down. Taking one ski out when already shooting down isn’t easy. So anyway, I picked myself up and tried this new technique. I reached the bottom of this hill without any further mishaps and climbed on through the trees alongside a babbling brook. Idyllic certainly but, of course, every metre of altitude gained would need to be lost on the way back. I reached the furthest and highest point of the loop and it was time to start the descent.

I had hardly seen a soul to this point, apart from a couple of real experts who were using skating skis. Could it be that others had more sense? The journey back was painful! I slid bounced and dived my way towards lunch. When I did fall sideways it was always on the same right buttock, Forrest Gump would know how it felt. It’s surprising how abrasive ice is when you are wearing cycling trousers. Battered and bruised I staggered into the Waldgasthof, my hands shaking.

The Waldgasthof in the trees at Angertal

Have a nice ski dear said TW?