Bad Hofgastein in December - warming up for the season

Skiing above the clouds in the warm December sun.  
The village of Bad Hofgastein down below is in cloud
Heading down on the Blue run H3 to the Middle Station
Wild and windy at the top of H2
A warm wind from the South disturbed the snow at the top and made the cable car swing. The Fohn wind is not a welcome visitor to the valley. People tend to get a bit cranky.

Skiing down to the Hamburger Alm
No crowds up here on H5. Just some school groups out today along with some Scandinavian exiles from Bad Gastein so that left me plenty of space.
The Aeroplanstadl prepares
Not all the Huts are open yet. The Aeroplanstadl is getting ready. Hopefully they are preparing this winters batch of Apple Strudel!

Winter in the Angertal - 13th December
Looking across Angertal to the Schlossalm

I suppose in December there is risk that there will be no snow. What is certain is that there will be very few people! It was lucky 13th for us today. Visibility was good, snow was sufficient and there were hardly any other skiers. It was simply a case of choosing a route and heading on down. No looking out for speed merchants coming through and no adjustments to avoid traversing slower skiers.
B18 - no people to worry about
Fresh Snow at the top of the chairlift
Gastein Sunday
Early Sunday Morning - empty slopes and fresh corduroy
Way down in the valley its cold and misty
One of the best things about skiing - Getting up in the morning and seeing thick mist in the valley and knowing that when you go up the mountain you'll punch through the gloom into sunshine and clear blue skies. Today was one of those wonderful days.
Beyond the divide the clouds cover Corinthia
On the Schlossalm the piste bashers are parked ready for tonights operations
Advent in Bad Hofgastein - who would like a hot Gluwein?
Horse driven sleighs are taking families on candle lit rides around the Kur Park. Chestnuts are roasting, Gluwein is wafting - must be Advent in Gastein.
The Sunday Evening  streets of Bad Hofgastein
Location: 5630 Bad Hofgastein, Austria

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

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

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

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

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

Malta – A postcard from Malta and Gozo

Image
Valetta on a Monday Day One - Getting there and getting settled How do you make a Maltese Cross? Well, a sure-fire way is to bang on the front of a bus with a rolled umbrella as it drives away from the Bus Stop. The Driver, probably thinking he has hit something or somebody, will fly into a  rage. TW discovered this technique as we attempted to leave Rabat for Valetta. Mind you, Maltese Bus Drivers are far from placid individuals. Their careers involve negotiating narrow streets with parked cars and also contending with some very crazy drivers. They are sometimes looking for a ruck though. We saw one bus driver in Sliema who was irate because a Mini was parked badly. He stopped behind it and repeatedly tooted his horn whilst holding up a whole load of traffic. This was a bit odd because there was plenty of room for him to drive past. We considered going up to him and telling him ‘you could drive a bus through there mate’ but thought better of it. Our first journey in Malt
Read more