Bike in the Chilterns in February 2014

Back on the road again

It took until the 16th February but, at last, I am back on the bike. The dire weather, which seems to have been with us since November, has meant that the bikes have been locked away. The trusty Trek 520 had a run out today to Henley via Turville and Christmas Common today. It's had a makeover since the entanglement with the rather large beech tree. With the very necessary replacement handlebars and stem plus a new chain and block it is 'all systems go' for the old tourer.  Met TW for lunch at the Chocolate Theatre Cafe and then pedalled back via Lower Assendon and Northend. Quite a few trees down but the roads were fairly dry. There is no real evidence of the wet weather unless of course you go down to the Thames where the riverside residents are still struggling. Up in the Chilterns the sun was shining and the snowdrops were in bloom. For the first time did not miss skiing too badly today. Only 5 weeks to go!

Fire Service asking for a top up at the The Angel in Henley

Chocolate Theatre Cafe - a wet outlook

Henley on Thames - a bridge over high water

And the trees keep tumbling!

Austria - a Postcard from Bad Hofgastein in January 2014

It's a hard life in the Mountains

The Haitzingalm 2 man chair - a leisurely ride

Sunny back in the 30's

Most of the guests arrive one Saturday and are gone on the next. For us it is Groundhog Day or, more appropriately, Marmoltier Tag? Each week we see again the lost souls at the bus station trying to find their ski buses, the couples poring over their piste maps and others walking awkwardly in their hired boots and new brightly coloured ski jackets.

For us its a wonderful regular commute as we climb aboard the funicular railway with the familiar faces of the early morning skiers. The retired Chef who always stands in the same place in the Cable Car, the Professor from Vienna, the local Golden Girls and the ski instructors to name but a few. We do not have to check out the Mountain Huts to see which serves the best Strudel, we have tested them already. We know where we can get a nice morning coffee with a chocolate. We know which lifts open early and we head for the Weitmoser Sixer for a warm up run and then at around 9am for the Hohe Scharte two man chair. Fresh Coduroy or freshly fallen is the snow choice. No awkward bumps to negotiate or ridges made by the Snowboarders.

TW arrives later, she doesn't take the cable car, she prefers a slow and leisurely ride on the Haitzingalm two man chair. She knows when and where to go to practice her turns, always within reach of a comfortable chair.

Blue skies on the Haitzingalm

Morning Coffee - the view from the Haitzingalm

Fresh snow in January

On the Training Piste

Heading down to Bad Hofgastein

Sometimes the guests have difficulty with the routine. Some think they are here for a rest and struggle to make the 08:26 bus in the morning. They get their Size 12 Boots stuck in the door of the Senderbahn and stop the entire lift. Apparently its a design fault? They order a Strudel in Grossarl at a self service only to have it snatched by a sweet-toothed Lady Pensioner. A Schweinhaxe at the Bertahof is too big for them and the cooking of boiled eggs in the morning by yours truly is too inconsistent. Yes, for some skiing is tough. They think their ski hosts are trying to kill them but hey, its only Groundhog Day!

GDC joins a Groundhog at the Waldgasthof

Austria - Return to the sunshine

Normal service resumed in 2014

Lunchtime Parking Place for skiers in Bad Hofgastein

After a wet and windy Christmas break we have made a welcome return to the Austrian sunshine in January 2014. The hard work of the piste bashers has maintained the superb snow conditions that started with the big dump in November. The Christmas and New Year crowds have departed and we now have near empty slopes. No queuing for lifts or lunch at the moment. The home run maybe just a 'white snake' in the otherwise brown and green fields but it is very much open for ski business. With new snow forecast, later in the week, we are currently making the most of the great visibility to ski and capture the stunning scenery. The Daily Telegraph reckons we are suffering due to mild air and low snowfall, not sure that suffering is the correct term. I think enjoying the mild air and superb piste conditions would be far more accurate.

The summer Stubneralm relaxes in the winter sun

On the run

Helmets hang over lunch at the Weitmoser Schlossalm

TW and AG heading up to the Hohe Scharte

Spot the skiers

Still corduroy at lunchtime

Heading off after a good lunch in the sun at the Haitzingalm

Wet and Windy Winter - 2013/14

Getting through the Winter Break

Boxing Day was one of the few nice bright days over Christmas and New Year. Mostly the rain fell and the wind blew. A good day to walk along the front to the Sandbanks Hotel for a coffee.

