Yurp 2019 : Another Survey
This was a trip of a lifetime, checking off 4 descents in the Alps I had wanted for years:
0) The Madrisa/Switzerland to Gargellen/Austria and back tour.
1) The Val Roseg descent from the top of the Corvatsch, St. Moritz.
2) Val Bever descent from Corviglia, St. Moritz
3) The Oberalpstock tour from Disentis, Switzerland.
Not everything was perfect. I got a wretched flu and some of the people I had invited didn't
get to do everything they wanted, so there were shadows. But as a realist, it was tops. My apologies
to those of you who did not get to do the stuff you wanted. If we plan better next time, goals
will be achieved.
A highlight was staying at a small Swiss hotel, https://www.mt-lodge.com/ , meeting new, abundant
people and skiing around a classic interconnected ski complex in excellent conditions.
Landing Zurich
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On landing at Amsterdams Schipol, I knew something wasn't right, not just the usual transatlantic blear,
but odd chills and fever. Texting my pal Subtle Plague, I warned him that I may have a cold or flu and
may be infectious. He dismissed any concerns, citing their own little germ trawler as being of greater
potential for flus or colds and nobly insisted we meet.
So, after nearly missing the connection to ZRH due to customs clogging at Schipol, I boarded the flight
to Zurich, dozed some more in that jetlag timewarp and embarked on the train for Konstanz from ZRH.
Konstanz, Subtle Plague
****
Subtle Plague met me at the train station and ferried me to his house to meet his family and set me up
for a nap before we headed out to the Gotthard zones. I considered just taking a hotel and convalescing
but hope sprang eternal in my skiersoul, so next morning we headed out on the Swiss highways to the
Gotthard tunnel and Airolo.
Konstanz:
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7819/...3b785338_k.jpg
It was over twenty years ago that I landed in Geneva and contracted a cold and rather than taking it easy,
jumped into skiing around La Grave, Serre Chevalier, Puy St. Vincent and the Milky Way. But by the 6th
day or so, while skiing at Val Thorens, I knew something was seriously wrong. I shortly spiraled into
fill blown pneumonia, eventually requiring IV antibiotics on returning to the US.
Airolo
****
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7827/...bed4db7f_k.jpg
So this time, I was going to be smarter and on arriving at Airolo, despite the pow and sunshine, I
deferred on the skiing and snoozed in Subtle Plagues RV. I took solace in the fact that one of the more
widely read ski weather forecasters had explicitly directed his followers to Airolo, resulting in crowding
and pow frenzy that chewed up the snow at what is normally a low key area. Such is the internet.
At days end, we drove up a nearby valley and camped out for what ended up being one of the most fevered
nights I'd ever had. My throat burned on every swallow and my head throbbed with a thundersome sinus
headache resulting in little sleep. So once again, skiing that day was not for me. Subtle Plague was a
prince about it all, understanding and left me to me convalescing.
Konstanz Again
****
At days end after Subtle and buddies had enjoyed a powdery tour, we rolled back to Konstanz in the RV.
Konstanz is a beautiful town, with it's older buildings and neighborhoods having escaped some of the
ravages of WWII by virtue of being on the Swiss border and thereby not targetted by bombing raids. I
knew that Subtle and family had a busy Monday morning ahead of them so after sleeping Saturday night and
being feasted and feted by their hospitality, I trundeled off in a train headed to St. Anton Sunday
afternoon.
St. Anton, Haus Elisabeth, Arlberg Guides, Verwall, Hinterrendl
****
I had initially planned to roll out East to the Gasteinertal and ski that zone, but the flu caused to me
to reevaluate that plan. I wrote the wonderful folks at https://hotelechobadgastein.com/ and cancelled
my room there and dredged around for another option in St. Anton when I found
https://www.das-elisabeth-arlberg.at/en/home/ which fit
my requirements of being reasonably close to the train station. So I booked a room there. It proved to
be an excellent choice with a superb breakfast and quiet spot to finish this flu. I again chose not to
ski the first day, but with a suggestion from the host, Berthe, found a doctor to check me out and write
a script for the antibiotics I knew I'd need after this flu. I walked around the village in a howler
snowstorm, got a good sleep and readied myself for the first turns of the trip.
St. Anton is HUGE and I not knowing it at all, I opted to try to find some guided options. The best deal
I found was with the http://arlberg-guides.at/ who offered a guided group option for 97Euros. This turned
out not only a great option, but fortuitous as well by virtue of meeting Sebastyn.
The lift system is staggering with a base terminal at the Galzigbahn looking like a spaceship.
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7886/...cb3dcc64_k.jpg
The day broke blue and crowds were massive with enormous lines at the Galzigbahn. Our guide circumnavigated
that queue, opting for the Gampenbahn chair for a checkout run before taking us down into Schöngraben for
some quality pow.
Next up, we rode up into the Galzig zone, hoping to get up into the Schindlerspitz. But due to avalanche
levels being up to 4, both the Schindlergrabahn and the Valuga were closed. On traversing out towards the
Arlberg Pass, we could see a gargantuan liftline at the Arlenmaderbahn, so we took a high traverse to access
the Albonabahn II.
View from AlbonabahnII
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7838/...fa522dfb_k.jpg
After a few laps down that we skied the North face down into Stuben and used the old
Albonabahn chair to get back to the Albonabahn II and started down into a beautiful valley ending the day
in Verwall with beer and local game charcuterie.
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