Bournemouth on Boxing Day

Marlow had a nice tree and simple decorations on the High Street. Rosinante is now repaired so am ready for Touring in 2014, as long as the knee works anyway.

Lusitania Statue in Marlow

Marlow Bridge

Christmas in Marlow

Marlow - driving home for Christmas

Making our way back

Christmas and New Year bring a temporary halt to Ski 'operations'. We do not drive all the way home of course. Our transport of choice could be classed as 'many and varied'. The day starts with the usual panicked departure from the Apartment. Our paying New Year guests will expect the place to be tidy and not littered with the debris created by our 17 day ski trip. Everything has to be Austria clean before we make for the bus, and the bus leaves just after 8am!
Once out of the door its a 5 minute walk to the Bus Stop. Wolfgang was our driver for the 15 minute ride through town to the Train Station. After mutual wishing of 'Frohe Weihnachten' and Happy New Year we were last in the queue for the ticket machine. There is something about ticket machines that put people into a state of pure panic and confusion. Perhaps its the fact that people know there is a queue of punters behind them and that a train is due any moment. It is not really a difficult machine to operate but most of our fellow travellers definitely struggled. One older lady clearly could not see the touch screen and was prodding the plastic in all the wrong places. Another poor soul could not work out why their ticket was not printing despite the fact that he had not put his money in. Of course a 'yoof' with headphones had no problem at all. They have no experience of buying from grumpy ticket office personnel, pushing buttons and hitting keys is what they have always done. We have done it before as well and managed to get our tickets, we even put our credit card in the correct slot and the right way up which is a first for us.
Tickets in hand we had time to walk to where the front of the 08:30 train was about to stop. We sat in one of the old fashioned compartments for 6 people. TW was still coughing so insisted we use our cases to block the doorway and stop anyone from joining us. Cue the arrival of the coffee trolley and a nice fresh cuppa. TW's luggage barrier worked until Bishopshofen where a pleasant Austrian chap forced his way in. He was off to Linz to spend Xmas with his family and we had a nice chat about ski jumping and his holiday in the UK. On arrival in Salzburg, TW, our  skiing diva, announced she would like to go shopping. We had plenty of time so off we toddled to the nearby Hervis Ski Shop where Father Christmas provided a very smart new jacket, eventually!
Next stop the Trolley Bus to the airport. This normally takes about 15 or 20 minutes but today the surrounding Autobahn was shut due to an accident and all the traffic was fighting its way along our route. This bus ride is usually the least favourite part of the trip but today was worse than ever. Our Lady driver was not happy at all and made ample use of the horn on the poor divertees. It took nearly an hour so we were doubly glad we had taken an early train. With the airport quiet and no queues for security we still had time for lunch at the Airport Bistro. This is a regular haunt on our trips home. TW always has Toast Amadeus, a musically themed Ham and Cheese Toastie with salad. I have a chicken salad and a final Austrian Beer purely on the grounds it would be discourteous not to.
We survived the intense scrutiny of Airport Security and arrived Belt-less and Boot-less in the Departure Lounge. I thought I might be stopped as my bag was full of Stollen and a heavy Tyrolean cake that is like a double density Christmas Pudding. Fortunately they looked very tasty and only mildly threatening on the X-Ray machine.
Travelling on BA means pre-booked seats so there is no scrum to get the best seating positions. It is also a bus transfer to the plane so there is no point at all in being first in the Boarding Queue. The only issue with waiting till last is finding space available in the overhead lockers for our bags. However, we opt for the front of economy and can put our bags in the almost empty Club Class racks. That is if we can lift TW's case up there!
A very jolly Captain welcomed us on board the 737. He sounded a bit like John Cleese. Amongst other things he warned us about possible potholes on our route, it was was quite reassuring that he let us know his co-pilot would be driving today, I think! Our rather humourless neighbour thought he had been on the whiskey. We made it to Gatwick OK with a very smooth landing. Have to say the BA experience is far superior to that on Ryanair. As long as the price is right it is worth flying the flag. Of course it is the competition from Ryanair and Easy that has made BA more affordable.
Electronic entry gates are always a challenge, a bit like ticket machines. Get the passport the right way up, stand in the right place, look straight at the haggard reflection. Who the hell is that! No wonder not many people use them and prefer the conventional human entry gates
Border Control seems to work much better since the improvements made for the Olympics and, with no baggage to collect, we were soon heading out of the North Terminal to pick up the waiting APH car park bus. Our little car was waiting for us in Copthorne so, before you could say Chris Rea, we were Driving Home for Christmas.

Austria in December 2013 - nothing but blue skies in Bad Hofgastein

Checking out the slopes in Gastein

Shadows lengthen in Bad Hofgastein

Skiline - One day's fun in the sun and snow

A week of sunny weather has meant we have had no excuse to take a crafty day off. An extra incentive to get out early, and stay out, is Skiline, a website that tracks every lift that you take and keeps a count of vertical metres. My average is about 10,000 metres a day which is higher than Everest and means I am currently 61st on the website. Sorry, have to go.....

The Aeroplan comes into morning view - time to stop?

Haitzingalm - Infinity Bar

The Kleine Scharte view

Meanwhile, the numbers of skiers on the slopes has started to increase and the week-enders have boosted numbers. There is a more urgency to the heavy clomp of ski boots climbing the steps when the local Austrian Saturday morning skiers make their way to the lift. Their approach is extremely purposeful. Certainly do not recommend getting in their way, even before they get on snow. Once up the top there is plenty of space on the pistes and no need to queue. With sunshine and no new snowfalls for a week the pistes are starting to get hard-packed and we are relying on the piste-bashers to do a good job overnight. 

Some of us struggle to get their ski's on snow though! They have changed the ski buses this year and this confused TW initially. I got a call from her the other day to say that she was at the Railway Station? Not sure how she was going to ski from Platform 1. Fortunately my morning bus, at 08:34, has not changed so I am normally on the ski's by 9am.
The hillside hostelries are now mostly open so we have been making our way around our favourites. Today, a plate of Spaghetti at the Haitzingalm was on the menu and TW just had to have a Strudel, it would be rude not to. We sat inside and watched the ski races but quite a few people were sitting outside working on their December suntans. It cools down pretty rapidly once the sun goes behind the mountains so we are normally heading home by around 3pm.

In Bad Hofgastein at the Advent Market

How about heading for the Advent Market for some Gluwein and Roast Chestnuts?

Bad Hofgastein Church

Austria - Early Season Skiing in Bad Hofgastein - December 2013

A Dream Start

A Giant Leap - From the Stubnerkogel to Bad Hofgastein

H4 to Bad Hofgastein

A view to the Schlossalm and the Bad Hofgastein Ski Area

Looking North in Gasteinertal

On the Weitmoser sixer lift on December 3rd

They brought forward the lift opening by one week to November 31st  to take advantage of this years early season snow.
We had pre-booked to fly here on the 3rd December so we could only watch on the webcams as the first skiers headed off on the newly groomed pistes. Not sure I would have been fit enough anyway as a windy day tangle with a falling beech tree had left me a bit bruised. However, we were up on the Schlossalm on the 4th December to kick of our season with what they call over here a 'Traumtag' or Dream Day. We bumped into some familiar people, not literally, and it was great to be back on snow.

Taking a breather on H1 

Sunday Lunch View from the Aeroplan

Ski Guides move off - its not always sunny here!

New snow on the revamped home run in Bad Gastein

First run of the day past the Maurachalm on H2

Panorama from the Kleine Scharte

Most of the runs are open now and the mountain restaurants are waiting. Only the guests are missing. December really is the best time of year to ski, don't tell anyone!

A new place in Bad Hofgastein - The Gastein Alm

A new Pub has opened, the Gastein Alm. It used to be a Pizza Restaurant but one of the local hotel owners has spent a small fortune on it. It's now a very smart Alm serving food. The opening party was very good. Unfortunately we could not stay long enough to take advantage of the free food and drink. I expect we will be back with Euros in hand before much more snow has passed under the ski's.